Full Text of SR0418 095th General Assembly
SR0418 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
SR0418 |
|
LRB095 14069 KXB 39921 r |
|
| 1 |
| SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of Dr. Terra L. Thomas of Chicago, who | 4 |
| recently passed away; and
| 5 |
| WHEREAS, Dr. Terra L. Thomas was born on October 16, 1947, | 6 |
| in Easton, Maryland; she was a graduate of Morgan State | 7 |
| University and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.; | 8 |
| October 2007 would have been her 30-year reunion with her | 9 |
| sorority line; and
| 10 |
| WHEREAS, Dr. Thomas received her doctorate in Psychology | 11 |
| from Adelphi University; for almost 40 years, she worked as a | 12 |
| counselor, a motivator, an educator, a mentor (especially to | 13 |
| women), a teacher, and advisor to all who solicited her wisdom; | 14 |
| and
| 15 |
| WHEREAS,
Dr. Thomas became the President and CEO of Human | 16 |
| Resources Development Institute, Inc. (HRDI) in 2004, after the | 17 |
| passing of the agency's co-founder, Dr. C. Vincent Bakeman; the | 18 |
| agency provides behavioral health services, with more than | 19 |
| 18,000 clients in Illinois and 5 other states; she had been | 20 |
| with the agency since 1978 and worked in various capacities in | 21 |
| all areas of behavioral health care; she was a child | 22 |
| psychologist and consulted with hospitals and charter schools |
|
|
|
SR0418 |
- 2 - |
LRB095 14069 KXB 39921 r |
|
| 1 |
| nationwide; for eleven years, she served as an associate | 2 |
| faculty member at Northwestern University Medical School's | 3 |
| Institute of Psychiatry, where she provided clinical | 4 |
| supervision to the professional staff and graduate students; | 5 |
| she served as a board member for Illinois Alcoholism & Drug | 6 |
| Dependence Association (IADDA); Community Behavioral | 7 |
| Healthcare Association (CBHA) of Illinois; International | 8 |
| Council on Alcoholism and Addiction (ICAA); Governor's | 9 |
| Taskforce for the consolidation of the departments of substance | 10 |
| abuse and alcoholism in 1984, and Corporate Council on Africa | 11 |
| (CCA) from 2004-2006; and
| 12 |
| WHEREAS, She traveled and consulted worldwide, including | 13 |
| service as a Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Health of | 14 |
| South Africa, as an Expert Trainer for the United Nations Drug | 15 |
| Control Programs in Western Africa, and as a trainer in | 16 |
| Cultural Competency for various diverse populations; she | 17 |
| consulted with the Presidents of Zambia, Nigeria, Mozambique, | 18 |
| and Liberia; she represented the United States Office of Drug | 19 |
| Control in Peru; she served as an expert consultant and trainer | 20 |
| to the United States Offices of the National Institute of Drug | 21 |
| Abuse, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention throughout the | 22 |
| United States and assisted in substance abuse prevention and | 23 |
| AIDS in the Virgin Islands; and
| 24 |
| WHEREAS, Dr. Thomas was a designer and trainer for various |
|
|
|
SR0418 |
- 3 - |
LRB095 14069 KXB 39921 r |
|
| 1 |
| HIV/AIDS outreach education and prevention models, including | 2 |
| being a co-founder of the AIDS Foundation Chicago, a co-founder | 3 |
| of the Midwest Training and Education Center (MATEC), based at | 4 |
| the University of Illinois-Chicago, a founding member of the | 5 |
| Illinois AIDS Advisory Board, and a consultant to the United | 6 |
| States government on the prevention of the spread of AIDS among | 7 |
| the mentally ill and youth; and | 8 |
| WHEREAS, Dr. Thomas still found time to spend and to travel | 9 |
| the world with her three children; she was her children's | 10 |
| biggest fan and the biggest supporter of their activities in | 11 |
| music, sports, and performing arts;
Dr. Thomas and her children | 12 |
| were active members of the Apostolic Church of God;
Dr. Terra | 13 |
| Thomas is survived by her sons, Rheaves and Brooks; her | 14 |
| brothers, Ronald Thomas, Dwayne Thomas, and Albert Nash; her | 15 |
| seven nieces; her two nephews; her grandmother Nellie | 16 |
| Leatherberry; her four aunts; her three uncles; and a host of | 17 |
| cousins, friends, and associates; therefore, be it
| 18 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 19 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 20 |
| her family and friends, the passing of Dr. Terra L. Thomas; and | 21 |
| be it further
| 22 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 23 |
| presented to the family of Dr. Terra L. Thomas as a symbol of |
|
|
|
SR0418 |
- 4 - |
LRB095 14069 KXB 39921 r |
|
| 1 |
| our sympathy.
|
|