 On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to welcome all of you. My name is Kathy Ray, and I am the Chair of the Board of Directors. The Iris Network's Board of Directors has participated in the process of planning for the establishment of this residential vision rehab program for over five years. We are proud to see those plans come to fruition with the participation of our partners, the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the State of Maine Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, including our old friend Bud Lewis, the Interim Director of DBVI for the moment, and our generous capital campaign donors who are listed in your program. The Iris Network has made a tremendous financial commitment to the future by developing the Rehabilitation Center with the collaboration of our partners. We look forward to a long-term relationship with our counterparts in Maine's blindness rehabilitation system for the benefit of our future clients. Together we can provide the world-class services that Maine people experiencing vision loss and blindness deserve in the future. Now I'd like to introduce the President and Executive Director of the Iris Network, Jim Phipps. Thank you very much, Kathy. We certainly appreciate your welcome, but I want to add my welcome as well. We are very happy to have all of you here today, but I want to especially thank Commissioner Labreck and her party for their arduous journey from Washington. And no less, Commissioner Paquette for adjusting her schedule this morning. Commissioner Paquette is here representing Maine's Department of Labor, which the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a part. I also want to welcome representatives from our congressional delegation who have joined us today. And also we have representatives here today from the Maine State Legislature and the Portland City Council and staff from the City of Portland who have all been very helpful in piecing together the funding necessary for this project, which I'll talk more about in a moment. And as Kathy mentioned, this would not be possible without our generous capital campaign contributors. All of our, I want to welcome all of our distinguished guests here today. This is a team effort and we couldn't do it without each of you. Thank you very much. Today we're here to celebrate the Iris Network Rehabilitation Center. This is a real milestone in our work here at the Iris Network. I want to offer our sincere appreciation to the Rehabilitation Services Administration for its investment in establishing the Rehabilitation Center here at the Iris Network and to the State of Maine through the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired for our partnership, which makes that investment possible from the federal level. We could not do this without the support of Maine's Governor LePage and his administration represented today by Commissioner Paquette. We're very pleased to have the endorsement of the State of Maine for this project. Not only to make the Rehabilitation Center possible, but also for recognizing the need for both community-based vision rehabilitation services and center-based services. For the last almost 20 years, we and the Division for the Blind have worked to deliver vision rehabilitation services in a community-based program, but in 2009 the legislature mandated a needs assessment be done. And when we went out to the community and all the stakeholder groups, the feedback that the Division for the Blind received was that community-based services in and of themselves were not sufficient to provide the world-class services that our clients deserve. And the demand was to establish a residential rehabilitation center within the state somewhat to address the fact that residents from Maine experiencing vision loss were not at all interested in traveling to a big city to receive center-based services in a highly urbanized environment. So we have something unique to offer here. The program that we've designed is specifically intended to meet the needs of Maine citizens experiencing vision loss. And we believe that we've designed a program that's very different from what's available in other parts of the country. And we have, this organization was founded in 1905 to provide jobs for people experiencing vision loss at that time. And at that time a job was the social safety net available to people experiencing vision loss and blindness. And over the century and 110 years that have passed since 1905 our organization has evolved. And today we no longer provide jobs directly to consumers, but we train our clients with primary vision rehabilitation services and pre-vocational training so that they can compete effectively in today's highly competitive employment market or job market. During the last 110 years we've come a long way from the sheltered workshops of the past to the modern training opportunities that we offer today. The pre-vocational training that we provide clients to be successful in today's competitive employment market is second to none. But our services really depend on prerequisites that include primary vision rehabilitation. And I want to underscore the importance of those services because vision rehabilitation is not available through the health care system when most clients in need of vocational rehabilitation services come to seek those services. They've already dealt with the primary rehabilitation process and receive those services in a hospital or rehab center that's paid for through the health care system. When people experiencing vision loss and blindness approach the VR system they have no rehabilitation behind them already. So it is incumbent upon us to provide those vision rehabilitation services as a prerequisite and to also provide the pre-vocational services our clients need so that they have the full range of abilities to compete effectively in the job market. And we're proud to be able to provide those services to our clients. And this facility certainly enables us to provide center-based services. As I said, for the last almost 20 years we've been delivering services only in a community-based program because we lacked the facility necessary to provide training in classes to groups of clients. And we're very pleased that the investment made by the rehab