Transcription of Speeches from the Iris Park Apartments Grand Opening,

Friday, August 10^th, 2007

Adam Zayan, Master of Ceremonies: “For over 100 years, the Iris Network has played an important role advocating for people with vision loss and providing services that enable them to live independently. What is so special about this organization is how embedded it is in the communities throughout the state.

It is truly a network that is vibrant, yet an organic part of the environment. This means that we do not only give to our community, but we also thrive on what the community is giving us. Just an example, this summer, the students at King Middle School next door worked in the vegetable beds in our back yard and are planning to donate the produce to the kitchen of the Iris Park Apartments.

Volunteers from the Organization for Transformative Gardening are working with our tenants in cultivating flowers and vegetables in the raised beds of our front yard. This actually became the highlight of the summer season. So much produce will be generated that the gardening team is now looking into donating the extras to the Wayside Soup Kitchen.

Being an integral part of the community provides the Iris Network with strength and reach. It also provides us with constant reminders of our responsibility to stay abreast of the needs of our clients.

The Iris Network is exploring new ways for partnering with people with vision loss. For example, we are launching this year the Iris Network Technology Initiative. This program will allow us to identify and promote low cost, highly usable devices among our clients, and we will integrate them into the services we are currently providing.

Thank you so much for coming today. It is now my pleasure to introduce the Chair of our Board of Directors, Jim Phipps. Jim is an attorney specializing in nonprofit and healthcare law. He’s a partner at the Portland-based firm of Preti Flaherty. Jim holds an MBA Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Jim…”

(Applause)

Jim Phipps, Chair of the Board: “Thank you, Adam. Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to add my welcome to all of you and thank you very much for being with us today and for the support all of you have shown as this Iris Park Apartments initiative has come together. I cannot recognize every one of you individually but all of you have played a very important role in making the Iris Park Apartment community a reality.

We’re celebrating the Iris Park Apartments today because of all the commitments all of you have made and we thank you deeply for those commitments. The Iris Network is committed to expanding the full range of its Vision Rehabilitation Services that the Iris Network provides to people who are blind throughout the state of Maine, and the Iris Network is poised for growth as we begin the 21^st century. And we are committed to make sure that people who are blind in Maine have opportunities to realize their goals and their potential.

Senator George Mitchell, who’s joining us this afternoon, shares that commitment to make sure that all people have opportunity. I’ve heard him speak on prior occasions and he’s eloquent in expressing his commitment to making certain that all people are able to enjoy the civil rights that make it possible to participate in our communities, and to realize that potential.

Senator Mitchell by no means was, shall we say, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He’s worked his way in the world and you all are acquainted with his great achievements and I’m not going to itemize them because it would eat up all of the time we have to listen to him this evening. But I do want to mention the fact that Senator Mitchell was the Senate Majority Leader at the time when the Americans with Disabilities Act was coming before the United States Senate. It was through his leadership that the ADA found its way through the Senate—he shepherded the bill through the Senate and was instrumental in the enactment of that legislation, which I believe is the most important piece of legislation since the Social Security Act for people who are disabled.

He was also an author of the low income housing tax credit legislation that ultimately made this Iris Park Apartments project possible. We would not be here today to celebrate this occasion if it weren’t for that legislation. That legislation has provided the opportunity for people to assist the Iris Network that probably would not have known the needs that this community has and it has allowed them to be here and participate in making all of this possible. And, as a tax lawyer,, I can truthfully say that it’s rare to have an occasion to see where tax legislation has done so much for so many people.

It’s actually an honor for me today to have the chance to thank Senator Mitchell for the career that he has led in the Senate that has included these accomplishments. I was very honored when he accepted my invitation to serve on the Iris Network’s Board of Advisory Trustees and then several years later when I asked him to speak at this event. I was very humbled when he accepted that invitation. I want to thank him again for his career of service to provide opportunity for people who just need an opportunity to show what they can do. And without any further ado, I would like to introduce former Senator George Mitchell.”

