18:54:34 the recording. >> Ie 18:54:38 >> Imani: Behave, Mike. 18:54:41 >> HEATHER: Now we can get Carolyn's last joke on the recording. 18:54:47 (Laughter) >> CAROLYN: All right this guy goes 18:54:52 the gas station early in the morning and he says to the mechanic 18:54:56 , "my turn signal isn't working right." And 18:55:00 the mechanic says, you know, it's rush hour, I'm really busy, 18:55:03 can you leave your car here and I'll look at it later in the day. The man 18:55:08 says, sure, work across the street 18:55:11 . At the end of the day the guy comes back and the mechanic says, I looked 18:55:15 at your car and couldn't find anything rock 18:55:19 anything wrong but if you have more problems bring it back. The next 18:55:23 morning the guy pulls into the gas station and he says, 18:55:27 the turn signal isn't working right. Mechanic 18:55:32 says could you leave it here and I'll look at I again. 18:55:35 At the end of the second day the guy comes back and the mechanic says I 18:55:39 looked at it and I really couldn't find anything wrong with it but if you have 18:55:44 anymore problems bring it back. The third morning the guy 18:55:48 pulls into the gas station again. And he says, my 18:55:52 turn signal isn't working right. And the mechanic says 18:55:56 , can you show me what the problem is? So he starts 18:56:01 the car and he hits the lever for the turn indicator 18:56:05 . He jumps out and runs to the back of the car and he says look at it, 18:56:09 now it's working. Now it's not. Now it's working. Now 18:56:13 it's not. (Laughter) 18:56:18 >> MICHAEL: Oh dear. Alrighty then 18:56:23 . >> CAROLYN: What's this mean? 18:56:29 She is not going to tell me. >> Sorry just finding my button 18:56:33 . It just means everyone's laughing. >> CAROLYN: All right. 18:56:38 I thought it meant "lame joke." 18:56:40 >> MICHAEL: Like the gal driving in 18:56:45 the gal driving in a 45-mile-an-hour zone and she is driving 60. She is 18:56:48 racing down the street. The cop starts to follow her. She cuts across an 18:56:52 intersection into a gas station and runs in and comes back out of the 18:56:57 restroom and the cop says, ma'am do you have any idea how fast you were going. 18:57:01 She said, yeah but you didn't think I was going to make it in time did you. 18:57:09 (Laughter) 18:57:13 >> Sama: Two cupcakes go into an oven to get baked. 18:57:17 The first says man it's hot in here. The second goes holy cow 18:57:21 it's a talking cupcake. Mine's shorter 18:57:29 . >> MICHAEL: All right. 18:57:33 >> CAROLYN: Did my image go black? 18:57:37 All I see is my name. >> MICHAEL: Is your video not on. 18:57:41 on. You got to turn yourself on. 18:57:48 Tab around a little bit and you will see a thing that says "start video" 18:57:53 I think. 18:57:57 >> I am going to begin my share 18:58:00 which means I am going to check out and I look forward to seeing you after the 18:58:04 presentation. >> MICHAEL: 6:57. 18:58:08 >> You can alt-V and it will turn your video on. 18:58:13 on. >> MICHAEL: Yeah Carolyn try alt-V 18:58:17 and see if it turns your camera on. If it 18:58:21 doesn't you've got a new camera but it's not working yet. 18:58:26 18:58:38 >> CAROLYN: Now I can't find my 18:58:43 mouse. >> You are on your own for that one. 18:58:48 >> CAROLYN: All right. 18:58:54 >> Hello Janice Jackson it's nice 18:58:58 to see you. It's Carol Wheatley here. >> Good to see you. 18:59:03 >> ANGELA:'S Neil's here. 18:59:11 Neil's here. Andy is here. >> ANDY: 18:59:14 Good evening. Hope all are doing well. 18:59:19 >> MICHAEL: Good evening. >> ANDY: Hello. 18:59:22 >> MICHAEL: We're beginning to 18:59:26 start the credit and music, et cetera. So everybody may want to mute 18:59:31 themselves who isn't speaking aren't we'll start this thing 18:59:35 off. 19:00:08 [Music playing] 19:00:18 Image center 19:00:22 Center 19:00:26 Image Center 19:00:31 19:00:35 >> Welcome all to our 2021 solutions event and our 19:00:39 ten year anniversary of the Image Center of Maryland. We would like 19:00:44 to start the evening with remarks from our Chairman of 19:00:48 the Board Janice Jackson. Janice became a part of the Disability 19:00:54 Community in 1984 when she was struck by a car 19:00:58 at 24 years old. Janis is 19:01:03 the founder and Executive Director of women embracing abilities 19:01:07 Women Embracing Abilities Now a nonprofit mentoring program for women 19:01:11 and young ladies with various 19:01:16 disabilities throughout Maryland and the surrounding areas. Janice is 19:01:20 an adjunct Professor at the University of Baltimore where she has been 19:01:25 teaching business ethics to undergrads for sixteen years. 19:01:29 Janice serves on many boards and commissions. She is a three-time 19:01:34 winner of the top 19:01:38 1 Hundred women of the year award. She 19:01:43 has been called on by singer slash actress Queen Latifah 19:01:48 's participate to in the cover girl makeup line the queen collection. 19:01:52 This ad was featured in the iconic ebony magazine 19:01:56 . Her most notable recognition was the Obama award given 19:02:00 in 2012. The citizenship award. This is the second highest 19:02:05 civilian award bestowed by a president of 19:02:12 the United States for explemary community service. Janice has turned 19:02:16 her tragedy into try umle and struggles into strength. Please join me in 19:02:21 welcoming Janice Jackson. >> JANIS: Thank you, Ima 19:02:25 Imani, for that amazing introduction. And good evening 19:02:29 . Before we get started I'd like to remind everyone that this program is 19:02:34 being recorded. And that we do have a Sign Language 19:02:38 interpreter as well as closed captioning. 19:02:43 As a current Board President and on behalf of the Board and staff 19:02:47 of the Image Center, we would like to welcome all of you 19:02:51 to this festival celebration. We were hoping that we could see each one of 19:02:56 you in person. But as we all have learned in the last year and a half 19:03:00 due to COVID, Zoom is the next best thing to being 19:03:04 there. This year the Image Center is celebrating its 19:03:09 first decade of service 19:03:12 as a Center for Independent Living managed by people with disabilities 19:03:17 for people with disabilities. I am so grateful to have been 19:03:21 a part of this wonderful organization right from the beginning 19:03:26 . Witnessing the birthing and growing pains 19:03:30 were humbling. But to see how the Image Center has matured 19:03:34 into such a productive organization has made this 19:03:39 mama volunteer very proud. 19:03:42 As much as we're excited about each of you being here this evening, we are 19:03:48 just as excited about this being our second solutions 19:03:52 celebration. Where we come together to honor those who are helping 19:03:56 to change lives of individuals with disabilities by inspiring 19:04:01 , uplifting, and empowering. 