LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring Jane Elven upon the occasion of her
retirement after 40 years of distinguished service to the cause of human
rights and social justice

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body seeks to acknowledge those individuals
whose professional lives and civic endeavors serve to enhance the stat-
ure of the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to honor Jane
Elven upon the occasion of her retirement after 40 years of distin-
guished service to the cause of human rights and social justice; and
WHEREAS, Jane Elven has worked for peace, human rights and social
justice for over forty years; as a student at UCLA, she became active in
the peace movement during the Viet Nam war; she soon learned that many
of the men who advocated for peace were less than peaceful in their
relationships with women; and
WHEREAS, Jane Elven then joined with a group of women who created a
rape crisis hotline, an underground network of safe homes for battered
women, a feminist women's health clinic, the West Side Women's Center,
the Los Angeles Women's Building, and a feminist child care network; and
WHEREAS, In 1976, Jane Elven moved to upstate New York, and helped to
found a Women's Center in Mahopac; when she moved to Woodstock in 1980,
she met Bonnie Wagner who had written a grant to open a Battered Women's
shelter through Family; and
WHEREAS, Bonnie Wagner hired Jane Elven to create the shelter's chil-
dren's program, and when Bonnie moved on to direct the New York State
Coalition Against Domestic Violence's 24 hour hotline, Jane directed the
Shelter; and
WHEREAS, Jane Elven left Family in 1985, and worked as a Health Educa-
tor for Planned Parenthood in Kingston; she helped establish Planned
Parenthood's HIV testing program, and became the Chair of the Ulster
County AIDS Consortium; and
WHEREAS, In 1989, Jane Elven worked with Cicatelli Associates in NYC
and brought state of the art AIDS training to medical and human services
providers throughout the Hudson Valley; from 1991-1996, she directed the
HIV prevention and HIV counseling and testing programs for Family Health
Center in Newburgh; and
WHEREAS, In 1996, Jane Elven began working with her dear friend, Tina
Robie, as project director of a Planned Parenthood teen pregnancy and
HIV prevention project in Newburgh, New York, and Jane has worked for
Planned Parenthood ever since; and
WHEREAS, Tina and Jane created two programs that received Planned
Parenthood Federation of America Excellence awards, one for teen
services, and one for developing services for LGBTQ people during a time
when no LGBTQ services existed between White Plains and Albany; for the
past seven years, she has directed Planned Parenthood's HIV Prevention
Outreach Center in Mid-Town Kingston; she has been an asset to society;
and
WHEREAS, For the past 40 years, Jane Elven rendered faithful, consci-
entious and valuable service to the cause of human rights and social
justice; and
WHEREAS, In her capacity as a human rights activist, Jane Elven served
with loyalty, honor and distinction; and
WHEREAS, In her official acts, Jane Elven was governed by a keen sense
of duty and always showed a unique grasp of human problems; and
WHEREAS, During her tenure, Jane Elven earned the admiration, esteem
and affection of her colleagues; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor Jane Elven upon the occasion of her retirement after 40 years of
distinguished service to the cause of human rights and social justice;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Jane Elven.