By Coleman                                             H.R. No. 239
         77R4061 MDM-F                           
                                 R E S O L U T I O N
 1-1           WHEREAS, The Senior Service Corps is a network of 35,000
 1-2     active senior volunteers who bring a wealth of invaluable
 1-3     experience, skills, talents, interests, and creativity to bear on
 1-4     community problems facing the Lone Star State; and
 1-5           WHEREAS, The Senior Service Corps programs have mobilized
 1-6     older Texans to provide positive solutions to community challenges
 1-7     in such vital areas as education, public safety, health and human
 1-8     services, and the environment; and
 1-9           WHEREAS, In 2000 alone, senior volunteers donated more than
1-10     seven million hours of service to assist 1.8 million Texans through
1-11     the three components of the Senior Service Corps--the Retired and
1-12     Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), the Foster Grandparent Program,
1-13     and the Senior Companion Program, with the estimated combined value
1-14     of these services reaching more than $200 million; and
1-15           WHEREAS, The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program provides
1-16     opportunities for people 55 years and older to help their
1-17     communities as volunteers, including the chance to serve 32,000
1-18     children through tutoring, mentoring, and literacy programs; more
1-19     than 33,000 RSVP volunteers serve from a few to more than 40 hours
1-20     a week, providing more than 13 million hours of time donated to
1-21     public and nonprofit organizations that range from education
1-22     centers to police departments to hospitals; and
1-23           WHEREAS, The Foster Grandparent Program offers low-income
1-24     seniors age 60 and older opportunities to serve as mentors, tutors,
 2-1     and caregivers for 17,000 Texas children and youth with special
 2-2     needs; foster grandparents offer emotional support to children who
 2-3     have been abused and neglected, mentor troubled teens and young
 2-4     mothers, and care for premature infants and children with physical
 2-5     disabilities; and
 2-6           WHEREAS, The Senior Companion Program provides low-income
 2-7     seniors age 60 and older meaningful opportunities to donate
 2-8     caregiver support to frail and homebound elderly who need
 2-9     person-to-person support because of loneliness, illness, or
2-10     disabilities; by taking care of simple chores, providing
2-11     transportation to medical appointments, and offering contact to the
2-12     outside world, senior companions provide the essential services
2-13     that enable more than 1,700 frail older Texans to continue to live
2-14     in their own homes; and
2-15           WHEREAS, The Senior Service Corps represents one of our
2-16     state's most precious natural resources--the collective wisdom and
2-17     the ability of older citizens to make a difference in our
2-18     communities--and it is most appropriate that the members of this
2-19     exemplary organization be recognized for their assistance to their
2-20     fellow Texans; now, therefore, be it
2-21           RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 77th Texas
2-22     Legislature hereby express its deepest gratitude to the volunteers
2-23     of the Senior Service Corps for their dedication to bettering the
2-24     quality of life for citizens of all ages in the Lone Star State.