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Senate Resolution

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A resolution recognizing Helen Gordon Davis.

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     WHEREAS, Helen Gordon Davis served the people of Florida as

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a State Representative from 1974 to 1988, and as a State Senator

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from 1988 to 1992, and

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     WHEREAS, Senator Davis worked tirelessly to promote the

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well-being of women and children and has been honored for her

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work by many groups including the Florida Women's Consortium,

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American Business Women, the National Organization for Women, the

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Florida Network of Youth and Family Services, the American

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Association of University Women, and the Florida League of Women

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Voters, and

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     WHEREAS, Senator Davis also steadfastly advocated for the

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civil rights of women and children and was the first white woman

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in Florida to join the NAACP, and

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     WHEREAS, she saw the need of widows and divorcees who had

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been homemakers during most of their adult lives to have peer

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counseling, job training, and support groups to help them enter

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the job market, and she established one of the first displaced

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homemaker programs at the Centre for Women in Tampa, and

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     WHEREAS, following the success of the program in Tampa, she

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sponsored legislation to provide for displaced homemaker centers

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throughout the state, and

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     WHEREAS, in 1988, Senator Davis sponsored legislation to

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establish the Displaced Homemaker Trust Fund from marriage

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license fees and divorce filing fees, a funding process that

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continues to this day, and

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     WHEREAS, the Florida Displaced Homemaker Network Association

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honors Helen Gordon Davis for her vision and pioneering efforts

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on behalf of displaced homemakers in Florida, NOW, THEREFORE,

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Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

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     That the Florida Senate recognizes the vision and pioneering

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efforts of Helen Gordon Davis in improving the conditions and

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possibilities of displaced homemakers in our time and in

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increasing the well-being of women and children.

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     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate recognizes this 10th

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day of April, 2008, as "Helen Gordon Davis Appreciation Day" at

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the State Capitol in acknowledgement of her distinguished

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service.

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     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with

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the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Helen Gordon

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Davis as a tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida

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Senate.