[Community-service] volunteers at cleveland sight center

Tue Feb 25 17:00:12 UTC 2014

Ashley,

Domestic Violence is a broad topic. I don't know if I can keep it
short, but here goes! Most large cities have an agency, maybe several
that deal with issues surrounding abuse. Children are protected by law
in a different way. If a healthcare professional, educator, social
worker, or Joe citzen suspects or witness abuse they must report it
and the children's service agency must investigate. However with
adults it is a little different. Knowledge of abuse needs to be
reported to authorities by the indibidual.

1. Health care professional, at doctors appointments or in emergency
rooms. Some major hospital systems have nurses with this expertise,
sane sexual assault nurse examiner, they are specially trained for
abuse cases. If someone requires medical treatment related to abuse,
they should request a sane professional. However every facility does
not staff them. It is important to identify where they are and go to
those facilities when abuse occurs. After the person has established
this connection, the nurse and their staff are a wealth of
information. They will not force anyone to report the crime but can
explain all options and offer support. There are some health care
facilities that offer a safe secure room for 24 hours when necessary.

2. Domestic Violence Agencies, offer avariety of services or have
information on where the resources are located. For instance, support
groups, individual counseling, providing a advocate for navigating the
leagle system, counseling for children that witness violence, shelter
and assistance with relocation. Some may offer safe places for
visitation with children.

3. Law Enforcement, this is sticky. When a violent act is perpertrated
against someone, the person must report it for several reasons.
Justice should be served, safety prevention of person repeating crime
again, and for statistical purposes. Funding for specific groups is
determined by how often a particular crime is reported and prosecuted.
In Ohio if you report a crime, the state will prosecute the accused,
you cannot change your mind. It is always better if the victim
cooperates but if they are not willing the perpertrator is still
prosecuted. Reporting gives victims the choice of receiving an order
of protection. One of the most startling statistics is, most women
leave their perpertrator 7 times before calling in law enforcement.
Every woman does not fit this mold it ranges from,  reporting the
first time it happens to it ending because the person was killed.
Now this is the short version, can you imagine being blind and
navigating these systems? Nightmarish for anyone, but is you are blind
it really becomes complicated. Planning a escape is tricky, because we
need assistance and the person must maintain confidentiallty, be
available, and non judgemental. It is also very dangerous for everyone
involved. This is problematical so, my thought is for us, the blind,
to investigat what is available in each area. Evaluate it, dialogue
with the various agencies on how they can best help us and how we can
assist them. Crearte a resource list and recruit those of us that want
to volunteer with appropriate agencies, creating partnerships before
another blind person attempts to navigate these systems alone and
becomes overwhelmed, hopeless and decides to quit. Maybe forcing them
back into the same situation, which will only escalate over time.
People with disabilities rarely report domestic violence. Why? because
the perpertrator has usually taken over every aspect of their lives
and it is overwhelming to untangle, the dependency is so strong the
victim may not acknowledge that they are a victim!

Healthy Relationship Workshop, these classes identified what is
domestic violence/partner abuse, reinforced that it is not your fault
, covered ptsd, where to go for help, talked abut personalities of
perpertrators, explained why this is a crime and how to navigate the
system. There was literature and videos it was basic education on
domestic abuse.

My role as a volunteer, I attended the volunteer training and assist
with nertworking in the faith community. Connecting congregations to
the agency for awareness and education, staff resource tables in the
community , support financially and offer support when asked by a
individual. You should check out your agency before making a
presentation. Questions to ask are, have you ever had a blind person
in your shelter? How did you meet their unique needs? When a blind
person reports the crime, how do you take their statement, who assists
them, is their anyone to guide them through the leagle process? If not
where can they go for help? Are the shelters for domestic violence
only, or are there substance abuse and homeless persons in the
facility with them? What hospitals offer safe space and sane nurses?
How does your doctor handle patients that report abuse to them? Is
there an excape plan for someone with no sight, dependent on others
for transportation?
The list builds as the conversations grow. Do your homework first,
then ask yourself what is the goal and go from there. You may want to
divide up the tasks with other interested blind folks, they should
really be interested because this is not for the faint of heart,
smiles. Good Luck, there is a lot of resistance to this subject. I
will post something similar to this on Ohio Talk at the end of the
week, we are going on a state wide fact finding mission. After this we
can evaluate and decide how to tackle problems and situations to
enhance services that are already available to meet our needs.  A few
years ago, we did a few cold calls survey of agencies that provide
services for the blind across the country, asking if they are aware of
violent crimes within the population, how they handle it and are there
domestic violence facilities in the area prepared for blind people.
Only 1 out of about 20 admitted that they had knowledge of abuse among
the clients they served. Most told us there was no abuse in the adult
blind community. Amazing!