19:04:05 So on this Zoom celebration call tonight 19:04:09 along our honorees we have a wide variety of guests. We have 19:04:14 board members, staff members, volunteer 19:04:18 engineers, occupational therapists, physical therapists 19:04:23 , students, other Centers for Independent Living 19:04:27 services, consumers and advocates all coming together 19:04:32 to celebrate the Image Center 19:04:36 's 2020 accomplishments. Our program agenda this evening will 19:04:40 include: The presentation of the awards, video recaps, 19:04:45 and brief remarks from the awardees. At this time 19:04:50 we'll present an exciting video which will rebap the Image Center 19:04:56 providing life care services to more than 25,000 Marylanders including 19:05:01 veterans, children, and families. 19:05:14 [Music playing] 19:05:39 >> Don't give up on your dream. 19:05:52 19:06:03 19:06:17 19:06:21 19:06:34 19:06:40 19:06:44 19:06:58 19:07:01 >> Now do you feel safe in there? 19:07:06 >> Very. >> Good. Okay. 19:07:28 >> JANICE JACKSON: Wow! What an 19:07:33 amazing year. The imagine center 19:07:38 has had in 2020. Remember all of this was done during a full-blown pandemic. 19:07:43 That speaks volumes for Mike 19:07:47 and staff. And as a board member we are just so proud of 19:07:52 the Image Center pushing through a pandemic and never missing a beat 19:07:56 while serving individuals with disabilities. 19:08:00 At this time I'd like to introduce to you the young man who is 19:08:04 at the head of this amazing organization who will share remarks 19:08:09 about the vision and future of the Image Center and serving those with 19:08:14 disabilities. Honored guests, 19:08:18 I'd like to introduce to you Michael Bullis. 19:08:20 >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Thank you very much. And it may be the last time I 19:08:25 get called a young man. I'll slip you the twenty dollars after we're done 19:08:29 here (chuckles). 19:08:33 I can't tell you all what an honor it is 19:08:37 to do this work. To be part of changing the meaning of disability for 19:08:41 everyone. I think ten years ago when we adopted that as our 19:08:45 phrase everybody was like are you sure 19:08:49 , are you sure you are going to change the meaning of disability for 19:08:53 everyone. And the answer is yes, we can. Yes we can make a difference 19:08:57 throughout the world to people with disabilities, their families, their 19:09:04 lives and we can help people have jobs, we can help people live normal lives. 19:09:08 We can help people raise their children. We stand 19:09:13 at an incredible threshold of opportunity as technology changes 19:09:17 and as human nature and people -- 19:09:21 as people generally change. They more and more are recognizing 19:09:26 that at some time in everyone's life there will be disabilities. And that 19:09:30 feeling badly about that disability is a part of the process 19:09:34 . But learning what you can do with the disability, what you can accomplish 19:09:38 with the disability, getting your life back with 19:09:42 a disability -- that's what the Image Center sends; 19:09:46 a message of "you can do this." We have challenges 19:09:50 . We still work 19:09:55 tirelessly on the idea of a disability solutions gateway. The idea 19:09:59 that people with disabilities ought to be able to go to of a web portal and 19:10:03 see 19:10:08 people just like them who have the solution. And see solutions available 19:10:10 for the hundreds and hundreds of different types of disabilities. 19:10:14 Because seeing is believing. We all learn primarily through seeing other 19:10:19 people do things and then doing them ourselves. So having 19:10:23 that capability can transform the world as people learn about their 19:10:28 specific disability and connect up with others just like them. 19:10:35 We still have challenges. We have not yet got 19:10:38 that disability solutions gateway. But we're working on it. We're getting 19:10:45 there. We have to expand the reach of our device creation as well. We make 19:10:49 such incredible devices. You will hear about some of them tonight. But to the 19:10:53 millions of people throughout the world who don't yet know about them, who 19:10:56 don't know about the solutions. And to the tens of thousands of people who 19:11:00 could benefit from one of our devices, we still need to reach them. So 19:11:05 we have not just a local mission to serve Maryland 19:11:09 but an international mission to serve the world. 19:11:12 And we will be expanding those efforts as we go. 19:11:16 We still have other challenges as well. Some of the work we do pays the 19:11:21 bills. That is keeps the doors open. But it's really not quite on mission. 19:11:26 We do the work because -- well because it pays the bills 19:11:30 . But we look forward to a time when everything we do is mission-focused 19:11:34 . We're still about $250,000 a year away from 19:11:39 having no waiting lists for services for Independent Living Services. 19:11:43 That $250,000 will come. We need stable funding 19:11:48 from corporate or other private partners to help us so that we can 19:11:53 hire the staff to really, really affect lives 19:11:56 as opposed to having people wait sometimes for months before they can 19:12:00 get our services. I know 19:12:04 that we will find that steady funding stream. We will find that person 19:12:08 or corporation or group of individuals who believe in us enough to help 19:12:13 us make that happen. Our volunteers 19:12:17 volunteers and our staff are competent and knowledgeable and 19:12:22 amazing. And our solutions are so broad these days, folk 19:12:26 s. I don't know whether you think about it much but whether it's mentoring 19:12:31 a newly disabled person -- I met someone yesterday who 19:12:36 recently became a quadriplegic and we are immediate 19:12:39 ly setting up time to get together with that person, to talk to them, to 19:12:44 introduce them to other people who are quadriplegics so he can see 19:12:48 , this life is a life worth living. Helping someone play 19:12:52 the guitar who doesn't have good hand use. It's not all 19:12:56 serious business here, folks. Creating a device for a new mom so she can get 19:12:59 her baby in and out of the crib. Introducing teens to the 19:13:04 responsibilities of adulthood. Yea, Jess, and your team are phenomenal 19:13:09 . Helping a senior who is losing vision learn to use an iPhone 19:13:13 . Funding a ramp for somebody so they can get 19:13:17 in and out of their houses. Modifying a bike so a kid can in his 19:13:21 neighborhood go around and ride his bike just like all of his buddies. 19:13:25 Making a special kitchen platform so someone can cook in their own kitchen. 