[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11919-11920]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    THE FENWAY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY

 Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today the Fenway Community 
Development Corporation in Boston is celebrating its twenty-fifth 
anniversary, and I congratulate the corporation on its impressive 
accomplishments.
  The Nation's economy is currently enjoying the longest period of 
peacetime expansion in the nation's history. Today, more Americans than 
ever have access to quality education and productive jobs and careers. 
But that success is no cause for complacency. Too many of our fellow 
citizens and too many of our communities are not full participants in 
the nation's overall prosperity. For them, economic growth often means 
higher housing costs and pressures to move out of neighborhoods which 
have been their homes all their lives.
  Twenty-five years ago, the Fenway Community Development Corporation 
was formed to do more to see that neighborhood development benefits the 
residents of the neighborhood. The Corporation stands proudly for the 
fundamental principle that local residents should enjoy the benefits of 
economic growth too, regardless of their incomes, and that neighborhood 
planning should always put people first.

[[Page 11920]]

  Since 1973, the Fenway CDC has worked skillfully to improve the 
quality of life in the community, actively encouraging residents to 
participate in decisions that affect it. Under its leadership, 
residents from different cultures, age groups, and income levels have 
all come together for a better Fenway. I commend them for what they 
have done to empower people and strengthen the fabric of their 
neighborhoods.
  A large part of this success comes from many activities to improve 
life in the Fenway. Protecting existing housing, actively seeking 
opportunities to develop affordable new housing, pursuing commercial 
development that meets the needs of the neighborhood--all of these are 
essential parts of the mission.
  Other activities include homebuyer counseling--the afterschool 
programs and playground renovation for neighborhood youth through the 
Fenway Family Coalition--the computer training and job opportunities 
with local employers through the Walk to Work Program--and the Senior 
Task Force, which maintains affordable housing for low income elderly 
residents, as well as blood pressure screenings and recreation 
facilities available at the Peterborough Senior Center. All of these 
programs have contributed immensely to the quality of life in the 
Fenway neighborhood, and the Corporation deserve great credit for these 
achievements.
  Fenway CDC is a respected leader of CDCs nationwide. I congratulate 
them for 25 years of skillful work and real results, and I know that 
the next 25 years will be just as successful.

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