{"id":400699,"date":"2023-10-09T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=400699"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"CLI-opens-new-training-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/CLI-opens-new-training-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"CLI opens new training facility"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It was a ceremony full of smiles as the Center for Living Independently opened its new Commonwealth Disability Training Center last Friday on Capital Hill.<\/p>\n<p>Many dignitaries, including Lt Gov. David M Apatang, Saipan Mayor Ramon \u201cRB\u201d Blas Camacho, as well as dozens of community members were present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which caps the project after a four-year wait. The $800,000 project was funded by the Office of Insular Affairs through the CNMI Capital Improvement Program.<\/p>\n<p>The training center itself features training rooms, a staff office, a back patio, an American with Disabilities Act-compliant kitchen, bathrooms, and a covered walkway connecting to the Center for Living Independently office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith this new building, we can introduce more consumers to see the CLI program,\u201d said CLI board president Ermiterio Fitial. \u201cWith its many upgraded facilities, we will be a one-stop training center for individuals with disabilities to learn the necessary skills needed to be independent, such as cleaning around their homes, planting and tending to the garden, or even cooking in the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CLI executive director Susan Satur echoed his excitement: \u201cThis building is going to impact so many lives. We are going to have a real training facility here in the CNMI.\u201d She thanked all partners in making the facility a reality.<\/p>\n<p>CLI consumer Stephen Sablan shared his excitement for the new facility, \u201cI am so happy that this building is open. Thank you to director Sue, the board of directors, everybody! Thank you to you guys!\u201d he said \u201c[The building] is going to help us get trained and work with a lot of consumers. Thank you, guys! Thank you, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The training facility also features a bust of former U.S. president John F Kennedy, courtesy of the Saipan Mayor\u2019s Office. According to Camacho, the Kennedy monument had been taken off display for a while. After finding it and having it refurbished and redesigned, the Saipan Mayor\u2019s Office donated the monument to CLI to be displayed at the new training facility, especially since the late president was an advocate for individuals with disabilities.<\/p>\n<p> <figure style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/imgupload\/14beef063f53622388a058ffbc03f320.jpg\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/p>\n<p>Members of the Center for Living Independently and dignitaries including Lt Gov. David M Apatang and Saipan Mayor Ramon \u201cRB\u201d Blas Camacho cut the ribbon to open CLI\u2019s new training facility on Capital Hill last Friday.<\/p>\n<p>-CHRYSTAL MARINO<br \/><\/figcaption><\/figure> <figure style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/imgupload\/fbc93122892390b425018c7b9d9b41a3.jpg\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/p>\n<p>Students take a picture next beside the recently unveiled John F. Kennedy monument at the Center for Living Independently\u2019s new training facility grand opening ceremony last Friday on Capital Hill.<\/p>\n<p>-CHRYSTAL MARINO<br \/><\/figcaption><\/figure> <figure style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/imgupload\/ef22439514fb29caf12e679ea68e1646.jpg\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/p>\n<p>Guests helped themselves to the refreshments that were served after the Center for Living Independently\u2019s new training facility grand opening ceremony last Friday on Capital Hill.<\/p>\n<p>-CHRYSTAL MARINO<br \/><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was a ceremony full of smiles as the Center for Living Independently opened its&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-400699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}