[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 195 (Tuesday, November 28, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MARY ELLEN STONE

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to honor and congratulate 
Mary Ellen Stone on her retirement, after 44 years of service leading 
the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, KCSARC. Over that time, 
she has laid essential foundations, establishing and strengthening the 
organization into what has become a respected, comprehensive nonprofit 
provider of supportive services for survivors of sexual assault and 
their families. Her passion, tenacity, and leadership have shaped 
KCSARC into the strong, vibrant nonprofit it is today.
  Mary Ellen began at KCSARC in 1979, serving about 100 clients with a 
staff of 3 and a budget of $50,000. As she retires in 2023, the 
nonprofit serves 5,000 survivors and their families with a staff of 
more than 70 and an annual budget of $8.2 million. Over four decades, 
Mary Ellen has been a bold, visionary advocate for sexual assault 
survivors throughout King County and the State of Washington. Mary 
Ellen was influential in establishing the State's first accreditation 
process for sexual assault providers, professionalizing service 
delivery and ensuring core services are available to survivors in every 
county of the State.
  Under Mary Ellen's leadership, KCSARC published one of the first 
educational pieces in the Nation for parents to talk with their 
children about sexual assault called ``He Told Me Not to Tell.'' It was 
a milestone for community awareness about child sexual abuse. Today, 
this publication remains a foundational educational tool, and its 
importance and relevance remain to this day as half of KCSARC's clients 
are children and teens under 18 years old. Mary Ellen's vision and 
tenacity allowed KCSARC to respond to specific unmet needs in the 
community, including to sexual assault survivors who are experiencing 
homelessness, children and youth survivors, and Latino survivors.
  Mary Ellen has shared her time and expertise in so many ways to 
better inform systems and communities about the needs of victims, 
including serving on the Seattle Archdiocese Review Board, Mental 
Illness Drug Dependence Oversight Board, Seattle Chief of Police Search 
committees, Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, Sex 
Offender Management Committee, Women's Funding Alliance, and Municipal 
League Seattle-King County.
  It has been a great privilege to work with Mary Ellen--a true 
trailblazer--over the last four decades. And it is my honor to thank 
her for her lifetime of dedicated service to people in King County, the 
State of Washington, and the entire country. I wish her the very best 
during her well-earned retirement.

                          ____________________