More than 200 volunteers, donors, guests and guide dog teams were on hand December 10 as Guide Dogs of America (GDA) unveiled its latest expansion in Sylmar, Calif. The new 16,000 sq. ft. building celebrated the dedication of the Macki and Phil Singer Visitor and Education Center. The expansion of GDA's 7.5-acre campus was facilitated by a generous donation from Macki and Phil Singer, who have supported their mission since 1994.

The new visitor and education center will allow the school to enhance its visitors' experience by being able to further educate and give a more in-depth look into its mission to provide professionally trained guide dogs, to graduate more guide dog teams and instruction in their use, free of charge to blind men and women across the U.S. and Canada.

In addition to a new 250-seat auditorium, gift shop, offices and boardroom, the facility will make it possible to conduct day-to-day operations without concern for weather.

Schweiss Doors provided the new facility with a 41'10" x 11'2" bifold liftstrap glass designer door. The door is fitted with photo eye sensors and is powered by two top-drive 3 h.p. 460v electric motors. DAI General Contracting of Irvine, Calif. built the structure.

Fred Hanhauser, Chief Operating Officer for DAI, said they subcontracted the door installation to Vortex and that it went well with no hitches.

"We called around to the big rollup door guys we were used to dealing with to see who does big doors like this - all arrows pointed to Schweiss Doors," said Hanhauser. "I like to watch the door in action. It's interesting to watch a door that big open up; it's pretty cool. The quality is good, I enjoyed working with you guys and would gladly do it again."

According to Lorri Bernson, Media and Community Liaison for GDA, the large door is especially good to open up the facility to the outdoor courtyard, which is done when large groups gather to eliminate crowding inside the building.

"The large glass wall door is opened to give us a bigger space if need be. It's a beautiful way to enhance and expand events in our visitor education center and make it more useful," said Bernson. "We are very excited to have this new addition to our campus."

"The visitor and education center is the next step in GDA's journey to bring life-improving services to blind and visually impaired individuals," said IAM International President Bob Martinez. "With each person, community group or grammar school field trip that walks through these doors, news of the good work done here will spread far beyond the seven and a half acres on which the school sits."

The cost to provide one guide dog and match it with its new blind partner is over $48,000. GDA charges nothing to guide dog recipients or their families for its services, which include a guide dog and professional instruction by licensed trainers, room and board for the 21-day instruction period, a specially designed harness, follow-up care, veterinarian care and travel expenses when requested.

"We graduate between 50 and 60 teams (dog and handler) each year. The dogs graduate around the age of two. We start having them socialize when they are four weeks old in the nursery, getting them used to being around people. We take them outside until they go home with their puppy raisers. We expose them to all types of surfaces like grass and in wagons to help them with their balance. The puppies leave the nursery when they are 7 to 8 weeks of age when they go to a volunteer or family, that we call Puppy Raisers. They keep the puppies until they are around 18 months of age. Their job is to take the puppy pretty much everywhere they go so by the time they become a guide dog nothing is really new to them," explained Bernson.

Guide Dogs of America

Guide Dogs of America has been around since 1948 and since that time they have paired dogs with thousands of visually impaired people across the United States and Canada. All Guide dogs are only for the blind, unlike hearing dogs for the deaf or PTSD dogs for war veterans.

Guide dog breeds are chosen for temperament and trainability and matched to the dog and the person. Today, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, and German Shepherds are most likely to be chosen by service animal facilities, although other breeds such as Standard Poodles, Collies, Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, and Vizslas may also be selected.

Crosses such as Golden Retriever/Labrador are popular due to both breeds' known intelligence, work ethic, and early maturation. Labradoodles (Labrador/Poodles) are bred to help reduce allergens as all breeds shed but levels vary.

The most popular breed used globally today is the Labrador retriever. This breed is easily kept due to its short coat, is generally healthy and has a gentle but willing temperament.

References to service animals date at least as far back as the mid-16th century; The first service animal training schools were established in Germany during World War I to enhance the mobility of returning veterans who were blinded in combat. In many countries, service animals are protected by law and therefore may accompany their handlers most places that are open to the public.

In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits any business, government agency, or other organization that provides access to the general public from barring service animals. Religious organizations are not required to provide such access. The Fair Housing Act requires that landlords allow tenants to have service animals in residences that normally have a "No Pets" policy and that no extra fees may be charged for such tenants.

Studies show owning a pet or therapy animal offer positive effects psychologically, socially, and physiologically. Guide dogs give a blind person more confidence, friendship, support and security.

Although the dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, lots of them are (red-green) color-blind and are not capable of interpreting street signs. The human does the directing, based on skills acquired through previous mobility training.

Guide Dogs of America is located at 13445 Glenoaks Blvd., Sylmar, Calif. For more information on their services, call 818-833-6429 or visit their website at: www.guidedogsofamerica.org

DAI General Contracting

Formed in 2003, DAI (Damato Associates Inc.) began in the Self-Storage Industry building new facilities and immediately expanded into "ground-up" office buildings, retail/banks, concrete tilt-ups, self-storage and tenant improvements.

DAI offers creative value engineering, comprehensive pre-construction services and viable solutions in an ever-changing industry. They are a commercial general contracting firm with experience in all facets of construction supported by a staff with well over 60 years of combined and varied construction experience. They have maintained success by treating clients with unparalleled service and creative input for all their construction needs.

With DAI guiding your project through the construction phase, they say: "You Can "Relax, We Got This."

DAI General Contracting is located at 15 Hammond, Ste.307, Irvine, CA Tel: 949-600-5850. For more information visit their website at: http://www.daigc.com