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Legislative Open House March 2010
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Legislative Open House
State senators and representatives received some great food and useful information March 18 during the Iowa Department for the Blind's annual Legislative Open House at the state Capitol.
The legislators met Department staff members, including Director Karen Keninger, and clients, such as Monty Habben, who steered them through displays and informational tables and, the main event, the food table, where Orientation Center students served home-made chocolate-chip scones, coffee cake, fruit smoothies, coffee and fruit.
"The event gives legislators the more human view of the budgets and the legislation that they pass," said Sandy Tigges, director of the Department's Orientation Center who helped organized the open house. "They see how it affects real people, and I think they don't get to see that very often."
One display showed a giant map of the state of Iowa, with numbers indicating the number of blind Iowans registered with the Department by county. Another display quoted everyday Iowans and blind Iowans about how the Department has affected their lives, showing that not just blind and visually impaired people benefit from the Department's breadth of services.
The legislators learned how the Department saves taxpayers money through vocational rehabilitation and independent living programs, and how putting blind Iowans to work or teaching them skills that enhance their confidence after vision loss aids the entire community.
Each year the Department holds this open house at the Capitol to help spread the word about the valuable services it provides to all blind and visually impaired Iowans who seek its help. The event attracts others beside legislators, such as state employees and members of the public who are curious about the Department and want to learn more.
"This event keeps us in the minds of legislators so that they understand what we do and that our services affect not only those people, but everybody in Iowa," said Tigges.
