[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 133 (Tuesday, August 6, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1034]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN RECOGNITION OF ALPHAPOINTE
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HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER
of missouri
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Mr. CLEAVER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Kansas City's
Alphapointe for their 108 years of service to the blind and visually
impaired community. For the last century, Alphapointe has worked to
empower those without sight to live independent and fulfilling lives.
The organization stands out as our country's third largest single
employer of individuals experiencing vision loss, providing meaningful
jobs to over four-hundred people across their nine locations.
Alphapointe traces its roots to Labor Day of 1911, when thirty
advocates for the blind gathered in Kansas City's Budd Park to
``promote the social intercourse and general welfare of those without
sight,'' leading to the establishment of the Workers for the Blind of
Greater Kansas City. Present at this gathering were Eugene E. Condon
and his sister, Catherine Hale. Determined to overcome his own vision
loss, Condon had enrolled at the Nebraska Institute for the Blind in
1900, a residential school that taught blind individuals the skills
needed to lead independent lives. Inspired by the transformative impact
that the institution had on her brother, Hale set out to prove that
people without sight were fully capable of supporting themselves when
presented with opportunity.
Indeed, it was this campaign that led Hale to accompany her brother
to the rally in Budd Park, and when she helped the Workers for the
Blind of Greater Kansas City incorporate as the Kansas City Association
for the Blind in 1916, Hale did so to create an organization centered
around the concept of helping the blind help themselves. Now at the
helm of what would later be renamed Alphapointe, Hale immediately took
action to address the rampant unemployment and lack of opportunity
available for those throughout the city experiencing vision loss. At
the time, a mere sixteen industrial programs existed in the United
States that trained and employed blind individuals, but Hale knew that
those without sight need not rely only on charity. Hale's brother, for
example, went on to attend the Palmer School of Chiropractic while
Alphapointe's Vice President, Hayes Brooks, was the first blind student
to graduate from the Kansas City School of Law.
Taking inspiration from these two trailblazers, Hale opened a
workshop in 1918 where eight blind workers assembled brooms, mats, and
cane chairs. Attached to the brooms were labels that proudly asserted
``The Blind Man's Broom is the Best Broom,'' and the project that began
in Hale's own living room soon began to turn a profit. Notably, this
venture established Alphapointe's reputation not only as an employer of
the blind, but as a manufacturer of high-quality products, thereby
marking the beginning of a long tradition in the organization's
history. A year later, following the conclusion of the First World War,
young men from across the country who had lost their vision on
battlefields overseas headed to Kansas City in search of jobs and the
opportunity to lead dignified lives.
In addition to confronting the widespread unemployment that plagued
the blind community, Hale was also determined to address the housing
problems that blind individuals faced. In the early 1900s, life was
quite dangerous for people without sight, and blind individuals were
all too often institutionalized simply because they had nowhere else to
live. In response to this somber reality, Alphapointe opened the
Catherine Hale Home for Blind Women in 1917, a place of refuge where
women who lost their vision were able to peacefully spend the twilight
of their lives. A far cry from the facilities that less fortunate blind
senior citizens were forced into, the Hale Home was known for its warm
atmosphere in which the forty residents cared for themselves,
maintained their favorite hobbies, socialized amongst each other, and
organized holiday fundraisers. In operation until the late 1980s, the
Catherine Hale Home for Blind Women symbolized Alphapointe's commitment
to serving senior citizens experiencing vision loss.
Moreover, Alphapointe and their workers have repeatedly answered our
nation's call during times of international conflict. In fact,
Alphapointe's factory has supplied the United States military in every
war since World War I. During the Second World War, for example,
Alphapointe was churning out an impressive 4,480 feet of tent rope
every day, a feat which earned the organization the prestigious Army-
Navy Production Award for Excellence in War Production. Notably,
Alphapointe was one of only three factories with a blind workforce to
receive this honor. Later, as the United States entered the Cold War,
Alphapointe began manufacturing sanitation kits for bomb shelters, and
in 2012, the organization created a new Tactical Mechanical Tourniquet
that will soon be included in the first aid kits worn by our men and
women serving our country overseas. Additionally, Alphapointe now
operates base supply stores on Little Rock Air Force Base and at Fort
Leonard Wood, and the partnership between Alphapointe and America's
military bears testament to the profound value of blind workers and the
quality of the products they can produce.
Today, Alphapointe offers a wide range of services and opportunities
to the blind and visually impaired community of the Greater Kansas City
area. Since its creation in 1952, the Children's Center for the
Visually Impaired has served thousands of blind youth. Through the
center, children learn life skills needed to overcome the obstacles
that come with vision loss, including how to socialize with sighted
children and navigate unfamiliar locations. Furthermore, the Student
Transitional Employment Program has worked to address the high
unemployment rate that continues to hinder the blind community.
Additionally, Alphapointe's College Preparatory Program has ensured
that many blind students were able to successfully adapt to their
college campuses.
Alphapointe's services, however, extend far beyond one's college
years. At Alphapointe's Center for Blindness and Low Vision, a one-of-
a-kind facility in the state of Missouri, the organization offers
Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services that address the challenges faced
by blind individuals throughout daily life. Reflecting the Hale Home's
mission to keep elderly blind individuals within their own homes, the
Senior Adult Services offered at Alphapointe ensure that blind seniors
can live comfortably and independently for as long as possible.
Madam Speaker, please join me in celebrating the work that
Alphapointe has done for the blind and visually impaired community
since 1911. For over a century, Alphapointe has offered hope to
individuals who often felt hopeless, and their services have brought
great meaning, fulfillment, and dignity to the lives of countless
people facing vision loss. Let us recognize this occasion by rejecting
any prejudices towards visually impaired Americans which may still
linger within our country and by reflecting on the inherent value of
all people in the same spirit as founder Catherine Hale.
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