Full Text of SR0399 101st General Assembly
SR0399 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Arnetha Gholston of Chicago, who passed | 4 | | away on February 14, 2019; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Arnetha Gholston was born on July 15, 1958; she | 6 | | was raised in rural Alabama and on Chicago's West Side; her | 7 | | first teacher and mentor was her mother, Amanda Gholston, who | 8 | | instilled in her the tenets of hard work, religion, family | 9 | | values, and taking care of those in need in the neighborhood; | 10 | | she was educated in the Chicago public schools; she earned her | 11 | | certification as a paralegal from Roosevelt University and her | 12 | | associate's degree from Kennedy-King Jr. College; she | 13 | | graduated from the Illinois Metropolitan School of Business; | 14 | | she earned her recreational pilot license from Griffin Aviation | 15 | | School of Flying and also had her real estate license, loan | 16 | | officer license, and State of Illinois Food Handlers Sanitation | 17 | | License; she was a first aid mental health specialist and | 18 | | received a certification for working with veterans with PTSD | 19 | | through the National Alliance on Mental Illnesses (NAMI); and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Arnetha Gholston began working in the family real | 21 | | estate business at a young age, where she learned the value of | 22 | | owning property; with a partner, she opened a floor maintenance | 23 | | service company and hired many of the people from her |
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| 1 | | neighborhood; she opened a business incubator, offering | 2 | | mentoring and space for people interested in developing their | 3 | | businesses; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Arnetha Gholston became interested in the plight | 5 | | of veterans after meeting her husband and partner, Daniel B. | 6 | | Habeel, a devoted Muslim and disabled veteran; she worked with | 7 | | him to develop the Muslim American Veteran Association (MAVA) | 8 | | and the Auxiliary of the organization, where she became the | 9 | | first National Auxiliary Commander; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Arnetha Gholston was the Executive Director and | 11 | | co-founder of the RTW Veteran Center, where she worked | 12 | | alongside her husband; the veteran center was labeled the | 13 | | "Miracle of 55th Street" by one reporter, and as she continued | 14 | | her work, she became known as the "Mother Theresa of 55th | 15 | | Street"; one of the center's most popular programs was the soup | 16 | | kitchen, known as "Ms. Arnetha's Kitchen," where she worked as | 17 | | many as 15 hours a day, seven days a week, preparing meals, | 18 | | serving homeless veterans and others breakfast, lunch, and | 19 | | dinner; during her time at the center, she served over 300,000 | 20 | | meals; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, As a community activist, Arnetha Gholston | 22 | | belonged to many organizations and received awards and honors | 23 | | from a variety of groups, including the Muslim community; she |
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| 1 | | was invited to participate and to speak at many different | 2 | | events and institutions, including the United Nations; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Arnetha Gholston was a devoted mother to her two | 4 | | children and embraced and loved all six of her husband's | 5 | | children; she was a grandmother to nine grandchildren; | 6 | | therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | 8 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 9 | | Arnetha Gholston and extend our sincere condolences to her | 10 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it | 11 | | further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 13 | | presented to the family of Arnetha Gholston as an expression of | 14 | | our deepest sympathy.
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