19:13:30 Helping someone find accessible housing. That is God's work 19:13:34 . I will tell you there is such a need for us to have a team out looking for 19:13:38 good, solid accessible houses that people can move into 19:13:42 . We make dreams come true each and 19:13:47 every day. Our Board, our volunteers and our staff are 19:13:51 making a huge difference. They're committed 19:13:55 , caring and competent. That's the way I think of it. And it's such 19:14:00 an honor to work with them. Thank you to each and every one of you who 19:14:04 are here tonight for being a part of who we are and what we are 19:14:08 . It's an honor to be here and to be a part of this -- when 19:14:12 I was a very young -- I will tell you that I used to say, I want to make 19:14:16 a difference, I want to do something special, I want to know that my life 19:14:20 counted in some way. And it's been a true honor to have participated in 19:14:25 this organization and what you all do. Because it really has helped me 19:14:29 understand that life is about making a difference and that it does happen. 19:14:34 I want to introduce 19:14:38 now Jessica Leon. Jess is 19:14:42 the -- one of the early people who was at our center when 19:14:46 we barely had a desk to put on the floor and no chairs to sit behind 19:14:50 the desk. But Jess has been with us working 19:14:55 to operate our team connect programs and continues to find 19:14:59 to find new and vate 19:15:04 new and innovative ways to serve teens with disabilities. I want to turn it 19:15:06 over to Jess for presentation of an award. 19:15:09 >> JESSICA LEONE: Thank you, Mike. I appreciate that. Good evening to 19:15:13 everybody out there in the Zoom world. As Mike mentioned, 19:15:17 I am Jessica Leon. I've been with image for many years. And over 19:15:21 those many years I have had the privilege of connecting many students 19:15:25 and their families to services. And tonight I have 19:15:30 the honor to highlight two very special students who have 19:15:34 been with our program for a very long time and who 19:15:38 play a tremendous role in both our image 19:15:43 connect 19:15:47 Correct program as well as our teen mentorship. Our first honoree 19:15:52 is Ms. Rebecca Parker. Rebecca has participated in image teen and young 19:15:56 adult program since 2016. And over the last five years, Rebecca 19:16:01 has grown from a shy, cautious participant in our 19:16:05 connect program to a confidently aware, self- 19:16:09 advocate selected as our first ever peer mentor in that program 19:16:13 . Rebecca has served as a student advocate in many instance 19:16:17 s sharing her journey toward greater independence with fellow 19:16:22 students of many different programs. At image we have watch 19:16:26 ed Rebecca shape her abilities and set job readiness goal 19:16:30 goals that best suit her passion of helping others. Rebecca has 19:16:33 made contributions to image programming helping to pave the way 19:16:37 for other student advocates and we could not be prouder of her growth and 19:16:42 her progress. And, at this time, I would like to give Rebecca a moment to 19:16:46 say a few words and officially introduce her, 19:16:51 Ms. Rebecca Parker, as our 2021 student of the year. 19:16:55 Rebecca, welcome this evening. >> Rebecca Parker: 19:17:00 Parker: Hello. 19:17:04 Hi. I am Rebecca Parker. And thank you for this 19:17:09 award. I like being a peer mentor because I like 19:17:14 helping people and I'm patient, calm and understanding. 19:17:19 I have grown by being a leader and others 19:17:23 too will from this experience. 19:17:27 >> JESSICA LEONE: Thank you, 19:17:32 Rebecca. And congratulations again on being our 2021 student of 19:17:36 Of the Year. Additionally this evening 19:17:41 we'd like to provide special recognition to Ms. Ciar 19:17:45 Ciara Gentry. She has been with image teen and young adult perhaps 19:17:49 for the last three years. Most recently she began contributing 19:17:54 to our programs as a peer mentor. And in this role 19:17:58 Ciara works to assist her peers by skub rating skills 19:18:02 of leadership and self-advocacy. Tonight we would like to congratulate 19:18:06 her and give her her special recognition in receiving the peer 19:18:10 mentor Of the Year award. Thank you, 19:18:14 Ciara for your contributions to our program. We are 19:18:18 proud of the steps you are taking to grow your own independence but also 19:18:22 that of your peers. So congratulations to Ciara as well. 19:18:33 Next slide. 19:18:55 I'm going to introduce the Exelon corporation slide. I believe that's 19:18:58 Mr. Mike Bullis. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Thank you very 19:19:02 much, Jess. And congratulations to those who award winners. It is 19:19:07 a pleasure to have you all here and be part of your lives and watching you 19:19:11 grow makes us better for it. It 19:19:15 comes time now to present our corporate partner Of the Year. 19:19:19 For those who have been 19:19:24 around image for the last year this will come as no surprise. But a brief 19:19:29 story will help. Approximately three years ago Laura, one of our phenomenal 19:19:33 board members who has contributed of her time and of 19:19:38 her funding and of her funds and has 19:19:42 asked Exelon corporation to match her contributions to us, she's just 19:19:46 been a phenomenal partner with us. She came to us and said, we have this 19:19:51 opportunity in the IT department 19:19:55 atex Alon corporation does an annual golf tournament. Would you like 19:19:59 like to see if they'll select you as their awardee? As many 19:20:04 people know I have joejingly said the reason we don't have a golf tournament 19:20:08 is because we can't afford it. Because usually you spend the first four or 19:20:12 five years starting any golf tournament not making money but losing money. So 19:20:16 I just said we can't award to lose a bunch of money on that. But you know 19:20:21 what, the Exelon folks, they helped us by bringing in all the sponsor 19:20:25 s, bringing in all the work. It was amazing. It was an amazing 19:20:28 opportunity. So we tried out the first year and didn't get it. Then the 19:20:33 second year we came back again and got the award. And then the pandemic hit 19:20:37 about a week-and-a-half later. So now finally 19:20:42 on September 13th we were able to have the Exelon 19:20:47 IT charity golf tournament with over a hundred players. It was truly 19:20:51 an exciting experience. We met lots of corporate partners throughout 19:20:59 the region. And raised over $100,000. I can't tell you how powerful that is 19:21:03 and how wonderful that is for us. I want 19:21:08 to thank everyone who participated. It was truly 19:21:12 a full court effort to do this. But I want to introduce the person who we 19:21:16 we couldn't have done it without and who really made all the difference 19:21:21 and made this stuff look simple, Andy and Terry and some of the folks. But 19:21:25 tonight to accept this award as our corporate partner Of the Year is 19:21:31 Andy Marchica. Come on up. I guess you can't come up 19:21:35 . >> Andy Marchica: 19:21:40 I'm coming up. Mike, first let me say thank you so much for this tremendous 19:21:44 honor. It's been so inspiring just witnessing the wonderful 19:21:48 work that the Image Center of Maryland performs in our community and the 19:21:51 things you are doing to educate folks about people with disabilities and 19:21:56 empowering them. So really thank you and thank the Image Center 19:21:58 for all the work you do in the community. 