services administration and our donors and the partnership through the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired have allowed us to modernize the facility. But the facility is just the tip of the iceberg. It is our program staff and their professional colleagues at the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired who deliver the world-class services that our clients need in order to approach the job market and be competitive in business and industry. And we're looking forward to a long continuing collaboration between the Iris Network and Mainz Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired in order to deliver those services. Together our staff and the staff at DBVI teach people experiencing vision loss and blindness the skills and techniques needed to be independent and competitive in the workforce. After welcoming our first class of students in the training center here just this past September, so just two months ago, we're now ready to open our doors to clients from our neighboring states in New England and throughout the United States. We're prepared to offer vision rehabilitation and pre-vocational skills training to people experiencing vision loss not just from Maine but from other states across the country. And we're really looking forward to the prospect of being a nationally recognized center of excellence for vision rehabilitation. And we have the, we and DBVI together have the staff that make this possible. We've purchased a stately 19th century residence that will serve as our dormitory about a half mile away from here in the community where our students will live while they're here in Portland. And with our 110 year history and experience, we are well prepared to provide clients to confidently re-enter the job market and lead full and fulfilling lives in the community as productive tax-paying citizens. And we're, that is our mission with this program and we really want to appreciate the endorsement of that philosophy that the investment in this program represents. So thank, I want to thank all involved again in making that investment. At this point, I'd like to welcome Andy Colvin to read a letter from Congresswoman Shelly Pingry to commemorate the occasion. So Andy, if you'll come to the microphone. Thank you so much for having me today. It's really been a pleasure to meet some of you and talk about your work and to take a tour of the center and see it in action. As a side note, I've been interested in finding out more about this organization. My nine-month-old daughter is named Iris. So now when we walk by on our way to the Seedogs game, I can tell her all about the great work you guys do. So Shelly is in Washington today. She will really enjoy being here, but she wanted me to share a short message. Dear friends, I'm honored by your invitation to speak today at the grand opening of the Iris Network Rehabilitation Center. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you, but I appreciate the chance to congratulate you on this joyous occasion and to thank you for all you do to serve blind and visually impaired manors. The Iris Network is an incredible organization with a fascinating history. Much has changed in your work since William J. Ryan founded this organization over a hundred years ago, but one thing has not. Your commitment to helping the visually impaired lead independent and satisfying lives. I truly appreciate what you do to help your clients make the most of the vision they have, access adaptive technologies and strategies, and simply find support among caring people who understand their challenges. It benefits us all by allowing them to make valuable contributions to our communities and economy. And as you serve many who lose their vision to age-related diseases, any one of us could be in need of your services someday. I think your new Rehabilitation Center will be a wonderful asset to your work. Among other benefits, its supportive environment and comprehensive services will help those who are losing or have lost their vision participate fully in the workforce. This ensures that they do not lose the pride and independence of earning an income and that our state does not lose their talents in moving our economy forward. I'd like to thank the main department of labor and the Rehabilitation Services Administration for their support of this critical facility, as well as the Iris Network staff, volunteers, and generous supporters for all of your hard work. May this center be a place of transformation and empowerment for many years to come. Best wishes, Shelly Pingreed, member of Congress. Thank you very much, Andrew. Appreciate that. And I would now like to ask Commissioner of Maine's Department of Labor, Jean Paquette, to come up to the microphone. Well, good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. And I have to say that when I entered the building, first of all, I was able to park right on the bricks right in front of the door. So that was awesome. When I entered the building, I thought, wow. And I came downstairs and was able to get a short little tour. I look forward to a longer tour at another time. But I have to say that it struck me very hard, I guess you would say, that four and a half years ago, I think it was, that when I started with the department, we were discussing this facility. And when we looked at the numbers and we looked at how much this was going to cost, it took us back a little bit. How are we going to do this? But I will tell you that the commitment from people like Jim and the staff and the people who support all of what we do with the blind and visually impaired, I am so proud today to be here to address all of you and say congratulations for this. I know that it is just the shell, but what goes on inside is really the work. But I am deeply moved to be honest with you. And I just want to say that I appreciate the fact that you have invited me here to make opening remarks. And Jim helped me with a couple of things that he would like me to reiterate, some of which he mentioned a little bit earlier. But I want to thank you all for today's grand opening. Maine is proud of this investment in blindness rehabilitation. The Maine Department of Labor and Division of Blind and Visually Impaired value this initiative and its unique potential to improve rates of employment for people who are blind or visually impaired. The Iris Network Rehabilitation Center's success is due partially through collaboration with the Division of the Blind and Visually Impaired, along with the support of the Maine Department of Labor and Governor LePage and of course all the Iris Network supporters. The state of Maine served as a bridge between the Iris Network and the U.S. Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration to make a world-class primary vision rehabilitation and pre-vocational training center possible here in Portland, Maine. As Jim mentioned, not every state has been able to make this commitment and we encourage the vocational rehabilitation programs from throughout New England and beyond to refer clients for primary vision rehabilitation and pre-vocational training to the Iris Network Rehabilitation Center. Because primary vision rehabilitation services are not available through the healthcare system, as Jim mentioned, the vocational rehabilitation system must start by providing primary vision rehabilitation if it hopes to make clients newly experiencing significant vision loss and blindness ready for work. This rehabilitation center focuses on employment, so people who participate are motivated to do so because they want to work. This is important because for Maine to prosper, everyone needs to work. Use of assistive technology and vocational preparation are key components being offered that will result in employment success when clients leave the program and return to their communities. Center-based services provide economies of scale that keep the cost of service delivery down by allowing each instructor to work with small groups of clients, thus avoiding travel costs and increasing student-teacher ratios. Residential rehabilitation immerses a client newly experiencing vision loss in the learning environment, thus increasing the speed of primary rehabilitation process and hastened the client's readiness for vocational training. So those are my prepared remarks. Now I go off script. I have to say that being part of this ceremony today, I was thinking about the fact that, you know, whenever you start a new program or there's a new facility or there's a new initiative, there's always bumps in the road. So I guess my message to all of you is we may have bumps in the road as we build this program, this world-class program, but because of the people of Maine who run these types of programs and who are committed to serving people with blind and visually impaired situations in their lives, I have to say that I am confident that as we move forward, we will be successful with this program. There is no doubt in my mind. And what's exciting for me is when I talk to my colleagues, my other colleagues in the other states, you can bet this will be on my agenda to tell people about how wonderful this organization, the Iris Network and the facility that we're opening today will be, and I will be helping to market all of this in other states through my networks around the whole country. So I just want to say... So I want to allow you to continue with the program, but again, I just want to say thank you for all the work that you do in supporting this wonderful organization and this wonderful new facility. I look forward to a more in-depth tour, if you will, but I also am looking forward to hearing from the participants and the staff on how things are going. So thank you very much. So at this point, thank you very much, Commissioner Packett. We very much appreciate your adjusting your schedule to be able to be here and to make those very warm, welcoming remarks. Thank you very much. At this point, I would like to welcome to the microphone Commissioner Labreck from the United States Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration. Commissioner Labreck just flew in this morning after having a flight canceled last night, and so this is quite a sojourn for her this morning, so we're very pleased that she was able to get here and be part of the program today. Janet. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. Thank you so much. James, thank you for your remarks. Also, Commissioner Packett, thank you as well for your commitment and your support of the Irish Center and its endeavor as well. I'm very, very honored and was very excited to hear that you were going to be having your grand opening, and I committed myself to being here. I just forgot that December and May may not be like the weather in December in Washington, but the weather held up for us to some extent. That's why we actually got held up by our flight cancel last night. But I felt very strongly about coming here and being able to follow through with the commitment that I made to you all to be here and to personally congratulate you on this long endeavor that you have all engaged in through various partnerships and opportunities. The Rehabilitation Services Administration felt very strongly that as part of the rehabilitation network of services and grants that we all support for the 80 vocational rehabilitation programs around the country, that rehabilitation and certainly vision rehabilitation is one of those services that is absolutely critical to ensuring that individuals who are blind or visually impaired, that they have the opportunity to acquire the appropriate compensatory skills necessary for them to regain their independence, to acquire new skill sets that are going to be critical for supporting their independence, and then most importantly to help individuals both in their respective communities as well as in their role that they play in their families on a day-to-day basis. And when someone loses their vision and has experienced this type of life-altering changes, it is critical that the programs that are provided and recognized and acknowledged and support the services that are going to be necessary for individuals to become independent and productive individuals who can, in fact, contribute to the nation's workforce. And we know that the issue of employment is critical to the blindness community in particular because we know that the unemployment rate continues to be way too high for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. A part of that issue with that problem specifically, I think, relates