[il-talk] Illinois Independent, Winter 2019

[Deborah Kent Stein]

I'm glad you enjoyed reading about it all. 

Debbie


-----Original Message-----
From: IL-Talk [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Pat Olson via
IL-Talk
Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2019 6:20 PM
To: NFB of Illinois Mailing List <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: moonriver at mchsi.com; dono at mchsi.com
Subject: Re: [il-talk] Illinois Independent, Winter 2019

I was at the convention and still learned a lot from these stories.  Thanks
for taking the time to organize and assemble them/ Pat Olson

----- Original Message -----
From: Deborah Kent Stein via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: 'NFB of Illinois Mailing List' <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Deborah Kent Stein <dkent5817 at att.net>
Sent: Sun, 20 Jan 2019 16:34:32 -0500 (EST)
Subject: [il-talk] Illinois Independent, Winter 2019

 

 

 

ILLINOIS INDEPENDENT

The Newsletter of the National Federation of the  Blind of Illinois

 

 

WINTER 2019

 

 

President, National Federation of the  Blind of Illinois: Denise R. Avant

(773) 991-8050, Davant1958 at gmail.com

 

Editors: Debbie Kent Stein and Robert Gardner

 

Debbie Kent Stein: (773) 203-1394, Dkent5817 at att.net

Robert Gardner: (309) 236-6606,  rgardner4 at gmail.com

 

Formatting: Janna Stein

NFB Newsline Edition: David Meyer 

Print Edition: Bill Reif 

Braille Edition: Horizons for the Blind

Website: Bryan Mackey

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

The 2018 National Federation of the Blind Convention: Honoring Our History,
by Denise Avant

Blind Vendors Report on the 2018 NFBI Convention, by Ed Birmingham

A Network of Support, by Mary Lou Grunwald

The 2018 NFBI Scholarship Winners, Presented by Debbie Kent Stein

The 2018 Illinois BELL Academies, by Amy Lund

The Fifty-Year Perspective, An Interview with Ramona Walhof

What We Do and Why We Do It

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE 2018 NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND CONVENTION

Honoring Our History

by Denise Avant

 

I believe it is important to know your history, to celebrate your successes,
and know the people who made it possible for you to succeed. I would like to
share some impressions and things I have learned about the National
Federation of the Blind of Illinois following our fiftieth anniversary
convention. In these fifty years, with love, hope and determination, we have
helped to turn blind people's dreams into reality. 

 

Our convention theme this year was "Commemorating the Past, Building the
Future." During convention we focused on our successful programs for blind
children and young adults. At the same time we celebrated our fifty-year
milestone, and honored the people who were with us at the beginning. 

 

As state president, I know about the founding of our national organization
in 1940 and our history since that time. I know about our state programs of
today; Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning, the Nationwide Braille
Readers Are Leaders contest, our state and national scholarships, and our
successful legislative advocacy to pass a Parental Rights for the Blind
bill. I know our most recent state presidents, Cathy Randall and Patti
Chang, who are my friends and mentors. 

 

But before our most recent convention, I knew very little about the history
of the Illinois affiliate and the people who shaped us. I suspect this is
true for most of our members.  

 

The Illinois affiliate was one of the original seven members of the National
Federation of the Blind, but Illinois left the national organization in
1960. We rejoined the National Federation of the Blind on August 10, 1968,
as the Illinois Congress of the Blind. Our first meeting took place at the
Sherman Hotel in Chicago. In 1972 we became the National Federation of the
Blind of Illinois. Our affiliate hosted national conventions at the Palmer
House in Chicago in 1972, 1974, and 1975. Two more national conventions were
held in Chicago, at the Hyatt Regency in 1988 and at the Hilton and Towers
in 1995. 

