[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 6982-6983]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    IN HONOR OF THE VILLAGE PROJECT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 15, 2013

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Village 
Project for five years of exemplary service. Founded in 2008, the 
Village Project sought to fill the gap in mental health and family 
counseling services geared toward the African-American community on

[[Page 6983]]

the Monterey Peninsula in particular and the broader Monterey Bay Area 
as a whole.
   The Village Project was born from the efforts and love of many 
people. But it was Mel and Regina Mason who truly made it happen. They 
designed the project and spent countless hours in chasing down all the 
myriad of clinical, fiscal, administrative, and other details that 
turned the idea of the Village Project into a reality. Indeed, it is 
their love and dedication to the people of the Monterey Bay region that 
infuse every aspect of the Village Project and has made it such a 
success in its short history.
   The Village Project provides culturally-appropriate services to the 
African-American population in order to address that community's unmet 
needs. While it focuses on African Americans, the Village Project is 
dedicated to providing services to anyone who needs them. It offers 
mental health counseling, a parenting program, several academic support 
groups for youth, as well as support for community-building.
   Mel Mason, who serves as the organization's executive director and 
primary counselor, ensures that the Village Project works in 
partnership with community organizations, schools, faith-based 
institutions, and other agencies to collectively support children and 
families of all cultures. It is a true measure of its broad base of 
support that the organization's board is a who's who of community 
leaders who see many of the goals of their own work realized in the 
efforts of the Village Project.
   Mr. Speaker, I know I speak for the whole House in congratulating 
the Village Project on its five year anniversary, expressing our 
gratitude for all of the good accomplished in that time, and our best 
wishes for the years of community service to come.

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