Thank you, Dr. Abel, for your heartfelt words and good morning to the many friends I see here today. I would also like to thank Mr. Buckley for your warm welcome and you, Deputy Mayor Graham for your thoughtful remarks.

As I look around the room this morning, I feel inspired by the many ways you are keeping children safe and building strong, healthy families. Through your vision, commitment and years of determination, you are truly making a meaningful difference in the lives of children and their families, and in our communities.

I am also deeply honored to share the dais today with Marcia Sprinkle, the Foundation's long-time friend and community partner at the Washington Parent Education Collaborative, and the Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton, a leading human rights advocate and someone who has brought many economic benefits to the families of this city. It is a distinct privilege for the Foundation to be recognized in the company of these remarkable women. Each has demonstrated a lifetime of dedication and perseverance toward improving the lives of children and families. Congratulations to both for this well-deserved award from the Partners.

I'd also like to echo the Partner's endorsement of the exemplary work of Covenant House, a long-time grantee of the Freddie Mac Foundation and a vital safety net for thousands of children and young adults who suffer from homelessness, abuse and neglect. The people behind this organization exemplify a spirit of giving that we should all try to achieve. Congratulations to Covenant House for your outstanding pregnancy prevention program, and for 30 years of protecting and safeguarding our region's most vulnerable young people.

Like each of you here this morning, the Freddie Mac Foundation has made the prevention of child abuse and neglect a top priority. For almost 12 years, we have invested in programs and collaborations that create for our children a safe and nurturing environment. Partnering with exceptional nonprofit leaders like you who share our vision, we are, together, working to protect children from abuse and neglect.

Supporting parent education is part of the Foundation's prevention strategy. We know that when parents have support networks in place, they are far less likely to end up in situations that result in child abuse. That's why we are proud to support Healthy Families America as a signature program so that first-time parents get the support they need even before their children are born, so that abuse never gets a chance to start.

We also know that key to prevention is helping all parents become the best parents they can be. In partnership with Catholic Charities and the District of Columbia government, the Foundation's investment in the Washington Parent Education Collaborative has made parent education universal in the District. I'm proud to report that the program has become the single largest provider of parenting education in the region today.

Helping parents become the best they can be is also what the Foundation's partnership and public awareness campaign with W*USA Channel 9 is helping to do. It's called Stronger Families … Stronger Communities and it's giving families parenting information and resources this very month — Child Abuse Prevention month — to help make them confident, successful parents.

These and so many other programs you provide our community are demonstrating how we can all help prevent child abuse and neglect. It is also why I am so deeply honored to be here this morning to receive the first Partners in Prevention Blue Ribbon award on behalf of the Freddie Mac Foundation. Your award is especially meaningful to us because it comes directly from you, our community partners. Without the resources, support and information you provide to children and families, this special recognition of the Foundation would not be possible.

We can reflect on the work we have done together and be proud of our progress. Yet there is so much more to be done. Child abuse is still all too commonplace here in the District and in our nation. The troubling facts remind us that our work together is needed as much today as ever before.

At the Freddie Mac Foundation, we are committed to remaining a stable force in our community, and to working with you to ensure that children grow up in safe and happy homes.

Helen Keller once said, "Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much." I know that working with all of you, there is so much we can do for children and families, and our community.

On behalf of everyone at the Freddie Mac Foundation, thank you so very much for this truly special recognition.