19:22:02 First thanks to you. You have been tremendous to work with. And all the 19:22:06 other Image Center staff that we worked with over the past year and a half 19:22:11 now because we had to wait. You know, couldn't hold the event in 2020 19:22:15 but we held our twelfth annual event 19:22:19 in September this year and it went off without a hitch on the count of all 19:22:23 the hard work. Something like this doesn't happen by accident. It takes a 19:22:27 lot of dedicated people focusing and working together to make it happen. So 19:22:32 in addition to Mike, Abe, Heather, Angela Tyler 19:22:36 from the image center were huge. On the Exelon side. 19:22:41 Mike mentioned earlier Terry Carter. This event doesn't happen without 19:22:45 Terry. She does such good work at Exelon. And this tournament, 19:22:49 this event it means so much to her. And the fact 19:22:53 that we can still put it on year in and year out when there's not 19:22:57 a pandemic, it means a lot. Sara Ko 19:23:02 Sara and Mischa and Kim from Exelon they're kind of 19:23:05 in charge of organizing volunteers and making sure everything that leading up 19:23:07 that leading up to the event goes smoothly. So thanks to them. 19:23:12 I'd also be remiss if I don't thank some of the top sponsors. Kind 19:23:16 of the reason why we're able to raise all this money each year. So thanks so 19:23:20 much to Zones who is 19:23:26 our sponsor. Cisco. And Accenture 19:23:31 . Again this just do not happen without the dedication, 19:23:35 the volunteers, the generosity of our sponsors, and all that sweat 19:23:39 equity that comes from charities like 19:23:43 the Image Center. Organizations like the image center that really can make 19:23:46 this event a wonderful experience for everybody involved. So thank you for 19:23:50 this tremendous honor. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Well thank you 19:23:54 again. You guys made it look easy and it was a lot of fun as well. We had 19:23:58 a beautiful day of eighty degrees or 19:24:01 so and everybody was able to social distance and have a ball. So thanks 19:24:06 again for everything you guys did. And again, a special thanks 19:24:09 to Laura D. For making all these connections and making this happen. We 19:24:12 We couldn't do it without you, Laura. 19:24:15 >> ANDY: Thank you. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Thanks, Andy. 19:24:19 All right. Our next award is 19:24:23 our community partner Of the Year award. This 19:24:27 one too will probably come as no surprise to many of you because of 19:24:32 her incredible involvement with the Image Center over the years. Right 19:24:37 from the beginning she was there with student occupational 19:24:41 al therapists to help us figure out what we were doing. She's had 19:24:44 her students work at least for three years that I know of on the disability 19:24:49 solu 19:24:53 Disability Solutions Gateway project for us. This year she sent ten of 19:24:57 her students to work with us. She is Marlene Riley. She is 19:25:03 Professor of -- she's from the Department of Occupational therapy 19:25:07 and occupational science. There we go. Sorry 19:25:12 . She's really been a fine friend. She works with our youth 19:25:17 services. She is there for us any time. And she 19:25:21 volunteers with 19:25:25 VME our volunteers for medical engineering projects. She is a great 19:25:29 communicator, pleasant to work with and a strong promoter of the image 19:25:33 the image center. And 19:25:38 IMAGE CENTER. And we can't thank her enough because without people like 19:25:42 Marlene we couldn't do this. >> MARLENE: Hi, Mike. First of all, 19:25:46 I think of the IMAGE CENTER as a great community. It is 19:25:51 a nonprofit but really 19:25:54 it's made up of so many wonderful people. I have to say that I used to 19:25:58 work with VME when they were on argon and Angela 19:26:03 volunteer 19:26:07 extraordinaire coordinator. Then I worked with Jess at image in Towson. 19:26:11 So you all did me a huge favor by joining together and consolidating 19:26:16 into one place. So, you know, I have to say 19:26:20 that I think that -- I have to hold the award up here and just 19:26:24 say how much I love just the theme of Solutions. Because, you know, 19:26:28 we live in a time when people are, you know, identify 19:26:33 ing problems and what we don't have and all 19:26:39 that. But working with Jess with the young adults and Angela and VME and 19:26:43 all the volunteers, it's just what you said, Mike, it's all about solutions. 19:26:46 And letting other people know that those solutions can extend to each and 19:26:51 every person that has that need. And most importantly I just want to thank 19:26:55 everyone for how you've been such great role models for our students. 19:26:59 Because that's what's really, really important. That, you know, when they 19:27:04 have role models of people who care and are doing 19:27:08 things because they like to do them, you know, it's very different than 19:27:12 sending them to a field work placement where people are complaining. 19:27:17 So I thank you all for that. For what I've had 19:27:21 to gain and for what the students have had to gain from your nonprofit, Mike. 19:27:25 >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Well, we look 19:27:30 forward to many years to come. And again, you know, we love OT's. Because 19:27:34 OT's are all about solutions. It's the greatest profession 19:27:39 in the world. The I had the pleasure to serve 19:27:43 the Maryland Occupational Therapy Board for a while. We just love 19:27:47 people who see disability as a challenge waiting for a solution 19:27:51 . Because it changes the whole paradigm. So thank you again, Marlene, 19:27:56 very much for everything you have done with us. 19:28:02 All right. Terri 19:28:06 Terri Parish is now going to talk to you folks about who C. 19:28:10 David ward was and sort of introduce our next award. 