The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRIBUTE TO ZONIA SANDOVAL WALDON” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1945-E1946 on Oct. 1, 2003.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO ZONIA SANDOVAL WALDON
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HON. ZOE LOFGREN
of california
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the achievements and invaluable contributions of Zonia Sandoval Waldon over the last 30 plus years in Santa Clara County. Her dedication to families, adults and children has been laudable.
Born and raised in El Salvador, Zonia Waldon came to the United States at age eight and went to school in San Francisco and Daly City. She is a proud mother of twin sons and has resided in Santa Clara County most of her adult life.
Ms. Waldon began her career with the Social Services Agency in 1972 starting out as an eligibility worker--what was then referred to as the
``blind unit.'' The unit was unique in that it combined the efforts of all staff members including eligibility, social workers and supervisors in resolving issues.
Learning to work well with people, both clients and staff, Ms. Waldon was given increasingly more responsible positions such as: Supervisor for General Assistance, Supervisor for Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and Supervisor for the Medi-Cal Unit at Valley Medical Center. Zonia's ability to ``get the job done'' led to her next assignment as District Office Manager of the East Valley Office of Social Services. Her role in management of facilities led to other managerial roles such as branching into labor management issues. She served as Steward, State Delegate, and Negotiator for the Union Local 535, SEIU. Zonia created the first Supervisory Chapter of Union Local 535. She was a co-founder and served as the first President of the Supervisory Chapter.
Other projects Zonia was involved with included a Family Preservation Pilot Project awarded by the State Department of Social Services. Highlights of accomplishments included: parent education, child respite care, counseling, development of Family Resource Centers, community-
based child welfare services and community collaboratives. She also helped to initiate the Youth Leadership Gang Prevention Program funded by the State and the City of San Jose Mayor's Gang Task Force. This program currently serves youth throughout Santa Clara County and has graduated more than 2,000 youth to date.
In February of 2001, Zonia Waldon was promoted to Deputy Director of the Department of Family and Children's Services. Zonia believes that her greatest accomplishment in her career was her never-ending desire to mentor people around her and to assist them in carving out their career paths. She has been a true leader and extremely instrumental in improving the quality of Social Services our community has today. I wish her all the best in the next chapter of her life. She will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.
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