(Applause)

Senator George Mitchell: “Thank you very much, Jim, for your generous introduction. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your warm reception, for your presence here today at this important event, and for your past and I hope your continuing support for the Iris Network in all its efforts to improve conditions for person with visual impairment in our state and in our society.

In a real sense, this event goes far beyond the city of Portland or the state of Maine. It’s part of the longest and greatest historical dramas in our country’s history. All Americans who rightfully revere the American Constitution, which created the framework under which our society has grown and prospered over two centuries.

But we tend to forget that when the Constitution was adopted, it provided rights only to a very limited number of Americans. The right to vote was limited to adult, white males who owned property. So a large number of persons living in our society at that time were not able to enjoy the full benefits of citizenship. It took 75 years and the bloodiest war of our nation’s history for the right to vote to be extended to all males, regardless of the color of their skin, and another 60 years for the right to vote was extended to women, after a long and bitter political struggle. And it was not until 1991, just 16 years ago, that the right to live a full, independent life was first extended to Americans who had a disability of any kind. Throughout most of our history, persons who were disabled were separated, isolated, sheltered, and treated as dependents. Every one of these developments expanded our definition of citizenship, our definition of the right that every human being possess in an inalienable way. And what we found along the way is that it is not just those who are liberated who benefit, first persons of color, then women, then persons with disabilities. What we have found is that the enormous resources that they posses as individuals to make contributions to our society made this a better, more free, more successful society. People who were sheltered didn’t need to be sheltered. People who were isolated should not have been isolated. Because many of them have been able to make enormous individual contributions, not just in their own right, not just in behalf of their own family, but in behalf of our entire society.

This is an important day for this community as a state and it also marks an important event for our nation, because this is only the second facility of its type in the country and it must serve as a model because we know the need exists far beyond that which is available. Right now in Maine, the best estimate is that there are 38,000 people who are vision impaired. In a survey conducted a few years ago, nearly half of them expressed interest in at leas considering a facility of this type. And we know nationally, of course, the figures are much larger. And the need will grow in the coming years as the Baby Boom generation reaches maturity, and as the extent of vision impairment expands in our society, for a variety of reasons, some known, some as of yet unknown.

And so we as a people have to view our task as continuing. Continue the great historical trend that has swept our society for 200 years, that has enabled so many people to live more full, more free, more meaningful, more independent lives. And of course, which the benefit is not only themselves but all the rest of us.

Thank you very much for what you’ve done. Keep up the good work. Thank you.”

(Applause)

Adam Zayan: “Now I would like to present Steve Obremski. Steve is, my, you know, most of you know Steve, but for those of you who don’t know him, Steve is my predecessor. It was during his time that the idea to transform the Boarding Home into the Iris Park Apartments was conceived. The project was designed, the ground was broken, and the first phase was completed. Steve is currently the Regional Development Officer for the Guide Dog Foundation and he holds a Masters Degree in Psychology from the University of Central Florida. Steve…”

(Applause)

Steven Obremski: “I don’t think this is fair, following such a great speaker as Senator Mitchell, so I’m just going to say, are there any questions? (Laughter)

Actually, tonight I want to talk about Fishing with Vision. You’re saying, what’s he talking about? But I’m going to say that a program that was developed for people that are blind and visually impaired had, has had, a lot of vision since it started. William J. Ryan, in 1905, started this organization as the Maine Institute for the Blind and he had a vision that people who were blind could step up to the workbench and take care of themselves and make a living. And that’s what was done. He started this organization and he brought blind people off their front porches, out of their living rooms, who weren’t doing anything, and made them productive members of this society.

That went on for a long, long time. And then somebody thought about fishing. Fishing, I say? You know the saying, ‘Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he sits in the rowboat and drinks beer all day’, (Laughter) No, it’s ‘Teach him to fish and he eats forever.’ And that’s what this organization has done. They had a vision that they could teach people the skills they needed to live more independently by using their sense of touch, their other senses, other than their vision, they could make up for that vision loss and gain some independence.

And that vision led to the Rehabilitation Program that started in the 70’s and this organization started teaching people how to not stay here in the boarding home, but to live independently in their homes, by learning the skills they needed by using their other senses, and by enhancing the vision that they had.

