[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 54 (Friday, March 24, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE LIFE OF EVA ALVAREZ

  (Ms. SCHOLTEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SCHOLTEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of a west 
Michigan leader, advocate, former colleague, and friend. Taken from us 
too soon, she will go down in history as a trailblazing young woman.
  Eva Alvarez was the daughter of migrant farmworkers, one of seven 
children who worked her way through college and her master's degree. 
She was the Public Policy Coordinator for the Michigan Immigrant Rights 
Center.
  I had the joy of working with Eva to help support hardworking migrant 
farmworkers throughout Michigan, and together we partnered to shine a 
light on injustice, uplift those often pushed aside in society, and 
make our community a little more just, fair, and humane.
  In addition to her work on policy, she co-founded Empowering Latina 
Leaders and Advocates for Success, ELLAS, the first professional 
network in Southwest Michigan for Latina women. In all she did, Eva was 
bringing others up around her. She often reminded us ``we did not get 
here alone, help pave the way for others.''
  With a smile that could light up a room, an infectious laugh, and a 
quick-witted sense of humor, Eva pressed on through difficult work. She 
carried a vision of communities and systems that treat every individual 
with dignity and respect, regardless of who they were, where they came 
from, their skin color, or the language that they spoke.

  Every day, she worked to bring Michigan a little bit closer to that 
vision, practicing welcome everywhere she went. Her work will leave a 
legacy of justice and compassion; her friendship memories of joy and 
light. I continue my work to make west Michigan a better place because 
of her.

                          ____________________