Full Text of HR0489 099th General Assembly
HR0489 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, | 3 | | affectionately known as KOCO, was founded by community and | 4 | | religious leaders in 1965 and celebrates its 50th year of | 5 | | existence this year; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, KOCO was incorporated 2 years later in 1967 and | 7 | | had as its first Executive Director the esteemed and | 8 | | internationally recognized Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Curtis L. Burrell became KOCO's second | 10 | | Executive Director from 1967 to 1971 and, through partnerships | 11 | | with the Community Renewal Society and other community | 12 | | institutions, provided landmark employment and child care | 13 | | initiatives; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, An organizer with the world-renowned Congress of | 15 | | Racial Equality (CORE), Robert L. Lucas, joined KOCO as its | 16 | | coordinator for leadership training in 1969; he became the | 17 | | Chairman of the Board of Directors in 1972 and then became its | 18 | | third Executive Director in 1975, serving in that capacity | 19 | | until 2000; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, KOCO members organized to get the Martin Luther | 21 | | King, Jr. High School built in 1971 in order to replace the |
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| 1 | | overcrowded Forrestville High School; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, KOCO members organized to get the Kenwood Oakland | 3 | | Medical, Limited (KOMED) health clinic opened in 1975, which | 4 | | later merged with the Holman health clinic in 1997, to provide | 5 | | quality health care to low-income and working families in the | 6 | | north Kenwood-Oakland community; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, KOCO members organized to erect the Woodlake | 8 | | Village Townhomes in 1988 to provide affordable housing for | 9 | | more than 70 families on a parcel of land that had become an | 10 | | unsanctioned waste dump in the middle of the community; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, The first African-American Mayor of Chicago, | 12 | | Harold Washington, broke ground at the site of what would | 13 | | become the Woodlake Village Townhomes in 1987 - the morning of | 14 | | the day he died in office; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, KOCO members organized to create another 300 units | 16 | | of affordable housing in the north Kenwood-Oakland community to | 17 | | provide safe, decent, and quality housing for families in need; | 18 | | and | 19 | | WHEREAS, KOCO members played a significant role in the work | 20 | | that led to the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988, which called | 21 | | for the creation of local school councils, and with it, 5 |
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| 1 | | consecutive years of improved standardized test scores; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, KOCO members led the call for balanced community | 3 | | development in north Kenwood-Oakland that did not result in | 4 | | displacing residents, which led to the creation of a shopping | 5 | | center and the designation of north Kenwood-Oakland as a | 6 | | community conservation area; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, KOCO has a long and distinguished history of | 8 | | providing youth development programming - a summer day camp | 9 | | since 1992 and an afterschool program since 1995 - to serve | 10 | | low-income and working families who are unable to afford most | 11 | | comparable programs; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Jhatayn "Jay" Travis served as KOCO's fourth | 13 | | Executive Director from 2000 to 2012 and ushered in a | 14 | | renaissance of its community organizing activities - | 15 | | challenging slum lords and school-closing advocates and | 16 | | refocusing its attention on grassroots leadership development; | 17 | | and | 18 | | WHEREAS, KOCO was one of the first community-based | 19 | | organizations to certify parents and residents as local school | 20 | | council trainers and have since provided training for hundreds | 21 | | of local school council members throughout Chicago; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, KOCO members organized to get a community benefits | 2 | | agreement signed to protect community residents from being | 3 | | displaced and added provisions to improve the community if | 4 | | Chicago won its bid for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, KOCO members led the charge in working with the | 6 | | Illinois General Assembly and the Office of the Governor to | 7 | | secure increased resources for summer youth employment | 8 | | throughout Illinois to offer a solution to the scourge of | 9 | | violence plaguing our communities; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, KOCO members have traveled abroad, received | 11 | | international recognition, and hosted distinguished foreign | 12 | | guests in its service to the ideals of social justice; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, KOCO has been honored throughout the years by the | 14 | | hard work of its community members and leaders to provide a | 15 | | litany of unnamed benefits and protections to some of the most | 16 | | vulnerable populations of people in the City of Chicago, the | 17 | | State of Illinois, and beyond; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, KOCO is currently led by its fifth Executive | 19 | | Director, J. Brian Malone, and has maintained its use of | 20 | | community organizing as its primary methodology to create | 21 | | change for low-income and working families in the north | 22 | | Kenwood-Oakland community; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 2 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 3 | | celebrate the 50th anniversary of the courageous leadership | 4 | | that led to the creation of the Kenwood Oakland Community | 5 | | Organization; and be it further | 6 | | RESOLVED, That we honor the distinguished record of service | 7 | | that the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization has provided to | 8 | | low-income and working families throughout Illinois; and be it | 9 | | further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 11 | | presented to the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization as an | 12 | | expression of our esteem and respect.
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