In the 80’s, they had the vision that computer technology could assist the person that is blind or visually impaired to be more competitive in the workforce. So it’s teaching the person those skills and they’re independent forever.

In the 90’s there was another vision that blind people didn’t have to work in a segregated, sheltered workshop and the Board of Directors voted to shut our industries program down that started in 1905. There was great fear and trepidation but we taught those folks how to fish, and they went out into the community and they found work in the community.

Since then, there’s been a vision of a higher level of independence and a higher quality of life. And it started with us offering the access of information through our Maine AIRS program. A person can hear their local newspaper now, and become a stronger part of the community because they know what’s going on in their community.

The Low Vision Clinic opened up and it gave people the ability to learn how to use the vision that they have or enhance the vision that they have and become more independent, and have a higher quality of life. This too went on for our boarding home, that again started in 1905 and the Board had a lot of discussion about that. Our Board of Directors got to the point where 7 years ago they voted to shut the boarding home down but they also had the vision to look at the building to see what was most appropriate for this old, old building that we had. And it’s thanks to our Advisory Board members, Senator Mitchell of course, for starting the low income housing program, and the whole ADA issue, but Arthur Mayo, former Senator Art Mayo, where are you, raise your hand, be recognized. (Applause) He’s the instigator, ladies and gentlemen.

So he was working with a program up in Bath that was using this low income housing and he talked to Jerry Newbury, who is the Chairman of the Advisory Board—Jerry, wave and stand up, take a bow. (Applause) And Jerry brought that idea to our Board of Directors and they talked about it for a long, long time. The whole concept of this started in 2001, and there was an assessment and feasibility studies done, and it was culminated into the development of this building.

So I want to thank those gentlemen. David Currier, who I think had to leave, was the Chair of the Board at that time, and he brought this program to what it is today.

It wasn’t just our Advisory Board or our Board of Directors but it was also the community and Adam pointed that out, that it’s the community that came together, that helped us develop this building. It was the Maine State Housing Authority that provided the funding, Northern New England Housing Investment Fund and Bill Shanahan is here from there, provided us with the long term funding. AVESTA was our developer, AVESTA Management, and Dana Totman’s here today from there. I want to thank you all and these are all public and private not for profit groups that have come together that culminated the development of this building.

And as important is you the community that came together and stepped forward to assist the Iris Network and to network with the Iris Network to allow this to become a reality and to allow a higher level of independence and a higher quality of life for our residents.

I just want to thank you for making this come true. This building that I helped conceive a few years ago, I never thought it would be as nice and it is as nice because everybody has come together. I thank you the community, and thank you all for what you have done and thank you for inviting me here to be a part of this great celebration.”

(Applause)

Adam Zayan: “Now I’d like to introduce our last speaker, Randy Bellavance. Randy was one of the tenants in the Boarding Home. And now he’s enjoying a new life in an apartment, in the Iris Park Apartments. So, Randy, do you want to come to the podium?”

(Applause)

Randy Bellavance: “Good afternoon, everybody. I come from Lewiston, ME, and I’d just like to tell everybody…I was a resident in the old building back when it was a Boarding Home—small rooms, just with a sink and a bed. It was well to live in, but I needed more. So, when the idea of the apartments had sprung up, I definitely jumped at the opportunity because I really wanted to get out and have my own life. Like George Mitchell said, I didn’t want to be isolated or sheltered. And this looked like a good opportunity to do so.

So you know, a few years later now, here we are, with these beautiful apartments, thanks to everybody involved—couldn’t have done it without all of their help. I have a wonderful job, a beautiful apartment, and access to everywhere I want to go. So again, I’d like to thank all the supporters for that, without which none of this would have been possible.

I’d like to finish up with letting you guys know that we’re not done here yet. We’re going to have some wonderful desserts coming in from Whole Foods—wonderful desserts. So I’d like to ask you all to stay here and help celebrate our independence!”

(Applause)

Adam Zayan: “Thank you Randy. (Applause) Ok, this concludes the speaking program. Please enjoy the rest of the evening.”

(Applause)