[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 167 (Wednesday, November 13, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6558-S6559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO JOANNE McGUNAGLE

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise to honor an extraordinary 
constituent, Joanne McGunagle, on her retirement as the chief executive 
officer of the Comprehensive Community Action Program (CCAP), which 
serves the communities of Cranston, Scituate, Foster, Warwick, and 
Coventry. As the leader of one of Rhode Island's largest anti-poverty 
nonprofit organizations, Joanne has embodied the spirit of President 
Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, mobilizing resources to address human 
needs while empowering the community to chart its own course to greater 
prosperity.
  Joanne demonstrated a passion for service from her earliest days as a 
sociology student at Rhode Island College. During her junior year, she 
participated in an internship as a summer camp counselor at the 
Thornton Center, and she found her calling. In 1979, as a newly minted 
graduate, she went to work for CCAP as the manager of its Fiskeville 
Center. With her strong commitment to the community and her prodigious 
organizational skills, Joanne quickly rose up the ranks at CCAP. By 
1985, she was named chief executive officer.

[[Page S6559]]

  Under Joanne's leadership, CCAP expanded its reach and services to 
the community. Her approach to leadership was to involve the community, 
collaborate with partners, and streamline administrative costs in order 
to maximize resources available for direct services. When she took the 
reins, CCAP had a budget of just over $3 million and a staff of 60. 
Today, it has a budget of over $40 million and a team of 350 employees 
who serve over 40,000 people annually.
  The growth of CCAP under Joanne's leadership has resulted in 
partnerships to create affordable housing, expand childcare and 
preschool programs, establish new opportunity homes for pregnant and 
parenting teens, create the first parent/child center in Rhode Island, 
build a community youth center in partnership with the city of 
Cranston, develop a fully integrated family health model, and open 
several health centers. CCAP has done all of this while also providing 
workforce development, home heating and weatherization assistance, and 
a food bank for residents in need.
  Just as Joanne has left an indelible mark on CCAP and the communities 
it serves, CCAP has shaped her life. She carries out her work with joy 
and gratitude. In her words, ``CCAP has given me boundless gifts and 
rewards I never imagined. Professionally, with my team, we have created 
a system of care designed to provide services while focusing on poverty 
and the alleviation of it. Personally, I met my husband when creating 
housing at St. Matthew's Church with CCAP. All my life milestones have 
involved CCAP at some level. I could never begin to give back to CCAP 
what it has given me.''
  As someone who shares Joanne's deep connection to the Cranston 
community, I have seen firsthand how her friendship and kindness has 
transformed lives. Her genuine empathy for those most in need is an 
inspiration, and her lifetime of action helping those experiencing 
poverty is an example that we should emulate.
  I join countless other Rhode Islanders in wishing Joanne a happy and 
healthy retirement, filled with new adventures, in the company of her 
husband Kenny and her daughters Maddie and Annie. She has earned it.

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