19:28:22 >> TERRI: 19:28:32 I PARRISH: 19:28:37 >> Terri, if you press alt- 19:28:40 A on your keyboard it will un-mute you. 19:28:44 >> TERI PARRISH: There we go. Thank you very much. Okay. 19:28:49 On May 8, 2020 we lost a giant. But if you attended David 19:28:53 Ward's celebration of life you felt and experienced the power of our 19:28:58 friend. At the end of the outdoor ceremony of tributes we had 19:29:02 sunshine, lightning, thunder, 19:29:07 downpours, hail and sunshine again. As everyone ran for cover we just shook 19:29:11 our heads knowing that he got the last laugh. The giant of David 19:29:16 David Ward spoke. The tribute and the program of Dave 19:29:20 's celebration of life stated: Sometimes the things we can't change 19:29:24 end up changing us. Dave Ward was the agent of 19:29:28 change. I met Dave at good Samaritan because the same year 19:29:33 we both were in accidents and going through rehabilitation together. 19:29:37 The next forty two years his determination and adorable smile 19:29:42 brought about changes that forever improve and enhance still the lives 19:29:46 of Marylanders with disabilities. His accomplishments 19:29:50 are almost too long to list. But some of the memorable ones were 19:29:54 : He initiated the first Maryland gubernatorial 19:29:59 debates focusing on improving the lives for citizens with disabilities. 19:30:03 He did this with another pioneer you may remember, Joel Meyer 19:30:08 Meyerburg. Dave and Joe partnered and created 19:30:12 a free day at Port Discovery for children with disabilities. 19:30:16 Governor Ehrlich turned to Dave for creating the first 19:30:19 Department of Disabilities in Maryland. The home where Dave lived 19:30:23 was known as future home. A house that showcased 19:30:28 the power of technology. This partnership with 19:30:32 VME allowed everything in his house to work by being voice 19:30:36 activated. At future home there was also an annex that he named "the barn 19:30:41 ." He used that venue for meetings and other more 19:30:45 celebratory events with a player piano and his 19:30:49 many favorite libations. Dave knew how to entertain while being a premier 19:30:53 advocate. He and Dave Thompson were my mentors and 19:30:57 he passed the top of on to me -- torch on to me leading 19:31:01 the Baltimore commission on disabilities. Dave ward chaired that 19:31:05 board for many years and he is missed. Tonight we celebrate another giant who 19:31:10 was also quite an agent of change. Mike Bullis is going to introduce 19:31:14 the person who is going to receive the very first recipient 19:31:21 of the David Ward Lifetime Achievement Honor 19:31:23 Lifetime Achievement Honor. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Thank you, 19:31:29 Terri. As a mention at least, we don't want to forget that VME was 19:31:33 incredibly powerful in helping Dave make that future home 19:31:38 . So history goes back and history repeats itself. 19:31:42 So it's been a real honor to really finally sort 19:31:46 of unify everything. Because VME really helped 19:31:51 Dave Ward make his life and move forward 19:31:55 and we've been able to benefit from Dave. Dave was a founding member 19:31:59 of the board of image and was there fighting every day. Advocacy is some 19:32:03 of the toughest work we do folks. And everyone likes 19:32:07 the glory of maybe we're going to go picket, do this, do that. But the 19:32:12 truth is most often when advocacy works it's -- 19:32:16 it engenders hostility. People don't like you. People say 19:32:20 you must be wrong about your advocacy. You must 19:32:24 have the wrong understanding of what needs to be done. It means 19:32:29 that sometimes you are going to be attacked personally and professionally 19:32:34 . Earlier this year we thought about how 19:32:38 we were going to work to get shots in the arms of people during 19:32:43 a pandemic, we knew we needed a strong advocate. Not somebody who just 19:32:48 saw a job but somebody who understood 19:32:52 that the emergency is now, that it is a lifetime -- a once in a lifetime 19:32:57 event and everything you have has to go into that job. And she 19:33:01 did that. Sheryl Grossman from the day she started was 19:33:05 working from six in the morning until midnight. Never 19:33:09 turned down a phone call. I know she took some at three or 4:00 19:33:13 in the morning as well in order to get people to vaccine 19:33:17 sites, to set up the infrastructure to help people get vaccinated. To get the 19:33:21 word out into the community. To help there become accessible site 19:33:25 s for people with disabilities, sites that were fully 19:33:29 accessible. And the work continues to go on. Sheryl is 19:33:34 still leading our efforts. She saves lives every day. 19:33:38 We can't thank her enough for her personal and professional commitment. 19:33:42 She exemplifies the Dave Ward commitment 19:33:46 to advocacy, to the fight for people with disabilities, to the rights of 19:33:51 people with disabilities, and to getting through this pandemic and 19:33:54 saving lives. I want to introduce to you Sheryl Grossman. Sheryl, thank you 19:33:58 so much for everything you've done. >> Sheryl Grossman: Thank you, Mike 19:34:03 . And thank you to all of the image center 19:34:07 center staff and board who made tonight possible and who chose 19:34:11 me for this. I am very humbled 19:34:16 to be a recipient of this award that I am holding up 19:34:23 . It's very humbling. You are correct, this work is a life's work. And 19:34:27 really I stand on the shoulders of so 19:34:28 Image Center staff and board who made tonight possible and who chose me for 19:34:29 this. I am very humbled to be a recipient of this award that I am holding up. It's very humbling. You are correct, this work is a life's work. 19:34:30 And really I stand on the shoulders of so many who work alongside me every 19:34:34 day. Not just waving the pom poms but getting themselves dirty the 19:34:39 the trenches with me. The Ambassador from Baltimore City 19:34:43 Baltimore City folks with disabilities who have helped me along the way. Who 19:34:47 have helped to build this infrastructure. And also our partner 19:34:51 organizations and others who have seen 19:34:55 the wisdom of what an inclusive and 19:35:00 accessible vaccination site would look like 19:35:04 . And have really picked up those reigns and 19:35:06 allowed us to expand those opportunities for people with 19:35:09 disabilities. Really I stand on very tall shoulders, very broad shoulders. 19:35:14 And I'm very humbled for this award and very excited to continue this work 19:35:19 to save lives every day. And I hope to see you back out 19:35:23 in those trenches starting tomorrow morning. 