MEETING NOTES

HONORING DISABILITIES AWARENESS

 

Geoff Spiess, Mishawaka’s director of HR, delivered the proclamation to the employees being honored, congratulating them for overcoming the obstacles that were before them to reach productive employment.

           

Mayor Pete Buttigieg offered the proclamation to the employers being honored at the luncheon, commending them for helping commerce prosper while standing up for workplace equality. Their pioneering expands the scope of our workforce.

 

Rotarian Maria Kaczmarek read the names of the honorees who were greeted with applause as they posed for photographs.

 

Rotarian Debie Coble introduced our speaker for the 28th Annual Disability Awareness Luncheon: Anne Drake (as well as her guide and companion, Driver). Anne Drake is a South Bend native, one of seven children (and the only girl), and a graduate of John Adams high school. While she initially planned on attending college after high school, being a single mother compelled her to put those plans on hold. Instead she entered the business world.

           

Anne held several jobs over the years. In her early 40’s, while she was working as an Inventory Analyst in Niles, she received the diagnosis that would change her life. After a routine visit to the eye doctor, she was asked to come back to see another doctor that same day. Even immediate laser surgery could not save the vision in her right eye. Two years later, her left eye lost its sight as well. She was completely blind.

           

As Anne tells it, she felt grateful to have two years to adjust to being “a blind girl,” but right when she got her second diagnosis her company also went bankrupt and she was out of the job. Anne found herself in a tight spot. Luckily fate wasn’t done with her. While walking her son’s dog, she passed another walker and her dog got into a tussle with theirs. When she talked to the woman later to apologize (and find out if she needed to pay any medical bills), they started chatting. The other dog’s owner was Kim, a vocational therapy counselor who specialized in helping the blind.

           

Kim got Anne started on vocational rehab, but it was tough going. Anne had to learn how to do everything from cooking to putting on make-up in the morning all over again. She also learned to read Braille. When the first job she was offered after losing her sight was a job as a dishwasher, she elected to finally go to college.

           

Getting her degree was difficult; Anne described wanting to quit nearly every day. It was hard to accept help, to need people all the time for everything. Things turned around in her second year of her undergraduate degree, when she got Tabitha, her first guide dog. With Tabitha’s help, Anne felt there was nothing she couldn’t do. With Tabitha’s help, Anne found herself.

           

Anne finished her undergraduate degree and decided to pursue a Masters in social work. Now she is a social worker at IU, helping students with different abilities adjust to college life. She even got a second Masters in criminal justice (and is considering a 3rd). Anne loves her new career and is very thankful that she has found her true calling. “If your dog ever bites someone,” she advises, “you go talk to that person.”