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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the | ||||||
| 3 | State of Illinois wish to honor Nancy
Shier on the occasion of | ||||||
| 4 | her retirement as vice-president of Illinois Policy for the | ||||||
| 5 | Ounce of Prevention
Fund; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, The Ounce of Prevention Fund was established in | ||||||
| 7 | 1982 to champion the healthy
development of low-income young | ||||||
| 8 | children and their families; Nancy Shier has been a part of the | ||||||
| 9 | Ounce
of Prevention Fund's policy division since 1987 and its | ||||||
| 10 | leader since 1989; she is the principal strategist in
the areas | ||||||
| 11 | of Illinois policy and governmental relations and spearheads | ||||||
| 12 | the agency's legislative and
administrative advocacy | ||||||
| 13 | activities; and | ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, Nancy Shier previously worked with the Illinois | ||||||
| 15 | General Assembly to champion workers and women's rights; and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, Over the years Nancy Shier has been a leading | ||||||
| 17 | advocate for programs that strengthen the
growth and | ||||||
| 18 | development of very young children, including education, | ||||||
| 19 | health care, child care, mental
health, child abuse prevention, | ||||||
| 20 | welfare reform, and professional development of the early | ||||||
| 21 | childhood
workforce; and | ||||||
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Nancy Shier has been a leader in efforts to expand | ||||||
| 2 | access to healthcare for low-income and
undocumented pregnant | ||||||
| 3 | women, to improve access to and the quality of early childhood | ||||||
| 4 | educational
programs, and child care services for low-income | ||||||
| 5 | children; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, In Nancy's years of service, due to her effort and | ||||||
| 7 | those of her allies, policies and funding to
support the | ||||||
| 8 | healthy development of young children and families have | ||||||
| 9 | improved dramatically; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Nancy Shier has been the leading voice on behalf | ||||||
| 11 | of at-risk infants and toddlers; she was instrumental
in the | ||||||
| 12 | creation of innovative services for those children, including | ||||||
| 13 | the Healthy Families home visiting
program and the creation of | ||||||
| 14 | the landmark Birth-to-Three set-aside in the Early Childhood | ||||||
| 15 | Block grant;
she has made Illinois the first state in the | ||||||
| 16 | country to invest in and grow services for infants and toddlers
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| 17 | parallel with the growth of services and investments for | ||||||
| 18 | preschool children; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, Nancy Shier has served on countless boards and | ||||||
| 20 | advisory bodies, including the State's Human
Services | ||||||
| 21 | Commission, the Child Care Advisory Board, and the board of the | ||||||
| 22 | Midwest Academy; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Nancy Shier's reach and influence will continue to | ||||||
| 2 | inspire for years to come as she has mentored
numerous early | ||||||
| 3 | childhood professionals who themselves will continue to | ||||||
| 4 | inspire; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, That Nancy Shier is a tenacious advocate for young | ||||||
| 6 | children; her influence has improved the lot of
young children | ||||||
| 7 | in Illinois and across the country; therefore, be it
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| 8 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 9 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 10 | we congratulate Nancy Shier on her retirement and thank her for | ||||||
| 11 | the years of service to the citizens of Illinois and the | ||||||
| 12 | country; and be it further | ||||||
| 13 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 14 | presented to Nancy Shier as an expression of our
esteem and | ||||||
| 15 | gratitude for over a quarter century's work on behalf of women, | ||||||
| 16 | children, and families.
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