U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern's Remarks at the National Community Development Association 2004 Audrey Nelson Awards Breakfast

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern's Remarks at the National Community Development Association 2004 Audrey Nelson Awards Breakfast

Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC

Good morning. I'm honored to join all of you here for the National Community Development Association's annual awards breakfast.

I am especially pleased that you have chosen to recognize a truly remarkable and very deserving organization from my district with your distinguished award this year-the Fall River Child Development Program.

But before I go any further, let me just say that all of the organizations represented in this room deserve to be congratulated.
For years it has been community development agencies that have improved our cities and towns brick by brick - house by house - block by block - and many times, family by family.

So, simply, thank you for the important and inspiring work you do.

I have the privilege of representing the City of Fall River with my colleague and friend Congressman Barney Frank and I want you all to know that this is a city that fights for its citizens and its future - not just in words but by its deeds.

Mayor Ed Lambert and Steve Young at the Fall River Community Development Agency are among those dedicated municipal leaders who truly 'get it' - they understand what the federal Block Grant Program was designed to do-and they maximize every single dollar of investment it provides.

Thirty-one years ago - the City of Fall River made a wise investment in its future when it provided block grant funding to begin the Fall River Child Development Program.

At that time, block grant funding comprised 90% of the organization's start-up costs. Today, federal block grant funds count for less than 1% of the program's $1.6 million budget.

That is a noteworthy achievement to be sure but the real success of the Fall River Child Development Program can't be measured in numbers or percentages.

It can only be measured by the lives that it has transformed and the hope it has given to an untold number of families during its long, proud history.

Right now, there are 180 three to five-year-old children of low and moderate income families in Fall River that are receiving preschool education, childcare and parental support from this wonderful organization.

Many, if not most, of these families are led by single-mothers who otherwise would not be able to meet the demands of their job, complete their education or receive job-training without the invaluable service that the Fall River Child Development Program provides.

I wish some of my colleagues in this building would visit the Fall River Child Development Program - it might remind them how we build futures in this country - not by blaming people, or punishing them but by empowering them.

The Fall River Child Development Program does that - it gives children and their parents the start they need to succeed and it will continue to do that for many more years to come.

And now, I'd like to invite Dennis Oliveira, the Executive Director of the Fall River Child Development Program, to come forward to accept this most-deserving award.