[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17964]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


             IN RECOGNITION OF CITIZENS FOR CITIZENS, INC.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM R. KEATING

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 5, 2015

  Mr. KEATING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Citizens for 
Citizens, Inc. on its 50th anniversary.
  Citizens for Citizens, a Community Action Agency, assists over 42,000 
households in the Greater Fall River and Greater Taunton areas in 
Massachusetts every year by providing short term services that support 
families during financial crisis through its Fuel Assistance, Food 
Pantry and Rental Assistance programs.
  Founded in 1965 under the leadership of its first Executive Director, 
Edward J. (Jud) Sullivan, Citizens for Citizens opened a Head Start 
program to provide pre-school education programs for children ages 3 to 
5. Recognizing the needs of its community, the programs were quickly 
expanded to include employment opportunities for individuals over the 
age of 55 through the Senior Aide Program, nutritional services through 
the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) feeding program, and utility 
mitigation opportunities through the Fuel Assistance and Weatherization 
program. By 1982, Citizens for Citizens had also started an After 
School and Family Day Care program and Retired Senior Volunteer 
Program.
  Today, Citizens for Citizens is an ever-present and integral part of 
our community's fabric. Hardly a demographic is overlooked by its wide 
variety of new and continuing programs. In addition to its initial 
focus on education and employment opportunities, Citizens for Citizens 
also provides elderly individuals with an opportunity to earn 
additional income by working with children with special needs through 
the Foster Grandparent program, and utilizes the many skills of willing 
and able neighbors through voluntary assistance programs, such as the 
Volunteer Income Tax Return Preparation program.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor Citizens for Citizens on behalf of 
all of the families and individuals that the organization has helped 
over the last fifty years. Citizens for Citizens has had a tremendous 
impact on the Fall River and Taunton communities, and the Commonwealth 
as a whole. I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating all of 
its staff and volunteers and in wishing them another fifty years of 
success.




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