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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01181994 - H.3 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA DATE: January 18, 1994 MATTER OF RECORD ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ At the conclusion of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration . Ceremony, Chair Tom Powers presented awards to the following: 1994 Humanitarian of .the Year - Lloyd Madden 1994 Honorable Mention - Gray Wiley Special Recognition Award Posthumously - Teresita Bravo-Paredes THIS IS A MATTER FOR RECORD PURPOSES ONLY NO BOARD ACTION TAKEN Community Services DepartmentChild Development 374-3994 Contra Communty Action 313-7363 Costa Food Service 374-3850 Administration Head Start 646-5540 1220 Morello Avenue, Suite 101 County Housing and Energy 646-5756 Martinez, California 94553-4711 1 o 1 1 n t�/ PATHS 427-8094 (510)313-7350 v U y Fax: (510)313-7385 Joan V.Sparks, Director x, Biu' 1y RECEIVED Sr'9 COUx� r,, sa December 27, 1993 7PEG 1993 CLERK BOARD OF SUPERVISORS To: All Department Heads CONTRA COSTA CO. From: Joan Spark , SD Director Subject: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS SELECTS HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors is pleased to announce the name of the 1994 Humanitarian of the Year Award winner and two individuals selected as winner in the Honorable Mention category: The Awards will be presented at the Board of Supervisor's 16th Annual Commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday and the Humanitarian of the Year celebration, January 18, 1994 in the Board of Supervisors Chamber, 651 Pine Street. Martinez, at 11:00 a.m. The public is invited to attend. We are proud that the keynote speaker at this important event will be Grantland L. Johnson who was recently appointed by HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala as Regional Director for Region IX of the Department of Health and Human Services. As Regional Director, Johnson, 45, is Secretary Shalala's representative in coordinating the administration and implementation of the secretary's policies throughout the region, including governmental affairs at the state, county and municipal levels. He serves as a liaison with the public, interest groups, governors, mayors and other local officials with whom HHS deals. Region IX, with headquarters in San Francisco, includes Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Guam and American Samoa. Before assuming his new position, Johnson had served since 1987 in the elected office of county supervisor in Sacramento County. During 1983-1986, Johnson was a member of the Sacramento City Council. Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer 1994 HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR - LLOYD MADDEN: Lloyd Madden has for over twenty five years contributed his time and energy to protect the rights of all people in this County. Mr. Madden is the President of the Richmond Branch of the NAACP, a Hercules resident and North Richmond native. He is considered a role model for young people in the Richmond-North Richmond communities. Lloyd Madden is viewed as being directly responsible for organizing a youth council group within the NAACP to draw more youth people into the organization and solve problems in the community. He also worked with the city of Richmond Neighborhood Services Division, and in cooperation with the Neighborhood council, holding neighborhood meetings throughout Richmond with a vision to help bring peace and purpose to the city. He is especially committed to issues of violence, high unemployment, AIDS and environmental injustices. 1994 HONORABLE MENTION - GRAY WILEY: Gray Wiley , recently retired Director of Project Second Chance for the Contra Costa County Library's Adult Literacy Program has reached out to the community through newspapers, N, and speaking engagements to local agencies, schools and service organization concerning the literacy needs in the county. Gray clearly feels that education through free one-on-one tutoring can provide options for adults whose limited literacy skills may make it difficult for them to find or keep employment, assist'their children with homework, or be active informed members of their community. Gray has trained hundred of volunteers to tutor at various times and locations around the county. Gray's hard work in the field of literacy continues even though she retired last June. She continues to volunteer by writing grants, training tutors, attending meetings and helping adults with disabilities find alternative ways to learn. Gray's dream is to help any adult again the skills they need to function independently in their families, jobs and communities. SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD POSTHUMOUSLY, TERESITA BRAVO-PAREDES: Tessie Parades lived Martin Luther King's dream that every person regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, or sexual orientation has a right to all freedoms granted by the constitution. Tessie was one of the first commissioners appointed to the Concord Human Relations Commission in 1986 and served as the official liaison from Concord HRC to the Contra Costa County Human Relations Commission. Tessie was a founder of the Bay Area Filipinos for Affirmative Action; the Filipino American Political Association, the Filipino American Democratic Caucus, and the National Filipino Immigrant Rights Organization. She served until her untimely death, at the age of 43, as a member of several board of local community based organizations. Her commitment to civil rights was not limited to the Filipino community, she emerged as a strong and visible leader for civil and hung rights, building bridges and alliance with other communities, Asian, Latino, African American and white. She faced on a personal level some of the most controversial issues of our day-- racism and homophobia. Empowerment became her mission. Empowerment not only for disenfranchised ethnic communities, but for women as well. She relished the sight of women in leadership and provided support and encouragement to numerous women-- young and not so young--challenging them to take on leadership roles. In her community Tessie was very well respected and was literally a one person social service organization in Contra Costa County. She would be approached on everything from finding shelter for a battered woman to supporting a union organizing drive for convalescent home workers. Despite her many honors and acknowledgments she remained humble and self- effacing. No matter how bad things got, or how tired she became, Tessie could still find humor in her work and remained optimistic about the future.