Full Text of HR0382 94th General Assembly
HR0382 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives were saddened to learn of the death of William | 4 |
| Leslie Brown of Chicago; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Brown was born on November 24, 1940; he grew | 6 |
| up in Doraville, Georgia, before moving in 1968 to Chicago | 7 |
| where he subsequently became a strong leader and articulate | 8 |
| advocate for homeless families and individuals and for | 9 |
| low-income people who struggle to avoid homelessness; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1980, with the help of Jewish Council on Urban | 11 |
| Affairs, Catholic Charities, and his then employer the | 12 |
| Travelers and Immigrants Aid Society, Les Brown founded the | 13 |
| Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and became its first board | 14 |
| president; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1988, he left his position as Director of | 16 |
| Social Work Services at the Travelers and Immigrants Aid | 17 |
| Society to become Executive Director of the Chicago Coalition | 18 |
| for the Homeless; and
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| WHEREAS, He continued to serve the Chicago Coalition for | 20 |
| the Homeless as Director of Policy and was the Coalition's | 21 |
| chief strategist and "idea man" until his untimely death from
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| cancer on April 11; and
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| WHEREAS, In his various positions of leadership, Les Brown | 24 |
| employed his great sense of humor coupled with gentleness and | 25 |
| respect for all individuals; and
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| WHEREAS, He became an accomplished jazz and blues pianist | 27 |
| and used his musical skills to draw people to share his concern | 28 |
| for poor and low-income people; and
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| WHEREAS, He artfully combined work and fun and repeatedly | 2 |
| expressed his thanks and appreciation for the skills of medical | 3 |
| professionals and a gift of a transplanted heart in 1984 that | 4 |
| enabled him to work and live fully for an additional 20-plus | 5 |
| years; and
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| WHEREAS, Les Brown founded Growing Home and cleverly used | 7 |
| federal law to get the U.S. government to give it land in | 8 |
| Chicago and then in Marseilles, where it teaches agriculture | 9 |
| skills and operates a model job-training program that has | 10 |
| graduated 60 formerly homeless individuals over the past four | 11 |
| years; and
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| WHEREAS, He was a founder and former president of the | 13 |
| Illinois Coalition for the Homeless, a founding board member of | 14 |
| the weekly newspaper, Streetwise, and a steering committee | 15 |
| member of the Homeless Prevention Project, the Illinois | 16 |
| Coordinating Council on the Homeless, and the City Task Force | 17 |
| on Homelessness; a board member of the Public Welfare Coalition | 18 |
| and Center for Economic Progress; a member of the Chicago | 19 |
| Low-Income Housing Trust Fund Group and the Illinois Department | 20 |
| of Children and Family Services' Advisory Committee on Youth | 21 |
| Homelessness, and a former board member of the National | 22 |
| Coalition for the Homeless; and
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| WHEREAS, His passing will be deeply felt by his family, | 24 |
| friends, and co-workers, especially his wife, Diana Leifer; his | 25 |
| son, Jesse Brown, and his daughter, Mari Herreras-Zinman; his | 26 |
| sister, Claudia Lewis; and his grandson and granddaughter; | 27 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 29 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 30 |
| we mourn the death of Les Brown along with all who knew and | 31 |
| loved him and extend our sincerest condolences to his family | 32 |
| and friends; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 |
| presented to his family as an expression of our deepest | 3 |
| sympathy.
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