WHEREAS, It is the policy of the Washington State Legislature to recognize excellence in all fields of endeavor; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp has exhibited true excellence throughout his personal, professional, and public life; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp has exhibited the highest levels of excellence during his lengthy years of public service; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp was born in Clinton, Louisiana to a farming family, but moved with his parents to Yakima at the age of 13 where he attended school; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp married his longtime friend, Wilma Jean Mitchell in 1955, and together, they were blessed with three children; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp began his work as a journeyman brick layer, but soon emerged as a community leader, being named in 1966 as president of the Yakima Valley Council for Community Action; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp led the drive to build a multiservice community center and helped to raise more than one-half million dollars for the effort, and as a result, opened the Southeast Yakima Community Center in 1971; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp co-founded Yakima's Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC), a nonprofit that works to improve people's lives by providing them with opportunities for education, work, housing, and other needs; and
     WHEREAS, Under Henry Beauchamp's thirty-year leadership as executive director, the OIC has trained thousands of people, provided places for youth to spend free time, helped farmworkers and their children with training and job placement, dispersed food for families in need, and provided low-income families with home energy assistance; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp was elected to the Yakima City Council in 1977 and served for twenty-four years, including two years as Yakima mayor between 1986 and 1988, and was the first African-American mayor of the city; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp was always committed to supporting and maintaining a strong relationship of trust, openness, fairness, and mutual respect with all members of the Yakima City Council, staff, and the public; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp was an early leader in encouraging the city to pursue more state and federal grants for city projects, which provided more resources for the community's needs and helped keep taxes lower; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp's involvement helped to guide and invest millions of dollars in important improvements to the city of Yakima, including water, sewer, streets, parks, the city pool, new police and fire department facilities, and more; and
     WHEREAS, During Henry Beauchamp's term on the Yakima City Council, city minority employment increased one hundred seventy percent and women employment increased two hundred forty percent, and the city's workforce today is much more representative of the community's cultural and ethnic diversity; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp was a strong advocate for youth programs and services, including the creation of alternative job service training programs, expanded recreational activities for at-risk youth, fighting against substance abuse, and promoting partnerships between the city's parks department, police department, the school district, and the community to invest in Yakima's youth and their future; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp served as a long-time member of the city's transit committee, and worked hard to preserve, maintain, and improve the bus system to all riders, and especially to expand Dial-A-Ride service to Yakima's elderly citizens and citizens with disabilities; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp has served on numerous state commissions and blue ribbon panels, including as chairman of the state's African-American Affairs Commission from 1996 to 1998; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp partnered with Dr. Leon Sullivan to go to South Africa where they established a self-help program there; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp worked successfully in 2003 to save Seattle's Branch Villa Health Care Center, the largest African-American owned health care business in Washington, which was later renamed in honor of Dr. Leon Sullivan; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp is deeply admired for his sacrificial service to the city of Yakima and the state of Washington; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp has known hardship, the cruelty of discrimination, and the plight of the disadvantaged; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp has been led by an abiding faith in God and in the equal treatment and dignity of all people; and
     WHEREAS, Henry Beauchamp has been both tough-minded and tender hearted, standing up for what is fair and right, and speaking passionately against inequality and injustice to others, and in doing so, he has inspired people to replace the shackles of prejudice, ignorance, and greed with kindness, humility, and grace;
     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the state of Washington honor Henry Beauchamp for his years of dedicated service, his personal and professional integrity, and his faithfulness to the principles and ideals that he worked so diligently for; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be immediately transmitted by the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives to Henry Beauchamp.