back to looking at how we deal with blindness in general, how we deal with disability in general and our own perceptions as well as the attitudes and stereotypes that continue to prevail today as we talk about vision loss. And we think about vision loss from the perspective of we're losing something. And while that is true, we absolutely are losing something. We're losing our vision. I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa as a young child as well and are at the end stages right now of retinitis pigmentosa. So when I started losing my own vision, I didn't think about it from the perspective of what I was losing all the time. I thought about it from the perspective of, okay, so I am losing my vision, but what mechanism, what training, what skills are going to be necessary to help me to get from point A to point B what I need to get to in order to be someone who can in fact contribute to the nation's workforce and who can be independent and who can provide the counseling and services that others need via support groups or other mechanisms that are in place in various states across this country. How do we best ensure that these services and supports continue to exist and that they remain critical to the essential, I think, role that rehabilitation plays in the lives of individuals who need it. And that in fact for rehabilitation services, it is a process and people have a tendency to think about rehabilitation as individual services, whether it's you need orientation and mobility training or you might need occasional assistance with a rehab teacher to come in and teach you how to cook independently, how to be safe in the kitchen, how to navigate other appliances in your homes. And actually rehabilitation is not just one service, it is a comprehensive network of services that support the overall health, well-being, safety, and desires that individuals have to really be productive and to be independent. Helen Keller was mentioned earlier about her contribution that she has made to this field and interestingly enough in my last role as commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission for the Wine just prior to being appointed for this particular position in 2013, Helen Keller also was the founder of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind and one of the early founders of one of the first state agencies in the country to offer state vocational rehabilitation agencies to the blindness community. And so Helen recognized it back then, way back then that individuals who were blind given both the opportunity, given the skills, given the opportunity to acquire the appropriate types of training that will not only help with dealing with the compensatory skills, but gives you the confidence and the ability to move forward in your lives. And that's really what the rehabilitation program is today. And that's why the Rehabilitation Services Administration exists and that our program has been appropriated funds by Congress with the goal of supporting all of the 80 vocational rehabilitation programs along with the islands and territories to be able to assist states with applying for grants and having the vision in place and the supports and expertise in place to support what needs to be happening at the state level for individuals in their acquisition and their desire to seek out independence and employment. And so this center today, the fact that you are having your grand opening today is a result of a commitment not only from you at the local level, but a commitment from the Rehabilitation Services Administration to work with you in this particular state and your partners to understand both the implications as well as understanding what the outcomes are expected from this particular program. And that we all know that when individuals have the services and supports put into place, the expertise in the training available and then most importantly the resources that go along with that, that individuals have a much more optimal opportunity to transform their lives and seeking out services and going through the rehabilitation process to being able to eventually help others who have been at their place in point in time in their lives, at one point in time in their lives. We also know that the rehabilitation process also doesn't just look at the concrete issues regarding the rehabilitation issues that we all experience when you have a disability, but it also looks at the co-morbidity issues that can often occur in common with vision loss and other disabilities. And that there absolutely is a direct correlation to individuals who experience vision loss and the correlation between being able to maintain their day-to-day activities, to being able to function as independently as possible, to be able to maintain your own self-sufficiency when you're talking about the administration of medications, when you're talking about the roles that individuals need to resume in their household. And we know that when individuals, for example, who are diabetics, which still remains to be at the top of the list, unfortunately, for the number one reason for blindness and vision loss in our country, next to macular degeneration and cataracts. And this is important because without the skills and without the appropriate tools necessary for individuals to learn how to best apply their healthcare needs that they have and how to best position individuals who are dealing with diabetes to make the appropriate decisions, to have the information and resources critical for them to make informed choices about their healthcare needs in addition to about their employment needs. And that when you think about all of these as they align together, they don't align separately. They come together as a network of services that need to be in place in order to address them both as individual services and supports, but most importantly, as a network of services and supports and skills acquisition that can grow with the individuals as they work their way through the adjustment process. And as they acquire the skills that they need, the literacy skills, whether it's Braille, whether it's technology, these are all skill sets that are critical to ensuring that individuals who are blind or visually impaired have the appropriate skills in place so that they can