 

In addition to our national representative at this year's convention,
Jeannie Massay of Oklahoma, we were thrilled to have two special guests.
Ramona Walhof, who helped organize the founding meeting of the affiliate,
traveled from Idaho. Rami Rabby, our first state president, came all the way
from Israel to celebrate with us. Over fifty years ago Rami met with Dr.
Kenneth Jernigan, president of the National Federation of the Blind from
1968 to 1986, and told him of the need for an NFB affiliate in Illinois. Dr.
Jernigan agreed, and he sent  Ramona, James Gashel, and Mary Ellen Halvorsen
to Illinois to support the organizing effort. Their task was to go to
people's homes, explain their reasons for being in the NFB, and ask them
about their hopes and dreams for blind people in Illinois. In appreciation
of Ramona's love for the Federation and her efforts in helping to organize
our affiliate, we presented Ramona with a general service award during our
morning session.  

 

Dr. Jernigan, Rami Rabby, and core Illinois member James Nyman all attended
the first meeting in August 1968. Sixteen-year-old Steve Hastalis also
attended, along with his mother, Coula. Also in attendance was Steve Benson,
who later became our longest-serving state president. Another attendee was
Gwendolyn Williams. Gwendolyn was sighted, but she truly understood
blindness. Over the years she gave rides to our members whenever they went
to the state legislature to demonstrate or testify about legislation that
was either helpful or harmful to blind people. She remained active in the
Illinois affiliate until her death in 1985. 

 

Because of Ms. Williams charter membership, her dedication, and her service
to us, we have named a service award in her honor. This year's Gwendolyn
Williams Award went to Mary Grunwald, who became a member in the mid 1970s.
Mary was recognized for her legislative advocacy in helping to pass a
technology bill, and for her tireless efforts to mentor the youth of our
affiliate. Elsewhere in this issue you can read Mary's story of her efforts
to help establish a union for factory workers at the Chicago Lighthouse for
the Blind in 1976. Finally, we recognized Mary for helping bring the blind
vendors of Illinois into the National Federation of the Blind. I think it is
fair to say that Mary saw one of her dreams come true during this year's
convention. 

 

For the first time the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois held our
convention jointly with the Illinois Association of Blind Vendors (IABM),
coinciding with the IABM annual conference. The vendors were active
participants in our IABS Idol, our student fundraiser. The students and
vendors hosted a joint luncheon, and many vendors attended our convention
banquet. The vendors enjoyed getting to know members of our affiliate and
came to understand more about our organization. We are looking at the
possibility of holding future joint conventions and conferences with even
more integrated programming. 

 

Another NFBI award is the Eileen O'Brien Award. Eileen O'Brien became a
member of our affiliate in 1975. She was given a kidney by her sister, and
this donation sustained her life for a number of years. While Ms. O'Brien
was at the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education (ICRE), she
became very upset about the poor meal choices for diabetics. She was a
constant avocate for proper diabetic education in and out of the Federation.
Steve Hastalis received the Eileen O'Brien Award this year for his advocacy
in transportation matters and his dedication to helping blind people in our
state use public transportation. 

 

Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinois received the Annette R. Grove
Legislative Award for her longstanding support of our federal legislative
initiatives, particularly her sponsorship of the Home Appliance Bill.
Annette, who passed away in 2017, was a longtime member who coordinated our
efforts at Washington Seminar. She made sure that our members were well
versed in the issues and that we presented ourselves with dignity and
professionalism when meeting with our legislative representatives. 

 

Rami Rabby was presented with a general service award. As our first state
president he was the driving force behind many of our early successes. In
1969 Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago recognized White Cane Safety Day. The
Illinois legislature passed white cane safety legislation in 1970. 

 

The Illinois Association of Blind Students (IABS) presented two 2018
Excellence in Teaching Blind Students Awards at the joint luncheon of the
students and vendors. This year's awards went to Paula Sprecher, nominated
by Amanda and Koji Torihara; and to Casey Byrne, nominated by Kristen and
Andy Morrison. 

