HR0583 LRB096 13951 KXB 28895 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Tami Sender, President and CEO of the Greater
3 Joliet YMCA, has been a staff member of the Joliet YMCA for the
4 past 25 years and has had a tremendous positive impact on the
5 community in her roles as a program director and branch
6 director; she became the first female CEO in the Joliet YMCA's
7 history in 2003 and initiated the construction of the first new
8 YMCA in the area in over 28 years; and
 
9     WHEREAS, The C.W. Avery Family YMCA, located in Plainfield,
10 represents the realization of Tami's vision, dating back to
11 1995; at that time, she began before and after-school programs
12 in the Plainfield District 202 schools; beginning in three
13 schools, the program, called Kid Zone, today serves over 650
14 children in 15 schools in Plainfield alone; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Tami put together a plan that allowed the YMCA to
16 swap land with the Board of Education of District 202 and as a
17 part of this plan, the schools and the Y worked out an
18 agreement that provided for continued before and after school
19 programming in the schools; it created a campus concept where
20 the new Y sits adjacent to existing schools and share
21 facilities, land, and services; and it set down guidelines for
22 facility use with both the schools and the park district; and
 

 

 

HR0583 - 2 - LRB096 13951 KXB 28895 r

1     WHEREAS, Tami worked with the City of Joliet and Councilman
2 Joe Shetina on a grant for $15,000 that allowed the YMCA to do
3 a community and feasibility study; she worked with Illinois
4 State Representative Tom Cross on a $250,000 State grant for
5 land; she worked with past Plainfield Mayor Dick Rock as well
6 as current Mayor Jim Waldorf to ensure that the needs of the
7 village were being met; and she worked with Superintendent John
8 Harper of District 202 to ensure the long term needs of
9 children and families in the after school program would be met;
10 and
 
11     WHEREAS, In addition, she worked with the Plainfield Park
12 District on a green space agreement that would ensure shared
13 use of community, YMCA, and district land for years to come;
14 she also worked with Provena St. Joseph Medical Center and
15 current CFO Jeff Brickman to partner by providing space for
16 Provena to run physical therapy and rehabilitation services in
17 the new facility; and
 
18     WHEREAS, In 2006 the C.W. Avery Family YMCA opened its
19 doors to the community; Tami also overlooked the renaming of
20 the YMCA branch on Briggs Street in Joliet to the Arthur and
21 Vera Smith Family YMCA; and
 
22     WHEREAS, In 2006 Tami was awarded the Association of YMCA
23 Professionals "Director of the Year" award for her

 

 

HR0583 - 3 - LRB096 13951 KXB 28895 r

1 achievements; she was chosen by the Women's Bar Association as
2 a "Woman with Vision" in 2003; she was interviewed by CNN
3 Newsmakers in 2007 for her work in Will County; and she will be
4 honored by the Greater Joliet YMCA in August of 2009 for her 25
5 years of dedicated service to the people of the Greater Joliet
6 area; therefore, be it
 
7     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
8 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
9 congratulate and honor Tami Sender for her hard work and
10 dedication to the people of Joliet, Will County, and the
11 surrounding areas through her work with the YMCA; and be it
12 further
 
13     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
14 presented to Tami Sender as a symbol of our sincere respect.