HR1175 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1175 LRB093 23552 RCE 53550 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives wish to congratulate the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago on the occasion of the dedication of Fred C. Matthews III Senior Housing Center; and

WHEREAS, The building, dedicated on September 10, 2004, is named for the Association's Senior Vice President of Company Relations and is a tribute to Fred C. Matthews III's 38 years of service to the YMCA and Chicago; and

WHEREAS, The Fred C. Matthews III building will provide 60 accessible, affordable apartments for persons over 62 years of age; each apartment will consist of a living-dining room area, a bedroom with closets, a kitchen, and a private bath; all apartments will be fully accessible for persons with disabilities, and the first floor of each building will have meeting rooms with warming kitchens, a lounge area with an entertainment center, a craft room, a library, and a computer room with four computers; full-time social service coordinators will assist residents on site, and free YMCA membership will be provided to each resident; and

WHEREAS, Fred C. Matthews III began his YMCA career in 1966 in the JOBS Program (Job Opportunity through Better Skills); in 1971, at the age of 29, he became the youngest District Director in the history of YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, with responsibility for 16 YMCA centers in the south district; he is a co-founder of West Side Future, YMCA, the Associations's infant mortality reduction initiative, which has contributed to dramatic decreases in infant mortality since its inception more than 20 years ago; he became Executive Director of the Duncan YMCA in 1985 and became Vice President and a member of the corporate staff of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago in 1990; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Matthews has been a long-time patron of the arts, and his work has led to the creation and growth of the first YMCA in the country dedicated to the performing arts, Duncan YMCA Chernin Center for the Arts; he also co-created the Chicago YMCA's Black and Hispanic Achievers Program to foster leadership and mentoring among area teens; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Matthews' involvement in the life of Chicago has stretched beyond the YMCA; in addition to his service as an assistant treasurer of the Illinois Arts Alliance's Board of Directors, he is a member of the Chicago Department of Human Services' Committee on Urban Opportunity Advisory Board, 100 Black Men, Inc., The Chicago Urban League, the NAACP, Rainbow PUSH, and the Original Forty Club; he is also a trustee of Grant Memorial AME Church in Chicago and a member of the Grant Men's Club; he teaches Sunday school, and in 1999, he chaired the church's 85th Anniversary Celebration; his leadership as Secretary of Grant Memorial Housing and Economic Development Corporation and President of the Grant Village Corporation has led to the development of Grant Village, an 80-unit senior housing complex on South Drexel Boulevard, as well as the rehabilitation of 66 housing units in the community surrounding the church; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Matthews graduated from Southern University in 1962 with a B.A. in sociology; while there, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army and was listed in Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities; he served one year of his military duty in Korea and completed his military service as an Army Captain in 1965; he is a lifetime member of the Southern University Alumni Association and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and is active in the Chicago chapter of the Southern University Alumni Association and the Chicago Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Matthews and his wife of 41 years, the former Roslyn Nix, have two daughters, Genease Dionne Matthews and Rhonda Matthews McMillan; they have one grandchild, Rayne Alexa McMillan; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago on the occasion of the dedication of the Fred C. Matthews III Senior Housing Center, and we thank Mr. Matthews for his extensive work at the YMCA and in Chicago; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago and to Mr. Fred C. Matthews III.