 

While we recognized those who have meant so much to our affiliate, we were
also being recognized for the work that our affiliate has done in these
fifty years.  Camille Caffarilli, executive director of Horizons for the
Blind, presented us with an award. It states: 

HORIZONS FOR THE BLIND Presents an award of commendation and appreciation to
the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF ILLINOIS for fifty years of working
together with other agencies and other facilities utilizing the skills of
members who are blind to promote security, equality, and opportunity. 

 

When the first meeting of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
was held back in 1968, I was nine years old. There was a lot I did not know
about living as a blind person and the challenges we faced because of
society's low expectations. As a member of the National Federation of the
Blind, I have come to know the challenges we still face. I have come to
understand that through the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind
and the Illinois affiliate we have been able to overcome some of those
challenges. I can travel on interstate buses and trains and fly on airplanes
without anyone insisting that I have someone accompany me because I am
blind. I can buy insurance as a blind person because Peter Grunwald, Mary's
late husband, and our national office worked to get regulations passed in
1978 that prevented discrimination based on blindness. I can serve as a
juror in Illinois because our affiliate worked to prevent exclusion from
jury service based on blindness. Fifty years is a long time to be doing
anything, and to be doing it effectively. 

 

One of the early successes of the NFBI was that we, along with our national
office, advocated with the National Labor Relations Board, NLRB to
reclassify sheltered workshops as factories, and not as rehabilitation
institutions. As a result, the NLRB took jurisdiction over union organizing
efforts at the Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind and Visually
Impaired. Mary Lou Grunwald was one of the people involved in the organizing
effort that fell just short by a couple of votes. She was dismissed from the
Lighthouse, but people in the Federation, many of whom she did not know,
sent her checks to help make ends meet. Mary witnessed the love from
Federationists from across the country during this difficult time in her
life. Her sacrifice was a factor in changing the culture of the Lighthouse,
helping to make it what it is today. 

 

The past fifty years have been full of challenges and triumphs. Though we
have accomplished a great deal, many challenges still lie ahead. With love,
hope, and determination we will continue to work together to ensure that
blind people in Illinois can live the lives they want.

 

 

BLIND VENDORS REPORT ON THE 2018 NFBI CONVENTION

by Ed Birmingham

President, Illinois Blind Merchants

 

On the weekend of October 26-28, the Illinois Blind Merchants strengthened
our affiliation with the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
(NFBI). The Illinois blind vendors held our fall training conference in
conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary convention of the NFB of Illinois.
This joint event was held at the Sheraton O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont,
Illinois.  

 

On Friday morning the vendors kicked off the weekend activities with the
quarterly meeting of the Illinois Committee of Blind Vendors. We had several
very special guests in attendance, including NFBI President Denise Avant and
our NFB national representative, Jeannie Massay. We also had two other
special guests who are well known to the vendor community: Nicky Gacos,
president of the National Association of Blind Merchants (NABM), along with
Terry Smith, the executive director of the NABM. Also in attendance were
NABM board members Melisa Smith from Tennessee and John Fritz from
Wisconsin. The Committee met for three hours to discuss all of the issues we
face here in Illinois, along with the issues that affect all Randolph
Sheppard blind entrepreneurs across the country. 

 

On Friday evening the vendors had their annual product trade show. This is
an opportunity for the vendors to see the latest in technology along with
the new products that are offered in the vending industry. 

 

On Saturday we gathered in the morning for our mandatory training session.
The agenda was packed with speakers who showed us ways to improve our
businesses and maximize our potential. After the morning training, we
dispersed for a short time while the hotel set up for a joint luncheon that
combined our vendors' awards with the business activities of the Illinois
Association of Blind Students (IABS). 

 

The luncheon festivities were kicked off by a surprise appearance by the
Blues Brothers! During the vendors' portion of the luncheon, several
seniority awards were presented. Ken Blum was also presented with a Special
Service Award. John Moore, Jr., was presented with the Marlene Katsion
Award. John Holpgreve was presented with the Homer Steele Award, and
Giovanni Francese was the recipient of the prestigious Larry Jones Vendor of
the Year Award. The entire luncheon also recognized Marco Giannotti for all
of his hard work in handling the sound and the streaming of the 2018 NFBI
convention. 

