| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are pleased to congratulate James F. Capraro, | ||||||
| 4 | the founding Executive Director and CEO of the Greater | ||||||
| 5 | Southwest Development Corporation, on his retirement; and
| ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Mr. Capraro retired from the position he has held | ||||||
| 7 | for 35 years on July 2, 2010; and
| ||||||
| 8 | WHEREAS, Jim, or "Cappy", is the son of Italian Catholic | ||||||
| 9 | immigrants, and grew up in Marquette Park; and
| ||||||
| 10 | WHEREAS, After witnessing Dr. Martin Luther King's march in | ||||||
| 11 | Marquette Park, Mr. Capraro made the decision to work in | ||||||
| 12 | community development; he was involved in organizing an antiwar | ||||||
| 13 | movement during college; he later took a job with the Southwest | ||||||
| 14 | Community Congress to work against block busting and redlining, | ||||||
| 15 | both of which kept blacks out of neighborhoods; and
| ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, He also advocated for the passage of the Federal | ||||||
| 17 | Home Mortgage Disclosure and Community Reinvestments Acts, | ||||||
| 18 | leading him to establish the Greater Southwest Development | ||||||
| 19 | Corporation in 1976; and
| ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, During his time with the Greater Southwest | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | Development Corporation he worked on major development | ||||||
| 2 | projects, including 3 senior housing projects, the Jewel Osco | ||||||
| 3 | grocery store, the IMAN health clinic and headquarters, and the | ||||||
| 4 | rehabilitation of single family properties for first time home | ||||||
| 5 | buyers; and
| ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Under his leadership the Greater Southwest | ||||||
| 7 | Development Corporation was designated by the National | ||||||
| 8 | Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation as a national model for | ||||||
| 9 | commercial revitalization organizations and was selected in | ||||||
| 10 | 2001 by the Chicago Local Initiatives Support Corporation as a | ||||||
| 11 | recipient of the Outstanding Community Development | ||||||
| 12 | Organization award; and | ||||||
| 13 | WHEREAS, Mr. Capraro continues to work as the Principal of | ||||||
| 14 | Capraro Consulting and works across the country for National | ||||||
| 15 | Local Initiatives Support Corporation, promoting comprehensive | ||||||
| 16 | community development; therefore, be it | ||||||
| 17 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 18 | NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 19 | congratulate Jim Capraro for his years of hard work and | ||||||
| 20 | dedication and wish him the best in his future endeavors; and | ||||||
| 21 | be it further
| ||||||
| 22 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | presented to Jim Capraro as a symbol of our respect and esteem.
| ||||||