[Community-service] Discrimination in volunteering based on blindness

[Reyazuddin, Yasmin]

Jonathan, and all, 
Discrimination happens even for volunteer positions. 
Sometimes it is ignorance of the volunteer coordinators and sometimes it
is attitudes. 
We always have to prove ourselves that we can do the job. 
For the last three years, I have volunteered at our NFB-BELL camp and
have some experience working with blind children. It is our work in the
federation that speaks volumes about our abilities to the rest of the
world. 
If the agency is big enough and you can research if they get any federal
or state funds, then you can play the ADA card or Section 504 of the
rehab act. Federal or state funds offered to organizations mean that
they can not refuse you to serve as a volunteer. 
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions or
want to continue this discussion, please write back. 

Yasmin Reyazuddin 
Aging & Disability Services 
Montgomery County Government 
Department of Health & Human Services 
401 Hungerford Drive (3rd floor) 
Rockville MD 20850 
240-777-0311 (MC311) 
240-777-1556 (personal) 
240-777-1495 (fax) 
office hours 8:30 am 5:00 pm 
Languages English, Hindi, Urdu, Braille 


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Thank you.


-----Original Message-----
From: Community-service [mailto:community-service-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of jonathan franks via Community-service
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2014 11:51 PM
To: Darian Smith
Cc: Community Service Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Community-service] Discrimination in volunteering based
onblindness

I concur with you completely Darian.

Being able to advocate for yourself is key in so many real life
situations. Our sighted peers who may not have any experience in
dealing with blind individuals will not know what a blind person is
capable of. That is why it is up to all of us to be able to
demonstrate and advocate that we have the necessary skills to work
alongside our sighted peers. As our new NFB tagline says, we can "
live the life we want"  I fully believe in this simple and straight
forward philosophy and know it to be true for all of us.

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