 

It's unclear at this time if we will be able to combine these events again.
However, rest assured there are discussions taking place to see if that
possibility may exist in the near future. 

 

 

 

 

 

A NETWORK OF SUPPORT

by Mary Lou Grunwald

 

Longtime NFBI member Mary Lou Grunwald delivered the following presentation
at the joint luncheon for vendors and students on October 27.

 

I'm so excited to be at an event like this. It's kind of a dream come true
for me. I'm up here because I was asked to speak about one very specific
reason why I'm in the NFB. There are many reasons why I'm involved, but this
is a story many of you may not know.

 

For a little background, one of the early successes of the NFBI was that we,
along with our national office, advocated with the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB) to reclassify sheltered workshops as factories and not as
rehabilitation institutions. As a result, the NLRB took jurisdiction over
union organizing efforts at the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind. 

 

In 1976 I was in my early twenties. I wasn't able to go to college, so my
first stop in my career journey was the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind. At
that time it was not the place that it is today. They paid subminimum wages
and they had substandard working conditions. I worked in the factory making
big ones out of little ones. It was tough work for very little money, but my
mom and I needed that money desperately. 

 

I had recently gotten to know the NFB and become involved with the Chicago
Chapter. Through our involvement with the NFB some of us at the Lighthouse
started trying to form a union there. We worked very hard on it with the
support and the guidance of the chapter and of the state and national NFB,
and also the help of the Teamsters Union. Unfortunately we lost by only a
couple of votes because of some ugby scare tactics that were going on. 

 

I'm not at all sorry I did it. It was wonderful experience that prepared me
for things I did later on. But when I got home, the reality set in. I had
done something that I thought was very important, but now I had no job, and
Mom and I had very little money. My mother was very upset with me because I
had done all of this advocacy. I started trying to figure out my next career
move. And while I was working on that, something started happening. I
started getting envelopes in the mail. These envelopes had people's names on
them, people I didn't recognize. When I opened them I found checks, checks
from people, and I didn't know who the heck they were. I thought, Who could
this be? What is this? Then I recognized a couple of the names, and I
realized that these checks came from Federationists all over the country who
were supporting me! People I had never met in my life were sending me money
to help support me! 

 

That experience solidified my desire to be helpful in this organization at
whatever level my talents would allow. That's one of the reasons I'm in the
NFB. Thank you!

 

 

 

THE 2018 NFBI SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

 

At the luncheon for vendors and students on October 27, NFBI Scholarship
Chairperson Debbie Kent Stein introduced the finalists for the 2018 NFBI
Scholarships. The finalists became scholarship winners when they received
their awards at the convention banquet.

 

Debbie Stein: When the NFBI Scholarship Committee chooses scholarship
finalists, we look for academic excellence, leadership, and community
involvement. Both of this year's finalists richly demonstrate strengths in
all of these areas. 

 

I would like this year's finalists to introduce themselves to you. We'll
start with Bex Leon.

 

Bex Leon: Good afternoon! Thank you for having me here! I'm so excited! I am
a social work student at the University of Chicago. I'm getting my master's
in social work, and I'm interested in going into policy reform for public
systems that serve youth at risk. I'm interested in juvenile courts, DCFS
[Division of Child and Family Services)', and work in legislation and
policy. I'd like to share a few of the things that helped me to get here,
and I hope this will be helpful to other students. 

 

My word is access. A is for Advocacy. In social work we say, "You are the
expert on your life." That means you are your own best advocate. That's
something I have had to learn throughout my time in undergrad and grad
school. 

 

C is for Community. You don't do this alone. There are other people who can
advocate with you. There's a whole roomful of them right here! Don't forget
that people are there for you. Find people who will help you and believe in
you. Find strength in them.

 

C is for Creativity. As Jeannie Massay and Dan Wenzel said this morning,
blind people are great problem solvers. We're used to looking at a task and
saying, "What are the other ways that we can get this done?" As students we
really need to take this to heart. We can be creative.

