[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 172 (Wednesday, October 30, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE REMARKABLE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF MS. SHIRLEY CAYLOR

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                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 30, 2019

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Madam Speaker, it is with great admiration and respect 
that I stand before you today to honor Ms. Shirley Caylor and to wish 
her well upon her retirement. For her lifetime of inspiring service to 
those most in need, she is worthy of the highest praise. Throughout her 
noteworthy and important career, Shirley's compassionate work has been 
a beacon of hope for the community of Northwest Indiana and beyond.
  In 1971, Shirley Caylor and her late husband, Reverend Capp, founded 
the Youth Crisis Center, which later became ``Crisis Center, Inc., a 
Youth Service Bureau.'' The organization began as a youth-based crisis 
and suicide hotline and remains active today, operating as part of the 
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. This hotline has helped thousands 
of people during its forty-five years of operation and was where 
Shirley began her lifetime of service.
  Under the outstanding leadership of Shirley and Reverend Capp, the 
Crisis Center continued to grow and expand its services and programs. 
In 1974, they added a community counseling center, and in 1976, 
Alternative House, a short-term shelter for homeless, abused, or 
neglected youth was established. The Crisis Center also added the Teen 
Court program to its growing list of services in 1989. This innovative 
intervention program works to assist teenagers who have been brought 
into the juvenile detention system by allowing them to serve as jurors. 
Later, in 2016, Ms. Caylor opened Promises, the Crisis Center's first 
long-term care residential program for teenagers. Additionally, Ms. 
Caylor and Reverend Capp worked tirelessly to ensure that the National 
Safe Place program was available to Lake and Porter County residents 
through the Crisis Center, as well as to the Hoosiers statewide through 
the Indiana Youth Services Association. This program provides easy 
access to emergency shelter, counseling, and other types of assistance. 
Today, the Crisis Center's Safe Place program includes three hundred 
and seventy-six safe place locations.
  I respect Shirley Caylor with all my heart. In the truest sense of 
the word, she is a servant of all, but especially of the most 
vulnerable. When one reads Isaiah 58:10, one is compelled to think of 
Shirley Caylor: ``And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry 
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in 
the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.'' Her light 
has illuminated our way. Her life is one we should emulate.
  Madam Speaker, I ask that you and my other colleagues join me in 
honoring Shirley Caylor for her extraordinary career and service to the 
youth of Northwest Indiana and to wish her well upon her retirement. 
Shirley's impact on the region will be witnessed by generations to 
come, and for her many contributions, she is worthy of our utmost 
gratitude and appreciation.

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