St. Joseph's Seminary Gives the NJ Unit of RFB&D the Key to its New Home in Ceremony
Shawn Ellsworth, co-chair of the New Jersey Unit of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) received a ceremonial key for its new home in St. Vincent's Hall of the Vincentian Renewal Center on the campus of St. Joseph's Seminary from Father Joe Morris, Director of the Renewal Center.
Father Morris said the Renewal Center, "welcomes Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic and supports its mission," to record educational material for people who cannot effectively read standard print because of visual impairment, dyslexia or other physical disability.
Also in attendance were RFB&D New Jersey Unit board members, volunteers and staff, as well as staff from the renewal center and representatives from the Plainsboro Township and local civic organizations.
The New Jersey Unit has entered into a lease agreement with St. Joseph's and will move its recording facilities and outreach and administrative offices there in Spring 2003. The unit has operated out of the Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) since 1958 and opened another studio in West Windsor in 1993. Growth at PTS necessitated the move from the basement of the seminary gym on Hibben Road by spring. The lease at the West Windsor facility will be up at the same time.
The new facility, in former science labs in St. Vincent's Hall at St. Joseph's, will house 14 recording booths, the unit's educational outreach center and administrative offices. It is located off of Mapleton Road, near the Forrestal Shopping Village. New Jersey Unit Interim Executive Director Olivian Boon says, "We've had a long a wonderful relationship with the
Princeton Seminary, but we understand their needs. We are fortunate to quickly find such a suitable location where we can continue our work and meet the growing needs of our members."
Because the unit has agreed to pay for the cost of renovations, St. Joseph's has agreed to defer payment of rent for eight years of the ten-year lease. These costs, as well as moving expenses, will come to over a half million dollars. The unit's Board of Directors has launched a Building Fund Campaign to raise the necessary funds for the facility where over 500 volunteers will
come together to record educational materials to over 100,000 members with print disabilities nationwide. Over 5,000 students are served in New Jersey alone. The facility will also house an educational outreach center which serves a growing number of schools throughout the state, especially in under-resourced districts.
RFB&D, a nonprofit organization, is the nation's library serving people cannot effectively read standard print because of visual impairment, dyslexia or other physical disability. For further information, contact Sandi Wilson at (609) 688-0485.