 

E is for Equity. Equity means that we all have our own needs, and we deserve
the supports to be able to succeed and to live the lives that we want.

 

S is for Strengths. We all have needs, but we also have strengths. In social
work we have the strengths principles, and the first one is that every
family and community has strengths. I have leaned on that a lot and looked
for my own strengths in getting here.

 

Finally, S is for Self-care. Don't forget sometimes it can be really hard
doing all this advocacy, studying, and everything else. Take time to
breathe, relax your jaw, let your shoulders down, and remember that you're
not alone. Find your community. Thank you so much!

 

Debbie Stein: Thank you, Bex. Now we will hear from Gretchen Nordhausen.

 

Gretchen Nordhausen: Good afternoon everyone! I'll tell you a little bit
about how I got here to Chicago, Illinois. I'm Japanese and American. I was
born in Atlanta, Georgia. After a couple of years I moved with my family to
San Diego, California, and then to Tokyo, Japan. After the 2011 earthquake
we had to evacuate back to the United States, and I lived again in Atlanta.
I went to the University of South Carolina for my undergraduate degree in
marketing data analytics and human resources management with a double minor
in Spanish and Japanese. I graduated with leadership distinction in
professional and civics excellence due to my peer leadership activities and
my two hundred and fifty hours of community service. Right now I'm a
second-year law student at DePaul University, and I'm externing for a
federal judge at the Northern District of Illinois.

 

I would like to tell students, do not let anyone tell you that you can't do
something! Do not let anyone tell you that you are not worthy of doing
something! Take every opportunity that you can, because in the long run it
will help you in your career. Any interaction, any event you attend will
lead to something special, and it will help you learn how you can advocate
for others. I never had a group like this before. It wasn't until I was in
law school in Chicago that I decided to look up the visually impaired
attorneys I had heard about. I was told to contact Ms. Denise Avant and Ms.
Patti Chang, who directed me to this scholarship program. To them I am truly
grateful. Thank you!     

 

 

 

THE 2018 ILLINOIS BELL ACADEMIES

by Amy Lund

 

This article is based on a presentation given at the NFBI convention on
October 27. 

 

Amy Lund: My name is Amy Lund, and I am the lead teacher for the BELL
Academies in Illinois. BELL is an acronym for Braille Enrichment for
Literacy and Learning. I love working with the BELL Academy! The philosophy
and the meaning behind the BELL Academy is to have a Braille-enriched
environment. All of the activities these kids do are adapted for them. It's
not like being in a regular school where people have to change and adapt
things. Everything is designed for them to have a ton of fun. 

 

Illinois hosts a two-week day program in Chicago, held at the Chicago
Lighthouse for the Blind downtown. We use mass transit and take four field
trips. Last summer we went to the grocery store and bought the ingredients
for the lunches we make, and then we got ice cream. We went to a park and
played beep kickball and had picnic lunches that we made ourselves. One of
our awesome mentors, Sara Luna, does judo. We went to her dojo, and she and
a bunch of her judo buddies and masters led the group. All of the kids got
to participate in judo. We also went kayakking last summer. We had a blind
mentor and a blind child in each kayak, and away we went. No modification
was needed. 

 

Our other Illinois BELL program is held in Springfield. It is a one-week
residential program that includes parent-child pairs. We put up the parents
and children at a hotel and reimbursed their food costs. Every day while the
regular BELL Academy curriculum was going on, we also incorporated a parent
component. The parents participated on our field trips, and we had a picnic
on Friday, with beep kickball and pizza. We got the parents to play beep
kickball, which was a lot of fun.

 

Before I introduce some of our BELL participants, I want to acknowledge our
phenomenal mentors. I can't begin to name them all. Chaquita Vinson is here,
and Sara Luna, Debbie Stein, Leslie Hamric, Dave Meyer, Steve Hastalis, Bill
Reif, Jemal Powell-we have so many amazing mentors, and we're so grateful!
The kids really need to see successful blind adults living the lives they
want. They need to know that they can do these things, too. They need to
know they have people who will challenge them to set high expectations.

