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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif">Greetings \u2013<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif">As we all know Colorado Dept. of Vocational Rehabilitation
(DVR), including the BLVS unit, have been in an Order of Selection since late
January. That means that everybody that applies ends up on a waiting list. Waiting
for what? Waiting for the Vocational Rehabilitation services they need to
become trained and employed.<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif">If you are a blind Coloradan applying, that also means you
might need cane travel instruction, training in the use of assistive
technology, and even the most basic daily tasks like how to use your stove or
microwave at home and assistance in marking them tactilely. In other words, if
you are newly blind, you are forced to remain dependent on others until DVR and
BLVS get out of financial trouble.<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif">Below is a link to a People magazine article about Bill, one
of our current CCB students. Bill was caught on the waiting list, even though
he applied in October -more than three months before DVR implemented the
waiting list. Bill, however, is not attending CCB with the help of BLVS. He and
his family and friends managed to raise enough money to fund his training.<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif">We also know of cases in which blind Coloradans, despite
being eligible for BLVS and having signed their Individual Plans for Employment
(IPE), were told that BLVS was going to breech that sacred contract and cut
their services. That is a clear violation of the federal law that governs DVR.
Some of those people we know fought BLVS and won, but we know that there may be
others who haven\u2019t, and we want to know about it if it happened to you.<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif">Bill\u2019s story is compelling, but if you are shut out of
services right now, your story is also compelling. And the NFB of Colorado
wants to hear your story. Please contact Erin Daley at 303-778-1130, ext. 219
or <a href="mailto:edaley@cocenter.org" style="color:rgb(70,120,134);text-decoration:underline">edaley@cocenter.org</a> and tell us your
story.<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif">And if you know of others, please encourage them to contact
the NFB of Colorado too. Here\u2019s Bill\u2019s story:<span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif"><a href="https://people.com/doctor-heart-attack-blind-independence-program-no-funding-exclusive-11927014" style="color:rgb(70,120,134);text-decoration:underline">https://people.com/doctor-heart-attack-blind-independence-program-no-funding-exclusive-11927014</a><span></span></p>
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<br clear="all"></div><br><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Dan Burke<br><br>National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Legislative Co-chair <br><br>"Blindness is not what holds you back. You can live the life you want!"<br><br>My Cell: 406.546.8546<br><br></div></div>