19:35:26 >> MICHAEL BULLIS: I know some of your team is here. Tyler I think is 19:35:30 out there. She's been a strong advocate for this project. I know 19:35:34 that you've really reached out into the entire community. So thank you all 19:35:38 very much for this incredible work. There is nothing right now more 19:35:42 important than getting those shots in those arms. So thank you very much for 19:35:46 fighting the good fight and making it happen 19:35:49 . All right our next award -- now 19:35:54 we're getting down to the ones you guys have been waiting for. 19:35:59 The VME Project Of the Year award. Now volunteers 19:36:03 for medical engineering every year we have to work hard to think up 19:36:08 a Project Of the Year. Because usually there are about twenty that we want 19:36:12 to give awards to. But this year like all other 19:36:16 years we had to pick a project of the year. Only it was again 19:36:21 an easy job this year. Because somebody came to us early 19:36:26 on late last year with an impossible -- what we thought was an impossible 19:36:30 task. Ann wanted to get 19:36:34 her mom -- to take her out to dinner from the nursing facility that she 19:36:38 lived in. The only problem was she had trouble getting her mom -- she wanted 19:36:42 a device that would help get her mom out of the chair and into the car. And 19:36:46 then she wanted a device once they -- to get back out of the car and 19:36:50 into the chair. Then she wanted the same device to be able to go into a 19:36:54 restroom so she could help her mom so that her mom could stand up and turn 19:36:58 around, use the restroom and then get back into the -- and we said 19:37:02 we said and I'll be honest we all basically just said you know what this 19:37:07 is just too many things in one device; we're not sure we can make this happen 19:37:12 . But we thought about it for a while and thanks 19:37:18 to some of our colleagues we were able to reach out 19:37:22 to MIT. We decided when in doubt go toe this best. And we went 19:37:27 to MIT and asked for their help 19:37:32 . And they have created an absolutely amazing project that will 19:37:36 be delivered later this Fall. It has worldwide application. Because 19:37:40 nothing like this has ever been created before. So let 19:37:44 me introduce 20 you Dan 19:37:49 Frey. Mr. Frey, do you want to say a few word 19:37:53 s. We'd love to hear from you. Again we can't thank you guys so much for your 19:37:57 incredible creative thinking and all the students that you worked with who 19:38:01 pulled this off. >> Dan Frey: 19:38:05 Thanks so much for the kind introduction. I feel really happy and 19:38:09 grateful. This is a wonderful recognition. A beautiful trophy. So 19:38:13 well made. Thank you so much. I am happy to accept 19:38:18 it and say thank you on behalf of our whole team 19:38:22 team. Our volunteers Steve bailey and Dr. 19:38:27 Carolyn Chanoski and he Len 19:38:31 Chanoski and ha Leyna div is. They've been #2re 19:38:35 in providing professional support and really co-designers of this. I want to 19:38:39 say thank you to the students Isabel Barnett, David Ologan and 19:38:45 Laura Rosado for their hard work in executing the design and going through 19:38:49 the testing process with me. I want to say thank you to Jamie Gu 19:38:53 Gurganus and Charlie 19:38:57 Reiss. Thank you to the whole VME community. When we come 19:39:02 together and get our progress reports we get such useful input 19:39:06 input. Some ideas are wild and crazy. Some are grounded and 19:39:10 practical. We get the whole range. And it's so helpful to our process. 19:39:14 Let me finally say thank you to Ann 19:39:18 a Dot really giving us inspiration. And helping us 19:39:23 to see clearly and in detail the user perspective 19:39:27 . Which is so important. So again thank you very much for inviting 19:39:31 us into your community and forgiving us 19:39:34 this very generous recognition. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: And thank you 19:39:39 again. You've been truly inspiring to us too. You 19:39:43 took on a hard project and made it happen. So 19:39:47 thanks again for helping us see that even sometimes when you think you 19:39:51 can't find a solution, there's one out there and it causes us 19:39:55 to reach further every time to say let's not accept no for an answer 19:39:59 . And you know, thanks so much 19:40:05 to Jamie and Charlie. They both connected us with 19:40:09 with M.I.T. 19:40:10 We appreciate everything you guys have done. 19:40:15 All right now we have two volunteers Of the Year 19:40:19 Volunteers Of the Year because we couldn't decide between them. So when 19:40:23 in doubt -- there was just so way to make this decision for one 19:40:27 person. So we have two Volunteers Of the Year award 19:40:32 . I want 19:40:38 to get -- I want to first speak about Vince 19:40:42 Nguyen. Vince 19:40:46 is really the key behind our partnership with the University of 19:40:51 Maryland. He was awarded Professor of 19:40:56 Professor of The Year for his VME work in 2019. He helped 19:41:00 us promote what we do and promoted it on campus 19:41:06 . He's mentored teams for three years now. 19:41:12 In 2019, 2020 and 2021. 19:41:16 He participates in our bike clinics. He is incredibly insightful and 19:41:21 critical thinker as we go through our prac 19:41:25 prac meetings. And he joined us on TV for our annual what 19:41:29 What I Wish campaign. Vince has done everything 19:41:32 for us. We so appreciate it. Congratulations on the volunteer Of 19:41:35 the Year award. >> VINCE: Thank you very much. When 19:41:39 I first attended a prac meeting maybe 19:41:43 2017 or so I remember being so impressed with the projects and work 19:41:46 this VME was working on. I just remember sitting there feeling this is 19:41:50 what engineers should be doing. This is what we need to be doing. And I'm so 19:41:55 grateful just to be sitting here along all these great volunteers and 19:41:59 engineers let alone being a ill to be celebrated with this award. So overall 19:42:03 in life I use a pretty simple metric and it works for everything. It works 19:42:08 professionally and you know, sports. Everything. It's just basically 19:42:12 , stop and think and ask questions like when my kids be proud of #3450e 19:42:17 of proud of me for this. If it's something that is 19:42:21 too complicated or not impressionable enough for kids maybe 19:42:25 it's not something that's all that. So in my constant chase of getting my 19:42:28 kids to be impressed by me, I always bring them around and make them do 19:42:32 everything that I do and get into everything that I get into. And VME 19:42:36 was no different. They helped me build everything. They go to client meetings 19:42:40 and deliveries. They test devices with me. And some of the them 19:42:44 go to meetings with me. Some maybe not as voluntary 19:42:49 as the others out of necessity. But one of the telling aspects I think 19:42:54 about just how cool and fulfilling the nature of the VME projects are 19:42:58 is the fact they're always super excited to work on VME projects. 