[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 217 (Thursday, December 16, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9256-S9257]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         TRIBUTE TO MARIA GOMEZ

 Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to an 
extraordinary leader, a visionary healthcare advocate, and a tireless 
champion for the people of my state and for citizens across the 
National Capital Region: Maria Gomez. Ms. Gomez is retiring this month 
after 33 years as the president and CEO of Mary's Center, a renowned 
federally-qualified health center that she founded in 1988, and which 
has transformed the lives of countless individuals and families 
throughout our region. Her tireless efforts to improve the health and 
well-being of underserved families and individuals in the Washington, 
DC, metropolitan area have left an indelible mark on our communities, 
and her lifetime of service has inspired a new generation of activists, 
advocates, healthcare leaders, and public servants. I would like to 
share her story today and have the course of her life forever written 
into the Congressional Record.
  Ms. Gomez immigrated to the United States from Colombia with her 
mother

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at age 13 to escape violence and find new opportunities. Together, they 
built a life in Washington, DC, through hard work, courage, and the 
determination to succeed. By means of her own grit and skill, along 
with the support of a loving mother, Ms. Gomez obtained a bachelor of 
science in nursing from Georgetown University and a master of public 
health from the University of California at Berkeley. Following 
graduation, she returned to the District of Columbia to empower the 
very same community that had empowered her when she first arrived in 
the United States.
  After first working at DC Health, the Red Cross, and the Visiting 
Nurses Association, Ms. Gomez founded Mary's Center with a group of 
health advocates and the DC Mayor's Office on Latino Affairs. Her goal 
was to help immigrant women fleeing war and poverty in Central America. 
But what began as the shared vision of one person and a small group of 
community and government partners would soon grow into a nationally 
renowned health center that has touched the lives of thousands.
  Under Ms. Gomez's leadership, Mary's Center went from serving 200 
participants in a small basement with a budget of $250,000 to serving 
more than 60,000 participants across seven locations in DC and 
Maryland, with an annual budget of $76 million in just over 30 years. 
The center and the people who work there are committed to providing the 
highest quality of care to each and every patient, regardless of their 
ability to pay, and the mission of Mary's Center is guided by core 
principles of care, education, social justice, and respect. I have had 
the privilege of visiting Mary's Center locations in my State of 
Maryland while serving in the Senate, and I have witnessed, firsthand, 
the extraordinary attention, compassion and professionalism that the 
entire Mary's Center family brings to everything they do. It is because 
of their work that so many within our communities can receive support 
and critical services.
  That is Maria Gomez's legacy, and our State and our Nation are deeply 
grateful for all she has given to our fellow citizens in need. Her 
extraordinary achievements have made Ms. Gomez one of the most 
effective and highly regarded leaders in the region and throughout the 
country. It was Ms. Gomez's hard work and dedication that led First 
Lady Michelle Obama to choose Mary's Center for her first official 
visit to a nonprofit organization in February 2009. In 1995, First Lady 
Hillary Clinton also visited Mary's Center during National Immunization 
Week in recognition of the center's efforts to get children vaccinated 
and ready to learn and thrive in school. What is more, President Barack 
Obama selected Maria Gomez as one of the 18 recipients of the 2012 
Presidential Citizens Medal, the Nation's second-highest civilian 
honor, as a testament to her leadership and service.
  Ms. Gomez has accrued decades of wisdom over the course of her 
distinguished career, and she has always been willing to share that 
wisdom and knowledge with those who seek it. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, as 
well as former Mayors Vincent Gray and Adrian Fenty, named her to their 
mayoral transition teams. She currently serves as cochair of the Human 
Services, Social Services, and Health Committee of the DC Mayor's 
ReOpen DC Advisory Group for COVID-19, and she is a member of the 
Mayor's Commission on Healthcare Systems Transformations, which makes 
recommendations on strategies and investments necessary to transform 
healthcare in the District of Columbia.
  Ms. Gomez also shares her expertise by serving as a board member for 
the DC Primary Care Association and the Primary Care Coalition of 
Montgomery County. She is a member of the Suburban Hospital Board of 
Trustees, is cochair of the Latino Health Steering Committee of 
Montgomery County, and serves on the advisory boards for the 
Smithsonian American Women History Initiative, the DC Fiscal Policy 
Institute, and the AmeriHealth Caritas National FQHC Initiative. In 
addition, she is a member of the Washington Housing Conservancy--WHC--
Board.
  While Ms. Gomez is the recipient of numerous well-earned awards and 
accolades, no medal or trophy that we can give to her can truly speak 
to all that she has given us throughout her inspiring life and career. 
She has been a beacon of hope for so many families in need over the 
past three decades. She leaves behind a legacy of deep compassion for 
all whom she has met and known and helped and served. Ms. Gomez's 
colleagues regard her as a strong leader, a dedicated mentor, and a 
friend to all, and the entire Mary's Center community treasures the 
warmth, grace, and respect she has imparted throughout the organization 
these past 33 years.
  Our Nation's Capital is healthier and stronger because of Maria 
Gomez's many years of visionary leadership and dedicated service. I ask 
my colleagues to join me in expressing our deepest gratitude to her and 
in extending our best wishes to her and to her husband Michael Rexrode 
and daughter Amalia--as she begins the next chapter of her life of 
service to her community and her country.

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