Blessings,

Cheryl
On 2/24/14, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Cheryl,
> Thanks for this info. That is great you were accepted by the domestic
> violence agency easily. Do you lead groups there, or what?
>
> About the center, its good to know they have blind and sighted volunteers
> and staff at the camp.
> I'm impressed with the variety of things there. Adult camp? Really? How long
>
> is each adult camp?
>
>
> Wow, I am very impressed with your ideas. Can you tell a little more? I
> might suggest this to Columbia lighthouse for the blind. I really, really,
> like your ideas of partnering with law enforcement and health care
> facilities to raise awareness and providing
> support to women.
> The quote I refer to is this.
>
> "We advocated for a healthy relationship workshops at csc for women,
> this lasted 6 weeks. We are in the process of planning a collaboration
> with law enforcement, health care facilities, csc and domestiviolence
> agency. Wanting to promote awareness, how to talk to a blind person,
> where are shelters and are they prepared for us, proper reporting.
> This would include educating the blind community that there are safe
> places for us and how to ask for what is available. It is a exhaustive
> process but I am determined to see it through. Ultimately we are
> hoping a support group for persons with disabilities will come from
> this, our deaf community in Cleveland is participating in a study with
> law enforcement concerning domestic violence."
>
> What topics are in your  healthy relationships workshops?
> When you say proper reporting, do you mean report domestic violence issues
> to the right authorities?
> What are you doing with health care facilities? By this, do you mean nursing
>
> and assistive living facilities, or more like hospitals?
>
> While your partnering with law enforcement, I also suggest having the police
>
> teach you all about crime prevention, the difference between using 911
> properly and non emergency numbers, and how to prevent identity theft. Also,
>
> I think CSC and other blindness nonprofits
> should bring in people to teach some self defense.
>
> How often are you volunteering? This sounds like a lot! I'm glad you enjoy
> it.
>
> Ashley
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Cheryl Fields
> Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2014 11:49 PM
> To: Community Service Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [Community-service] volunteers at cleveland sight center
>
> Well, Stanley can give you more advice about providing computer
> training, he will get the message on Monday morning.
> Camp does have blind bolunteers and staff, there a variety of
> activities, there is a outdoor swimming pool, crafts, talet shows,
> discussion groups, hiking, fishing, outdoor boeling, outdoor chesss
> board, open air chapel, they create a band each session so much more
> one of the adult sessions ends with a banquet and live band really
> nice. Other summer activities include golf, biking and hiking, beep
> baseball Cleveland Scrappers! sailing and more. The craft volunteer is
> low vision however everyone in the class has taught others what they
> know. Share the Vision is a program coordinated by a blind staff
> member and his entire pool of peer volunteers are blind it's a
> requirement. Our other volunteers are sighted and blind. I think
> Stanley is the only Americore volunteer csc has used, by the way his
> supervisor is blind too.
>
>
> Consumr Council is a committee made up of csc consumers it a very
> diverse group we offer practicle suggestions and introduce new ideas
> and programs, constructive critisim of events or programs. We meet
> monthly and have a staff advisor as well as other blind board members
> as part of the group. Administration rely on us to give honest
> opinions before some programs/ideas are emplemented, and we don't hold
> back, it's a great group.
>
> Domestic Violence/ Another friend and I went through an extensive
> volunteer training, the agency was very inclusive. Making all
> materials accessible to us and as a result they updated their web site
> and most volunteer training is on line. HooRay!
> We advocated for a healthy relationship workshops at csc for women,
> this lasted 6 weeks. We are in the process of planning a collaboration
> with law enforcement, health care facilities, csc and domestiviolence
> agency. Wanting to promote awareness, how to talk to a bind person,
> where are shelters and are they prepared for us, proper reporting.
> This would include educating the blind community that there are safe
> places for us and how to ask for what is available. It is a exhaustive
> process but I am determined to see it through. Ultimately we are
> hoping a support group for persons with disabilities will come from
> this, our deaf community in Cleveland is participating in a study with
> law enforcement concerning domestic violence. So, this is gaining
> momentum. At our state convention I presented a short talk on domestic
> violence and we had a breakout session with a wonderful speaker. Since
