TRIBUTE TO LYNN VICTOR -- (Extensions of Remarks - November 16, 2004)
SPEECH OF
HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2004
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Lynn Victor of Santa Rosa, California, who retires after a remarkable 30-year career of creative and innovative work to improve the lives of low-income Americans.
Beginning at the Community Action Council of San Joaquin County in the 1970's, Lynn created innovative solutions to the needs of low-income communities. As energy costs rose, she helped to develop and then administered the Nation's first home weatherization programs funded by state regulated utility companies. Based on its great success, regulated utility companies in 22 states now provide weatherization services to millions of their low-income customers around the Nation. These programs not only help disadvantaged families reduce their energy costs, they also conserve energy for America, helping toward energy self-sufficiency and reduced dependence on foreign oil.
Lynn then went on to design the Nation's first education program to help low-income and non-English speaking communities understand the deregulation of the telephone industry, enabling them to obtain and keep vital telephone service at the lowest possible cost. She designed a program to help millions of low-income people understand the privacy and security implications of new telephone technology. In this effort, she created education materials in 32 languages and Braille so that, for the first time, major telephone companies were able to reach California's huge immigrant populations through community action agencies, domestic violence shelters and other community based organizations. Once again, this program became a model for utility companies throughout the Nation to understand and address the needs of their hard-to-reach customers and bring them important consumer protection information.
Lynn's work has always featured collaborations with Community Action Agencies (CAA's), our Nation's network of over 1,000 anti-poverty agencies that serve millions of low-income Americans. CAA's operate Head Start, Energy Assistance Programs, Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and other services that reach millions of disadvantaged Americans. For the past 4 years, Lynn has worked as Executive Director of the California/Nevada Community Action Partnership, helping this two state association of CAA's address the causes and symptoms of poverty in their communities.
An immigrant born in England, Lynn grew up in New Zealand, arriving in America in 1963. As a single parent of Michael, Lizabeth and Kristina Victor, Lynn had many hardships to face with no family to turn to. However, she found her new family in her community.
Mr. Speaker, as innovator, organizer and inspiration, this remarkable woman exemplifies the spirit of American immigrants who contribute so much to the vibrancy of our Nation. She is leaving her post having set a new standard for all who will follow after her, and she has put into place programs that will serve the neediest of us well in the future. Thank you, Lynn.