[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12612]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   CONGRATULATING RON CROWDER, RECIPIENT OF THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON 
               NATIONAL COMMUNITY HEALTH LEADERSHIP AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM COOPER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 14, 2005

  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Ron Crowder 
for his extraordinary accomplishments as the founder of the Street 
Works HIV prevention and education center in Nashville, Tennessee. Ron 
was recently selected as one of ten people to receive the nation's most 
prestigious community health leadership honor--the Robert Wood Johnson 
Community Health Leadership Program Award.
  This recognition, which carries with it a $120,000 award, is given to 
those who have overcome significant challenges and demonstrated an 
exceptional and effective approach to addressing the many health care 
challenges facing communities across the country. After hearing Ron's 
remarkable story, I can think of no one more deserving of this 
distinguished award.
  Ron Crowder, an African-American, grew up in a home with nine other 
children in a segregated, impoverished section of Nashville. After 
dropping out of high school at the age of 17, he served his country as 
a rifleman in the Vietnam War. The constant fear and stress of combat 
led to his 20-year drug addiction and contraction of HIV. Ron turned 
his life around in 1991 and has been drug free for 14 years. He 
graduated from Tennessee State University in May 1993 with a Bachelors 
Degree in Accounting. In 2000, he completed the Institute for HIV 
Prevention Leadership Program at the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention--Association of Schools of Public Health, and has since 
devoted his life to uplifting and educating others.
  Ron's personal battle with drugs and HIV fueled his desire to start 
Street Works, which he founded in 1997 on a shoestring budget. Using 
his car as his headquarters, Ron walked the streets distributing HIV 
and AIDS prevention information to those in the community whom no one 
else had tried to reach: drug dealers, addicts, prostitutes, and inner-
city youth exposed to drugs and sexual promiscuity.
  Today, thanks to his tireless leadership and dedication, Street Works 
operates two all night drop-in centers and helps more than 5,600 
Tennesseans annually, with a focus on reaching minority populations. 
Street Works provides a variety of HIV and AIDS-related prevention and 
care services at locations where high-risk behavior is most likely to 
occur and at the hours when most other outreach services are closed.
  On behalf of the 5th District of Tennessee, I congratulate Ron 
Crowder for overcoming adversity and committing his life's work to 
improving the conditions of others through HIV and AIDS education and 
prevention. Through Street Works, he has brought help to Tennessee's 
disenfranchised and is an inspiration to all who work to end this 
terrible disease.

                          ____________________