HR0382 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0382 LRB094 12215 CSA 45767 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives were saddened to learn of the death of William Leslie Brown of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Brown was born on November 24, 1940; he grew up in Doraville, Georgia, before moving in 1968 to Chicago where he subsequently became a strong leader and articulate advocate for homeless families and individuals and for low-income people who struggle to avoid homelessness; and

WHEREAS, In 1980, with the help of Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Catholic Charities, and his then employer the Travelers and Immigrants Aid Society, Les Brown founded the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and became its first board president; and

WHEREAS, In 1988, he left his position as Director of Social Work Services at the Travelers and Immigrants Aid Society to become Executive Director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless; and

WHEREAS, He continued to serve the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless as Director of Policy and was the Coalition's chief strategist and "idea man" until his untimely death from cancer on April 11; and

WHEREAS, In his various positions of leadership, Les Brown employed his great sense of humor coupled with gentleness and respect for all individuals; and

WHEREAS, He became an accomplished jazz and blues pianist and used his musical skills to draw people to share his concern for poor and low-income people; and

WHEREAS, He artfully combined work and fun and repeatedly expressed his thanks and appreciation for the skills of medical professionals and a gift of a transplanted heart in 1984 that enabled him to work and live fully for an additional 20-plus years; and

WHEREAS, Les Brown founded Growing Home and cleverly used federal law to get the U.S. government to give it land in Chicago and then in Marseilles, where it teaches agriculture skills and operates a model job-training program that has graduated 60 formerly homeless individuals over the past four years; and

WHEREAS, He was a founder and former president of the Illinois Coalition for the Homeless, a founding board member of the weekly newspaper, Streetwise, and a steering committee member of the Homeless Prevention Project, the Illinois Coordinating Council on the Homeless, and the City Task Force on Homelessness; a board member of the Public Welfare Coalition and Center for Economic Progress; a member of the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund Group and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services' Advisory Committee on Youth Homelessness, and a former board member of the National Coalition for the Homeless; and

WHEREAS, His passing will be deeply felt by his family, friends, and co-workers, especially his wife, Diana Leifer; his son, Jesse Brown, and his daughter, Mari Herreras-Zinman; his sister, Claudia Lewis; and his grandson and granddaughter; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of Les Brown along with all who knew and loved him and extend our sincerest condolences to his family and friends; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to his family as an expression of our deepest sympathy.