SR0787 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0787 LRB103 39676 LAW 70072 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to congratulate Shelton Kay on the occasion of being named executive director of the Rockford Regional Health Council; and

WHEREAS, The Rockford Regional Health Council, located within the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford, is a 42-year-old nonprofit organization that works to improve community health through data collection and analysis, education, outreach, and advocacy; and

WHEREAS, Shelton Kay, a 50-year Rockford resident originally from Ohio, succeeded Becky Cook Kendall as the executive director of the Rockford Regional Health Council in December 2023; and

WHEREAS, Shelton Kay came to the Rockford Regional Health Council with decades of experience in working with vulnerable and underserved populations; and

WHEREAS, Shelton Kay previously served Crusader Community Health for 30 years, starting as a case manager with its Living with HIV program and Health Care for the Homeless initiative in September 1993 and retiring as vice president of community services in June 2023; and

WHEREAS, Prior to serving Crusader Community Health, Shelton Kay worked as a teacher with Rockford Public Schools for 15 years, where he taught dance and was among the district's first teachers of the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA); and

WHEREAS, Shelton Kay has expressed plans to raise awareness about the Rockford Regional Health Council, to conduct the annual Healthy Community Study, to help improve health literacy, especially among local youth, to improve access to primary and oral health care for low-income populations, and to improve individual social and emotional health; and

WHEREAS, Shelton Kay's experience in region-wide, community-based collaboration will expand the Rockford Regional Health Council's impact and propel its mission to improve community health through data gathering and analysis, education, outreach, and advocacy; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Shelton Kay on being named executive director of the Rockford Regional Health Council; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Shelton Kay as an expression of our esteem and respect.