August 6, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 133 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1034]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN RECOGNITION OF ALPHAPOINTE

                                 ______
                                 

                          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.

                          ____________________