> then our state president has encouraged me to take this further and we
> will work on identifying agencies in Ohio that are prepared for blind
> adults and continue to educate our community to report crimes
> perpertrated against them.  I go to fairs and community event to pass
> out literature, support fund raising and anything els I'm comfortable
> with. There is additional training for direct care services, I'm not
> ready for that right now my comfort zone is out in the community,
> education and awareness.
>
> anyone that wants more info about csc can contact me at
> cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com, enough said, we should stick to
> volunteering on this list, smiles.  Thanks and I'm glad you're
> interested! I hope this encourages some of you to begin new
> activities/programs in your area, find what fits.
>
> Cheryl
> On 2/22/14, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I had some questions about Cleveland sight center, csc, and thought I'd
>> ask
>> here in case any other have experience.
>> I think its cool to volunteer with other blind people to help them out.
>> I'm
>> considering volunteering to provide
>> Jaws training to blind students here.
>> BTW, I'm not living in Ohio, but have investigated out of state centers
>> as
>> my state one did not meet my needs.
>> I think CSC sounds neat with a wide variety of recreational activities
>> for
>> their clients.
>> I think its great they have employment training there such as that call
>> center training to bridge the gap amongst the unemployed blind
>> population.
>>
>> On another note, what do you do at the domestic violence agency, Cheryl?
>>
>> Cheryl posted some good info about volunteering at CSC and I'll repost it
>>
>> in
>> case anyone missed it on the other thread and wish to read.
>> Messages get lost among conversations with same subject lines.
>>
>> Cheryl, feel free to provide your email address you want to corespond off
>> list, if you want.
>>
>>
>> My questions are:
>> What is the CSC consumer counsel?
>>
>> Does CSC regularly use Americorps volunteers?
>> Is it typical for volunteers to be blind, or is Stanley an exception?
>> Do they accept volunteers for that summer camp? What activities are at
>> it?
>> Curious, are the volunteer craft teachers blind or sighted?
>>
>> Cheryl said:
>>
>> My friend, Stanley, provides training for csc consumers on adaptive
>> technology. These consumers are in our supportive employment programs
>> or literacy programs. He and his supervisor recently are providing
>> introductory instruction on mobile devices. When he was with Americore
>> one of his jobs was to support braille instructors during classes
>> provided at csc.
>> Cleveland Sight Center may be an agency to consider inviting to the
>> convention. It is unique, there are more than 15 blind/lowvision
>> employees on staff, entire staff is approx. 100. The agency houses a
>> call center where there are some additional blind employees, these
>> people are not csc employees. The agency has several contracts to
>> provide call center services and they are employees of those various
>> companies. Some work from home, training is at the agency or can be
>> accessed on line. I can provide contact information if you want to
>> connect.
>> Several employees presented /participated, not sure, at the national
>> convention employment seminar last year in Orlando. Like many not for
>> profits, csc could not function without the many volunteers, a large
>> number of them are consumers. Some things that agency
>> volunteers/consumers do, I facilitate a book discussion, someone else
>> instructs line dancing, others provide braille instruction to those
>> not in employment or literacy programs, instruction in crochet and
>> other crafts. We have a camp located in Chardon Ohio and it employs
>> blind and sighted persons 18 years and up, this is a perfect summer
>> job for college students and has the potential for full time permanent
>> employment after graduation. We employ 2 rehab teachers that are
>> blind, there are guide dogs and canes all around the building, smiles.
>> Another program administer by a blind staff person is Share the
>> Vision, this provides Peer support for those that have recently lost
>> their vision. It is a wonderful program that everyone can participate
>> in, the only qualifications are you must be blind and have a
>> telephone!  I'll stop here because this could go on for a long time,
>> as you can tell I am quite proud of the rehabilitation, recreation,
>> staff and volunteers at csc!
>>
>> Until Next Time!
>>
>> Cheryl
>>
>>
>> Also wrote:
>> Stanley is a employee, he was a consumer and Americore
>> volunteer/student prior to employment. There are others on staff with
>> the same status, not Americore, .
>> I am a csc consumer and board member, chair csc consumer council, vice
>> nfb/Cleveland, community gardening and volunteer with local domestic
>> violence agency. I am happy to chat anytime.
>> I encourage all of you to visit csc if you are in the Cleveland area,
>> it is not a perfect place but it is a great place!
>
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