[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22436]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING ENNIS CENTER FOR CHILDREN, INC.

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DALE E. KILDEE

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 2003

  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today to recognize Ennis 
Center for Children, Inc., for 25 years of dedicated service to six 
counties throughout Southeast Michigan. On November 13, 2003 Ennis 
Center will celebrate their anniversary with the community.
  Ennis Center for Children is a non-profit, multi-service agency, 
providing community based in-home foster care, adoption and group home 
services to children and families. The center helps children from birth 
to age 19 by providing stability and permanent homes. Most children who 
utilize the center's services are poor, minority and have at-risk 
backgrounds, many of them abused, neglected and abandoned. Each year 
the center assists more than 2,500 children within the Southeast 
Michigan area. In 2002, they placed 640 children in foster care with 
263 foster families, 130 children were adopted, 99 of which were by 
their foster families, 26 by relatives or guardians, and 5 by recruited 
families. The center also assisted more than 900 juvenile delinquents 
through counseling, mentoring and reintegration services. The center 
had operating revenues of approximately $12 million in 2002, and over 
85 cents of every dollar received was spent on program services. 
Currently the center employs 200 people.
  The center was founded in Flint, Michigan, in 1978. The founder is 
child advocate Robert E. Ennis. Mr. Ennis started the center with 
$6,000, which he borrowed from a friend, and a responsibility to 33 
foster children. Today the center is operating in four locations, 20100 
Greenfield Rd., Detroit; 2921 E. Grand Blvd., Detroit; 3650 Dixie 
Highway, Waterford; and 129 E. Third Avenue, Flint, Michigan. Ennis 
Center for Children has been noted as one of Michigan's largest 
minority-led non-profit organizations of its kind.
  Mr. Speaker, as a Member of Congress, I ask that my colleagues in the 
108th Congress join me in recognizing Ennis Center for Children on 
their 25th anniversary for dedication and service to the children and 
families of Southeast Michigan.

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