19:43:02 It doesn't matter what it is. I never have to ask them to come along for a 19:43:06 build or bike clinic. They are resoundingly absolutely yes. So, you 19:43:10 know, in that measuring stick of impressing my kids, I would say that 19:43:14 this goes a very long way towards building my street cred here 19:43:18 at my house. I am personally very attached to that. But maybe 19:43:22 on a more serious note, I love that my daughter 19:43:26 who is, you know, just going to first grade right now. If you were to ask 19:43:30 her what engineering is and ask her what an engineer does, she would say 19:43:34 an engineer is someone who builds things that helps people. And 19:43:38 that's pretty cool. You know, as we go through the next level and try to 19:43:43 educate the next round of future engineers they're going up to tackle 19:43:46 the existential social, global, environmental problems that we're 19:43:49 facing today. You know, that simple idea that we should be here to help 19:43:53 people is just something that's maybe more important now than ever. 19:43:58 So, you know, as an engineer, as a person, there's something so innate 19:44:02 ly true and natural and you know, innately fulfilling about 19:44:05 going out there and trying to help somebody in your local community and 19:44:08 really make a difference in their lives. So I really want to thank VME 19:44:12 and all the volunteers for providing the structure, the organization and 19:44:16 really just a platform for us to stand up and try to do good as best 19:44:22 we can. And I absolutely grateful to VME for providing this very real 19:44:26 opportunity for the possibility of sharing this fundamental 19:44:30 ly fulfilling aspect with both my students and my family 19:44:34 . So thank you. >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Dad creds 19:44:38 are absolutely important. Good job 19:44:43 ! Thank you so much, Vince 19:44:45 . Our second volunteer of the year 19:44:49 award goes to Carolyn Chanoski. Carolyn 19:44:53 Carolyn is a retired physical therapist from Baltimore 19:44:58 County Public Schools. She became a volunteer for us in 2017 19:45:02 in 2017. And in 2020 gave over 100 hours of her time 19:45:06 . She works on Zoom client site visits. She 19:45:10 fully participates in our bike clinic 19:45:15 s. She's got -- provides medical solutions to help us with our clunt 19:45:19 our clients. She mentors students 19:45:23 on their projects. She regionally worked with the MIT folks 19:45:27 . And she brings lots of smiles and laughs as we've all known 19:45:32 . So, Carolyn, thank you so much for everything that you do. And 19:45:36 thank you very much for being part of 19:45:40 this wonderful thing that we call 19:45:43 VME image. Would you like to say a few words? 19:45:48 >> CAROLYN: Yes. Thank you so much. I am so humbled to receive this 19:45:52 award. But I really think that there's been some kind of mistake 19:45:56 . Because everyone at VME works so 19:46:01 hard and generously gives of their time and talent. 19:46:06 Every moment that I've worked with VME has been a pleasure. Each project 19:46:10 , every bike clinic has met a need 19:46:14 for someone and has made someone happy. I've met so 19:46:19 many wonderful people through VME. The engineers are so creative with the 19:46:24 solutions they devise. And the students who 19:46:28 I worked with those students from MIT. 19:46:32 They're brilliant! They're scary they're so smart. And Angela who is 19:46:37 the grease that keeps all the wheels turning smoothly. 19:46:41 Angela, it's always a joy to work with 19:46:46 you. It's truly been my pleasure and my privilege to be part of 19:46:51 image 19:46:57 VM and I hope to continue many years in the future. Thank you so very much. 19:46:58 >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Thank you as 19:47:01 well. It is a pleasure to have people of your talent and knowledge and 19:47:05 and abilities and sense of humor to be with us to really make those 19:47:08 differences. So thanks a lot. I now have the pleasure of 19:47:13 introducing Angela Tyler who is going to give a few 19:47:17 more awards and recognitions. Angela is 19:47:21 the VME coordinator. As everybody will tell you, she makes it all happen. She 19:47:26 is one of the most organized people I've ever 19:47:29 met. And I was going to say more organized than me but everybody's more 19:47:33 organized than me. But she's just a phenomenal person 19:47:37 to work with. She's pleasant. She never makes 19:47:41 it look hard. She never loses her poise and control. At least not around 19:47:47 me. Not around any of us. She always figures out 19:47:51 the answers, helps everybody move forward and 19:47:54 creates such a positive environment that really makes a difference. 19:47:57 Angela Tyler, you've got some awards to present? 19:48:01 >> Angela Tyler: I do. Thank you Mike for those beautiful comments. 19:48:05 Really I couldn't do any of this without our volunteers. I mean, it's 19:48:09 really all about them. And just supporting them and helping them do 19:48:13 what they do best. And that's what I do. And 19:48:17 tonight I have the honor and the true privilege 19:48:21 to talk about our volunteers. The engineers, the occupational therapist 19:48:26 s, the physical therapists. Sometimes we have nurses 19:48:30 as well. Our amazing students from across twelve different 19:48:34 partner schools throughout Maryland and also now in Massachusetts 19:48:38 . So right now we're going to talk about two recognitions. The first 19:48:42 one we want to talk about our students. And each year 19:48:47 we started honoring our students through what we call 19:48:52 the VME alumni Of the Year. And, in this case, alumnae Of the Year 19:48:57 . And this year it goes to Isabella 19:49:01 Gudino. Isabella is amazing. We call her Bella 19:49:05 . And back in 2019 she came to me, she gave me a call and said, 19:49:09 how can we get the Hispanic society of 19:49:13 professional engineers involved with VME? And this was from 19:49:18 UMBC's campus. And so from there we talked a little bit 19:49:22 . We brainstormed. And Bella just took it by storm 19:49:26 . So she organized some volunteers. She had some of 19:49:31 her fellow students come to our rollator 19:49:35 clinic as we see here pictured on the screen. She promoted 19:49:39 VME on UMBC's campus. And then in her senior year she did a capstone 19:49:44 project for Money Gram. She did 19:49:49 the treadmill project. She was one of the team members on that project and 19:49:53 they did a beautiful job. Isabella is so beautiful to work with. She is now 19:49:57 working professionally. Grad school as well. And she is just a joy. So this 19:50:01 award is definitely honored and should 19:50:05 go to her. So Bella, good job. Go girl 19:50:08 ! From here we're going to talk 19:50:12 about our next award. And that is our 19:50:16 bike team. And they are what we call our project -- or our team of the 19:50:20 year, excuse me. And let me give you a little background about this 19:50:24 particular team. Back in 2014 we formed something 19:50:29 called a bike clinic and it was named after Dr. 19:50:34 Andy Conn who passed on who was very involved in building 19:50:38 bikes for our children. So we started doing these bike 19:50:42 bike clinics. Bikes happen to be our number one request that we receive. 