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Floor Speech
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Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of SuEllen Fried. A shining example of a public servant, SuEllen made the lives of everyone around her brighter, particularly those who often went unseen.
SuEllen began dancing in the St. Louis Muny Opera when she was 17. Later, she received her master's degree in dance therapy and creative arts from Park University. While she had not planned a career in dance therapy, her desire to spread joy to others naturally led her to that vocation. One day she was asked if she would come to Osawatomie State Hospital to give cha-cha lessons to psychiatric patients there. At the time of the initial request, she didn't know how to cha-cha, but she ensured she led a class that was joyful and treated each participant with dignity. The class turned out to be a polestar moment in SuEllen's life, and she spent the following 17 years working at the hospital as a dance therapist and became the 100th person registered to do so nationwide.
SuEllen was also passionate about protecting children. She wrote or co-authored seven books on bullying and spoke at schools in 37 states to raise awareness at a time when bullying was an issue that received little attention. She also started the first state chapter of the organization that would later become Prevent Child Abuse America and served on the organization's board.
It was through her work with children that SuEllen became involved with the justice system. In 1978, she received a newsletter that said that 80 percent of individuals who were incarcerated for lifetime sentences at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kansas, had been abused as children. As a result, she had a series of conversations with the authors of the newsletter, which ultimately led to the 400- page Blue Book on the causes and results of violence. In 1982, that book became the centerpiece of the organization she co-founded. Reaching Out From Within, a program led by justice-involved individuals to empower and heal each other. That program has now been adopted into every state prison in Kansas.
The last time SuEllen left her home before her death, it was to say farewell to her friends in the Lansing Correctional Facility.
SuEllen received a variety of honors throughout her life, including serving on President Richard Nixon's task force on mental health, being named as one of President George H. W. Bush's 1000 Points of Light, and receiving the American Red Cross Humanitarian Award.
I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the life of SuEllen Fried. She was a tireless advocate for the voiceless, a star whose light will forever be shining.
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