in fact be armed with the tools necessary for them to really take advantage of the supports and services and that they can then make informed choice and that they can then make their employment goals, establish those goals, not based on what they cannot do, but based on what they can in fact do. And that once they've acquired the necessary skills to navigate through the decision-making process that they are then growing with the skills that they are acquiring. And that today we have the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which was signed into law on July 22nd, 2014. And that was, as far as I'm concerned, a historic piece of legislation. And it's historic because it gives the opportunity for us to really re-examine not only the allocation of the resources, but to fully examine the areas where there are opportunities to think differently about how we apply the resources, but also to think differently about the set of expectations that families, our community, our teachers, our counselors and individuals with disabilities themselves come to the table with. There are a whole new set of expectations around giving people and providing the supports that are going to be necessary for people, not only to make informed choices, but to really think about those informed choices from the ability perspective, not from the disability perspective. It also charges us with thinking about how we collaborate and how we partner with our respective school systems and that we in fact need to do a better job of being more proactive about partnering together and doing it much earlier in the process. And that our individual peers, who many of us with disabilities have grown up with in our own communities who do not have disabilities, oftentimes have opportunities presented to them much earlier in life, including work experience. And that the premise of WIOA is to really hold us accountable and to bring us into the 21st century as we think about the legislation that will govern how we provide services, to whom we provide those services to, and to the extent possible looking at who those partners it should be at, who those partners are that should be at the table. We have new partners. Congress, I think, did an unbelievable job with identifying some very key issues that have historically impacted the rehabilitation community, the vocational rehabilitation community, the educational community, and I think the employment community. Because as you know with this piece of legislation, all of those entities that I just mentioned are represented through the partnerships. They're represented through the endeavors that people have at the state level to really think creatively and be innovative about the partnerships that you are engaging in. They give us the opportunity to really think about the resources in ways that we can utilize those resources that are going to clearly and efficiently demonstrate the utilization of these resources. And most importantly, I think that what it does is gives us the opportunity also to leverage the expertise that this field has had historically. And in some aspects, we've lost that ability to really claim that expertise and that we are the only entity in our country who provides comprehensive services. Across the age span, the lifespan of an individual. And the fact that we are the only entity that provides these supports in a way that is both individualized as well as customized. And that is incredibly important when you think about what your role here will be as part of your network of services. Because we're talking about collaboration, we're talking about partnerships and we're talking about ways to engage employers. We're talking about ways to engage consumers in a very different perspective. We're also talking about ways to really begin the process and continue the process of telling your story to your local legislators. And making sure that they understand what that return on investment is resulting in. It may not always result in a return on investment in cash, but it certainly, at the least, results in a return on investment in how we think about the commitment that we're providing to individuals who require our services, but also, most importantly, we are changing lives by giving individuals the opportunity to acquire the appropriate skills that they need to acquire so that they can, in fact, become economically self-sufficient. We are providing that foundation that supports their endeavor, regardless of what the endeavor is. We are providing the tools necessary to put that foundation into place in partnership with our consumers and partnership with other providers in partnership with the employment community and partnership with the educational and with the families that are definitely represented by the blindness community. And so I have no doubt that this program will continue to provide both unique customized as well as individualized services to the community here in Maine. I have no doubt that you will hear from other states that they are interested in what you will be providing and I have no doubt that you will be successful in your endeavor to encourage other states to take a look at your model and certainly to refer their consumers to come here and to participate in these services and supports that are available. So I want to acknowledge and thank you all so much for sticking to your commitment. We know there are bumps in the road but we know also through the provision of partnerships and expertise that we are positioned uniquely to make sure that we can in fact deal with those bumps in the road as long as we are communicating and as long as we are benefiting the blindness community. So congratulations to you all for an unbelievable job well done. Thank you to the legislature for supporting these individuals. Thank you to commissioner Prakat also for the support that this endeavor I think will make and will bring to fruition. I think all that was anticipated and expected of this type of a program. And thank you all most importantly to the staff here for continuing to be here, continuing to offer your expertise and demonstrating your commitment to the blindness community. And I want to wish you the best of luck and I'm glad I could join you here today after all. So thank you very, very much. Thank you.