On Thursday, February 20th, Author and Inspirational Speaker, Alice Crespo, visited The Regency as part of their Regency University Educational Series and spoke about “Finding Inner Strength When Life Gets Difficult”. Alice is the Author of the book, Never Be Discouraged.
Alice has faced many struggles throughout her life. Through her book and her speaking engagements she hopes to motivate others to never give up on their dreams, no matter how hard their struggle is. She believes that through faith, hard work and determination anything is possible. Alice was born in New York City, raised in Brooklyn, and grew up totally blind. She had to work hard to learn many new things in order to break the poverty cycle she was born into. Alice talked about her difficult childhood, her family being on welfare, her schooling and growing up blind. She also brought many modern devices with her that help her in her daily life such as a Perkins Brailler, which types out Braille, and a Book Port Plus which can read text and convert it to audio. She pointed out how this device can assist the elderly with reading if they develop poor eyesight. Alice also discussed the 3 guide dogs she has had and the ways in which they assist her. She brought her current dog, Akira, with her. Akira is a sweet and devoted Black Lab, who is 15 and semi-retired now.
Alice was certainly very inspiring. Hearing about the struggles she has faced and how she overcame them, encouraged audience members to share some of the challenges
they have experienced in their own lives. The Regency would like to thank Alice (and Akira!) for visiting and sharing her story.