19:50:46 And we put together a team of volunteers. We put them all in a room 19:50:50 . Like forty to fifty volunteers. They 19:50:53 built multiple bikes in one day and then the children ride the bikes and 19:50:58 take them home at the end of the day. Well now fast forward 19:51:02 to 2020 and now the pandemic hits. And now we're not able to do the bicycles 19:51:06 as we would like to do it as a team in one room. But then we had 19:51:10 a group of volunteers who said you know what, let's keep this train 19:51:15 moving, and let's go ahead and actually build the bikes from home 19:51:19 . So what we did is each team member 19:51:23 had a specific client they'd build 19:51:27 a bike for. They built it, tested it, delivered it and the kids were on 19:51:31 their way. So we want to give you a behind the scenes look 19:51:36 at the smiles -- what we call the smiles behind the mask. 19:51:40 Because last year as we were driving bikes everyone had 19:51:44 on masks. But there were smiles behind those masks. So let's take a look 19:51:47 and see what you may not see behind the scenes. Let's take a look at the 19:51:52 video. [Music playing] 19:52:11 19:52:15 19:52:21 19:52:25 What are you doing? >> Riding this 19:52:29 bike >> Whose bike it is? Mine own bike! 19:52:34 [Music playing] 19:53:11 What are you doing? >> Riding this bike 19:53:11 >> Whose bike it is? Mine own bike! 19:53:15 [Music playing] [Music playing] 19:53:24 >> There you go! 19:53:30 >> Yea! 19:53:34 [Music playing] 19:54:18 >> ANGELA: 19:54:22 >> ANGELA: 19:54:27 There we have it. These are children ages 10-19. They were throughout 19:54:31 Maryland in different parts of the state. We really want to thank the 19:54:35 bike team for putting their energy together and building from their home 19:54:39 workshops. That includes Art, Bryan 19:54:44 , Carolyn, David, Jim and Denise, John and Laura, Kirk and Vince 19:54:49 . So thumbs up to them and we really, really appreciate. And also 19:54:53 thumbs up to Vince's children as well. Because they helped build and 19:54:57 test the bikes too. Incredible, incredible work 19:55:00 ! So let's not forget about all of 19:55:04 our other volunteers. If we can move on to our next 19:55:08 slide. We have amazing volunteers. I mean, they give their 19:55:12 time, their talent. We brainstorm. We work it 19:55:16 out. And the bottom line is we're just creating solutions for children 19:55:20 and adults. And we really, really enjoy each other. We have a good 19:55:24 time. We laugh. We cry with tears of 19:55:27 joy. And we just really work well together. 19:55:32 I just want to thank all of our volunteers for everything that you do. 19:55:36 I learn so much from you. And you really, really bring smile 19:55:40 s and tears of joy to our clients. So thank you so much. 19:55:43 There's another group of people 19:55:46 that we should mention as well as we move on to our next slide. And I think 19:55:51 you should know, we have twelve schools that we actually 19:55:55 partner with. And we could not do this without our 19:55:59 schools as well. We mentor every year about 19:56:03 a hundred to a hundred and twenty five student 19:56:07 s. Each school has a volunteer engineer and often a medical professional who 19:56:12 supports the students as they build -- as they fabricate 19:56:16 and deliver projects. So we want to thank those schools as well. If 19:56:20 If we could bring up the next slide please to actually show the list of 19:56:24 those schools throughout the state as well as in Massachusetts 19:56:29 . So we have not only -- we have high schools, Community College 19:56:34 s, as well as universities too. So hats on of to those 19:56:38 schools and a shout-out to all the professors there as well. 19:56:42 Moving on, one more thing. I think we should mention we had a volunteer 19:56:48 student -- his name is David 19:56:52 Gadoy -- he said to us I play the saxophone 19:56:56 can I include the music. And one of our staff members, Amanda, actually 19:57:00 got him to put together music. So the opening music that you heard to this 19:57:04 program, that was him. And once Mike finishes his closing 19:57:08 remarks, you will hear his music as well. So special shout out 19:57:13 to David as well. So I think that brings my remarks 19:57:16 to a close and I'll turn this back over to Mike. 19:57:20 >> MICHAEL BULLIS: Thank you, Angela. And thanks to all of the 19:57:24 volunteers. Special shout-out to John who bird 19:57:32 dog thoseprac meetings. I don't think people realize how he does what 19:57:35 he does but he is phenomenal at keeping the group in order and on 19:57:39 track and doing it with an easy touch that makes everybody feel creative and 19:57:43 open yet moves things right along. I want to take a minute to just 19:57:48 say thank you to the staff, the volunteers, the donor 19:57:52 s. We're going to get -- I think we've got a picture of 19:57:56 all of our staff up there. I can't remember what the occasion was 19:58:01 exactly. But we did imagine to get everybody together. I think there may 19:58:06 be a couple missing. But thank you so much to all of you for being here 19:58:11 tonight. Thanks for -- and I want to bring up our list of 19:58:15 sponsors. Because that list is incredible. 19:58:19 You're the people who make doing this possible. You provide 19:58:24 the infrastructure for what we're able to accomplish. I can't tell you how 19:58:28 much we thank you. With all the challenges that we have, we need to 19:58:32 stop sometimes and think about how grateful we are for what we've got. 19:58:38 Because that's really -- that is due to all of you. And with that, I want 19:58:43 to thank each and every person here -- our Board, our staff, our sponsors, 19:58:47 everyone. And thanks to the -- I just can't say how grateful 19:58:52 enough how grateful we are for everything that each of you does. To 19:58:56 make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities 19:58:59 . It turns disability from a problem into a solution. Thank you. 19:59:11 [Music playing]