WHEREAS, the work of Vision Rehabilitation Therapists (VRTs) dates back to the 1800s – and in Maine since the 1960s – when the first state-employed Adult Education Specialist began traveling across the state to teach residents, who were blind or partially sighted, adapted daily living skills; and

WHEREAS, through state and nonprofit collaboration there exists a small group of specially trained, itinerant, vision rehabilitation therapists who provide the primary form of vision rehabilitation training and carry on this important work of delivering independent living skills to blind and partially sighted Maine residents; and

WHEREAS, blindness and vision loss constitutes a significant disability affecting all aspects of independent function, and we celebrate this small group of professionals who are dedicated to improving the lives of Maine residents, supporting and advocating for their independence and self-determination, and significantly reducing the cost to Maine communities and health care systems; and

WHEREAS, the Maine State Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, The Iris Network and The Association of Educators and Rehabilitation Professionals join together to recognize Vision Rehabilitation Therapist Appreciation Week;

NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby proclaim the week of April 12-18, 2026 as

Vision Rehabilitation Therapist Appreciation Week

throughout the State of Maine, and I urge all citizens to recognize this observance.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this third day of April Two Thousand Twenty-Six