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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate the Coalition of Limited | ||||||
| 4 | English Speaking Elderly (CLESE) on the occasion of its 30th | ||||||
| 5 | anniversary; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Founded in 1989, CLESE is a membership | ||||||
| 7 | organization with the mission of serving immigrant and refugee | ||||||
| 8 | older adults of all races and ethnicities; it aims to improve | ||||||
| 9 | the lives of limited-English-speaking older adults by | ||||||
| 10 | providing leadership, education, and advocacy; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, Illinois is home to over 250,000 individuals 60 | ||||||
| 12 | years and older, who were born outside of the United States; | ||||||
| 13 | the only way most limited-English-speaking elderly receive the | ||||||
| 14 | services for which they are eligible is through a provider who | ||||||
| 15 | speaks their language and, more importantly, understands their | ||||||
| 16 | culture; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, CLESE speaks over 100 languages and dialects and | ||||||
| 18 | represents 51 ethno-linguistic member organizations that serve | ||||||
| 19 | minority communities in the State; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, Over 15,000 limited-English speaking elderly, | ||||||
| 21 | one-sixth of the State's total clients, receive Community Care | ||||||
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| 1 | Program Services from CLESE member organizations; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, CLESE has won many awards, including the Brookdale | ||||||
| 3 | Award for its pioneering work in developing home care training | ||||||
| 4 | material and in serving ethnic clients with ethnic home care | ||||||
| 5 | workers, the Innovations in Caregiving Award from the National | ||||||
| 6 | Council on Aging, the Healthcare Aging Award and the NOMA Award | ||||||
| 7 | for Excellence in Multicultural Aging from the American Society | ||||||
| 8 | on Aging, the John Feather Diversity Award from the Grantmakers | ||||||
| 9 | in Aging, and the John A. Hartford 2018 Business Innovation | ||||||
| 10 | award from the Business and Disability Institute; therefore, be | ||||||
| 11 | it
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| 12 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 13 | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 14 | we congratulate the Coalition of Limited English Speaking | ||||||
| 15 | Elderly on the occasion of its 30th anniversary and commend its | ||||||
| 16 | dedication to increasing awareness of the needs, rights, and | ||||||
| 17 | unique contributions of limited-English-speaking older adults | ||||||
| 18 | and the community-based ethnic agencies that serve them; and be | ||||||
| 19 | it further
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| 20 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 21 | presented to Marta Pereyra, Executive Director of CLESE, as an | ||||||
| 22 | expression of our esteem and respect.
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