[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 18714]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILY SERVICES

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 25th 
anniversary of the establishment of African American Family Services.
  This inspirational organization has spent the past 25 years providing 
culturally specific services to the Minnesota African American 
community. Since 1975, it has expanded its services from solely dealing 
with chemical dependency to providing critical services in chemical 
health, family preservation, domestic violence, and adolescent violence 
prevention and anger management.
  In addition to these programs, African American Family Services 
provides its clients with two other invaluable services--a resource 
center, which includes a resource library and a cross-peer education 
mentoring project, and a technical assistance center, which creates 
training programs to educate human and social service professionals on 
enhancing service delivery to African American clients.
  Twenty-five years after its founding, this organization is still 
searching for new and innovative ways to serve Minnesotans. Currently, 
African American Family Services is attempting to work more directly 
with the children of its clients, hoping that this will help to break 
the cycle of self-destructive behavior that many families experience.
  As the leading provider of human services to the Minnesota African 
American community, this organization has served countless individuals 
and families. By providing an effective network of dedicated staff and 
volunteers who have worked hard to serve every person who walks through 
its doors, African American Family Services truly has been able to make 
a difference in the lives of its clients.
  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with this wonderful 
organization, and am proud to commend its outstanding record of success 
and service to the community on the floor of the United States Senate. 
Please join me in honoring all of the people who have made the success 
of the African American Family Services possible.

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