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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING THE FARMWORKER & LANDSCAPER ADVOCACY PROJECT (FLAP) ON THEIR 25TH ANNIVERSARY
WHEREAS, the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP) - Ayuda para Trabajadores del Campo y Jardineros - was incorporated on February 8, 1999; and
WHEREAS, FLAP was created in response to a 1996 Congressional ruling that prohibited federally funded legal services programs from filing class actions for and representing many low-income workers; and
WHEREAS, this prohibition includes H-2A agricultural workers, H-2B forestry workers, and victims of battery, extreme cruelty, sexual assault, or human trafficking; and
WHEREAS, the justice and legal representation that for decades inspired millions of oppressed people to come to America were denied to hundreds of thousands of low-income workers, most of them Latinos. While FLAP serves all classifications of workers, it focuses on very low-income laborers and their households; and
WHEREAS, FLAP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that covers the State of Illinois, where they have recovered almost 5 million dollars in back wages and illegal deductions; and
WHEREAS, FLAP continues the tireless effort to improve the working conditions for thousands of low-income workers in Illinois; and
WHEREAS, FLAP relies on more than 400 networks of organizations and qualified attorneys to handle legal cases in Illinois; and
WHEREAS, FLAP has educated more than 2.0 million low-income Latine workers on their legal rights, partnered with more than 450 organizations, including Consulates, law firms, churches, foundations, and other non-profit organizations, to improve working conditions for the low-income community in Illinois; and
WHEREAS, FLAP has endorsed and sent more than 315 petitions and letters advocating for low-income workers, distributed almost 4.5 million of community outreach and education material with resources and legal information available to low-income workers regardless of their immigration status, delivered more than 120,000 “Know Your Rights” presentations; and
WHEREAS, FLAP celebrates the diversity of Illinois and has a more than 25-year reputation for hiring from within the diverse Latine communities they serve.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners does hereby recognize and honor the 25th Anniversary of the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this text be spread upon the proceedings of this Honorable Body and that a suitable copy of this resolution is presented to the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP) in honor of its outstanding achievements and its 25th anniversary.
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