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DVR Newsletter - March, 2020 Success Story

Back to the DVR March, 2020 Newsletter

Man with silver hair, beard and mustache,, smiling and wearing a dark grey suit, maroon tie and glasses.

I often tell Alaskans that I returned to the Alaska Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) because it is my home. It's where I belong. I started working for DVR in 1989 as a Rehabilitation Counselor, left in 2007, and returned in 2019. It didn't dawn on me that I would get to be a part of the 100-year celebration until I attended the Council on State Administrators for Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) where it was announced that this year, 2020, Public Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) will reach the 100-year milestone. When I heard this, I was overwhelmed with emotion and thrilled that I get to be a part of this celebration in my role as the DVR Director for the great state of Alaska.

Looking back at how I got here, the path may have started in 1975. My oldest brother had come home for the weekend from the University of Wisconsin Stout and he shared his decision to enter into the Vocational Rehabilitation Program with my sister and me. He described the program to us, and were both moved to enter the University of Wisconsin Stout, me in 1976, and my sister in 1977. The three of us had the same teachers, on which they often would comment, "Another Mayes in the VR program!"Director Mayes and his brother and sister pose together, arm in arm.

As some of you know, my mom and dad, who passed away many years ago, were deaf and communicated through American Sign Language (ASL). They would often tell me how proud there were that all three of their children graduated from college with an education in Vocational Rehabilitation. I think it is fair to say they had a major influence! They were also impressed that I married a Rehabilitation Counselor who worked for Alaska DVR for 33 years before retiring. As I often say, let's keep it in the family!

As we look back on these 100 years of public VR, I think about all of those DVR Counselors who have since retired. I often think of the influence that former DVR directors David Quisenberry and Duane French had on me. I think of the current staff and the work they do to make a difference, one Alaskan at a time, and how honored I am to be a part of this division. Most importantly, I think about the Alaskans served by DVR who are working in competitive and integrated employment and the value that work brings to a person's life. As Ralph Waldo Emerson so eloquently stated "The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."