LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending the Spanish Speaking Elderly Council-
RAICES for 33 years of distinguished service to its community to be
celebrated on Friday, June 17, 2011

WHEREAS, Organizations which serve the interests of the people of this
Empire State merit the commendation of this Legislative Body; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern and fully in accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commend
the Spanish Speaking Elderly Council-RAICES for 33 years of distin-
guished service to its community to be celebrated on Friday, June 17,
2011; and
WHEREAS, Founded by the late Homero Rosado, the Spanish Speaking
Elderly Council-RAICES was formed in 1978 to fill a need for an organ-
ization which would provide services to, educate and organize the Lati-
no, minority and low-income aged in the Borough of Brooklyn; and
WHEREAS, One of the Council's major accomplishments was the 1985
development of RAICES, a model program on how to reach and serve minori-
ty populations; through RAICES, the Council has been able to disseminate
information on successful practices and techniques for serving the
isolated, hard to reach, inner-city and impoverished elderly; and
WHEREAS, The Spanish Speaking Elderly Council-RAICES developed an
"ethnic ramp" concept for improving access to services; in this model,
culturally sensitive and bilingual services are used as tools to improve
access and increase the utilization of services, benefits and entitle-
ments for the aged; and
WHEREAS, The Spanish Speaking Elderly Council-RAICES' expertise in
outreach services, information dissemination, cross-cultural training
and services to Latino and other low-income communities is widely
acknowledged within the aging network; and
WHEREAS, All of the services provided by the Spanish Speaking Elderly
Council-RAICES are targeted to meet the needs of low-income, older
minority adults in Brooklyn and Queens; it sponsors the Red Hook Senior
Center, the Wyckoff Gardens Senior Center, the RAICES Corona Senior
Center, the RAICES Astoria Senior Center, the RAICES Gowanus Senior
Center, the RAICES Times Plaza Senior Center and the SSI Outreach
Program as well as many other services and programs; and
WHEREAS, The Agency's Executive Director, Jose R. Ortiz Ortiz, is
experienced in program development, fiscal management, policy develop-
ment and administration and is well-known in the field of aging and
mental health; and
WHEREAS, The celebration of its 33rd Anniversary provides an opportu-
nity for this Legislative Body to recognize and pay tribute to the Span-
ish Speaking Elderly Council-RAICES for its exemplary and enduring
service; and
WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body that when organiza-
tions of such noble aims and accomplishments are brought to our atten-
tion, they should be celebrated and recognized by all the citizens of
this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend the Spanish Speaking Elderly Council-RAICES for 33 years of
distinguished service to its community; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Jose R. Ortiz Ortiz, Executive Director, Spanish Speaking
Elderly Council-RAICES, 460 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11217.