Transcriber: Delia Cohen Reviewer: Ellen Maloney
Ladies and gentlemen,
I've known our next speaker for approximately five years,
and every time I've ever heard him speak,
it's always with great passion.
So, it's my pleasure to introduce to you, Mr. Michael Delongis.
(Applause)
Hello.
I have a plan now.
I didn't have a plan in the past, and that was part of my problem.
I grew up without a father, without guidance.
The lack of these important things really affected me later in life.
I did do good in school; I got good grades.
I could have gone to college,
but without that sense of direction, I drifted.
I became a baker, then a carpenter.
Carpentry stuck; I became a very good carpenter.
I ran a successful business; I built a lot of custom homes.
But I also drank.
And my drinking, my drinking progressed,
because I didn't have the proper tools to cope, cope with my stressors.
And I went downhill until, you know, it was progressive,
until eventually I was arrested and ultimately, here at Ironwood.
I decided to turn my life around; I'd quit drinking in the county jail.
It's the first time I ever quit drinking.
And I got here, I took self-help courses, college courses.
I got one associate degree, a second associate degree.
Then I did something a lot of prisoners don't do:
I got married while in prison.
She's awesome
(Applause)
We had an idea to show the powers that be,
you know, in charge of my eventual release
that I could become a changed man over time and earn my release.
And we had a plan, and that plan is Braille.
That's what we do behind the fence over here; we Braille.
it's the raised dots for the visually impaired
A lot of people didn't seem to know that when I got here this morning .
We make college textbooks for the visually impaired.
That's what we do; I think it's awesome.
To get this job,
you've got to be disciplinary free.
You've got to have some college, preferably a degree.
You've got to have a passion for it, too,
and I do.
We're in a partnership with the state chancellor's office.
It's with all the community colleges in the state;
there's over 100 community colleges in the state.
And if a visually impaired student takes a course -
they're required to have the same textbook as a sighted student -
chances are we'll get the job.
We've done geology textbooks, geography textbooks, philosophy.
I've done a Spanish textbook; I don't even speak Spanish.
English grammar, it's amazing.
Over the course of several semesters, we did courtroom stenography.
Picture a visually impaired person learning courtroom stenography.
We did beginner, intermediate, and advanced books, and I knew
somewhere there was a student that was advancing in their chosen career.
I just thought that was awesome.
To be able to do this job, it takes about two years of training.
There's 19 lessons and then you have to Braille a portion of a book,
which is sent to Washington, D.C.,
to the Library of Congress for certification.
And our group, we were fortunate enough to have Saralyn Borboa.
She's here in the audience today; she was our instructor.
(Applause)
I could do the prison thing.
I could do the thing you're not supposed to do in prison and point at her.
(Laughter)
And she would drive out here once a month from San Diego,
and she was fearless.
Little, tiny thing in a room full of convicted felons.
And she taught us well.
She saw the need for new transcribers, a whole new generation of transcribers,
and she saw the human resources right here to get the job done.
Because we do need new transcribers,
and prisoners, they need a sense of self-worth.
And it's a viable trade; it pays well, and it'll pay upon release.
The company I'm working for right now will continue to employ me
upon my release.
They've done so with three parolees from this prison already.
It's a win-win situation.
There's 24 of us here in the Ironwood Braille Program; 13 of us are certified.
I propose you take some of these certified prisoners
and ship them to other prisons throughout the state.
Put them in a classroom with guys that want to learn how to transcribe.
The growth in transcribers would be exponential.
I'm not saying replace teachers; just augment them.
Still have a Saralyn Borboa that would come once a month,
make sure the program is moving on track.
But the peer-to-peer education model has proven itself here at Ironwood.
It should be emulated elsewhere.
You know, you can transcribe from anywhere.
A person like Saralyn, she transcribes from home.
Most transcribers can transcribe from home.
You're not geographically bound,
and I would want to work from home when I'm released.
I couldn't justify getting up in the morning and going to a job
and leave my wife every day after this much time apart.
I'm going to work from home, and it's going to be a floating home,
a 39-foot sailboat that we will be able to Braille on.
And we can Braille from anywhere that she wants to Braille.
We can Braille off the coast of Alaska, and as of last night,
I was told it's the Maldives; we're going to the Maldives to Braille.
(Laughter)
And, you know, prison Braille, before I forget I want to tell you
that if you're in a prison Braille program for two or more years,
the American Printing House for the Blind has statistics that show
that the recidivism rate for a prisoner that's done Braille
for two years is zero to three per cent.
That's numbers that anyone can get behind.
I was an alcoholic for 30 years; I was a carpenter for 20 years.
I made some terrible decisions one day.
I've been a prisoner for 12 years.
I'm a transformed man forever.
So, set your own goals, make your own plan,
and I'll see you out there when I'm released.
Thank you.
(Applause)