 

I also want to thank Lauren Mehalek and Brooklyn Geers, who are my other
teachers. They are wonderful, and they love these kids so much! It's really
special that in our Chicago program we have three licensed, certified
teachers of blind students, and we have two in Springfield. Having these
teachers and our blind mentors makes the program successful.

 

Now I'm going to turn the microphone over to our kids. I'm going to ask them
some questions so you can hear from them about their experiences. Thomas,
can you tell us your favorite part of BELL?

 

Thomas: My favorite part of BELL is probably being able to make our own
lunches every day.

 

Amy: What was your favorite lunch?

 

Thomas: I think I liked the walking tacos the best.

 

Amy: The participants make their own lunches every day. We made omelets in a
bag,, we made walking tacos, we made mac and cheese and hot-dogs, pizzas,
and cold-cut sandwiches. Okay, Lincoln, can you tell me your favorite thing
about BELL? Do you like the solarium?

 

Lincoln: Yeah. It has a lot of things that you think are real, and you can
play there.

 

Amy: The solarium is part of the Chicago Lighthouse, and it's a great indoor
play area. The kids love to explore there, and they do a lot of imaginary
play. There's a train, and they like to take the train places. Thank you,
Lincoln. Charlie, what do you like about BELL?

 

Charlie: I like to go to the solarium. 

 

Amy: It is usually a favorite. Something we do at BELL every day is what we
call Bell-ringers. It's an opportunity to celebrate our successes of the
day. We ring bells to celebrate each one.

 

Thomas has come to our Springfield program for the past two years. Thomas,
is there a lesson you liked besides making your lunch?

 

Thomas: I definitely liked going to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.

 

Amy: As you know, a museum can be a hard place to visit-it's a don't-touch
zone. The Abraham Lincoln Museum was awesome! They let the kids touch
everything! They understood that that's how the kids take in the world, that
using the sense of touch is how they learn. They have wax figure characters
all over the museum, and the kids got to touch them. They got to see how
tall Lincoln was, and they got to see his hat. They got to see how tall Tod
Lincoln was before he passed away. The alarms were going off the entire
time, but it was fine. The museum staff were right there with us,
encouraging the kids to touch and enjoy and learn about our sixteenth
president. It was very cool to experience a museum in a touch way, not in a
don't-touch way!

 

Some of the parents are here, and if they don't mind, I'm going to put them
on the spot and have them talk about the program, too. Anyone volunteering?

 

Alana Rybak: My son, Lincoln, has attended the BELL Academy for the past
three years. He started when he was four. We love having something in the
summer for our son to do besides summer school, something that helps him
work on his independent living skills. Well, my kids are fighting over the
microphone now, so I'll pass it to the next parent.

 

Liza Jager: I'm Charlie's mom. Charlie's favorite place to be in the summer
is the BELL Camp. In December he's already asking me, "When is BELL Camp?"
He's been going for five years. It's amazing how it opens possibilities for
him! He talks about the books he reads. He comes home and he's more
interested in his Braille. He loves the trips! He gets home feeling
empowered by the ability to go everywhere. He loves trains, so taking the El
and the Metra have been great experiences for him. As parents we love this
program. Thank you, NFB! 

 

Justin Howe: I'm the father of Thomas Howe. He's been going to the BELL
Academy for the past two years. As a family we love going down to
Springfield. Thomas has learned some great independent travel skills and
life skills. He's really happy learning new things. He gets the Braille that
he doesn't get in school. We've also met some great parents. It's a great
way to network. We have built bonds that have lasted beyond the camp, and we
keep in touch. This is a small community, and it's great to meet other
people and continue the relationships. We've had some terrific mentors, both
students and adults. The Federation provides a wealth of resources and
knowledge and comfort to us as a family.

 

Jennifer Howe: Another thing Thomas learned from BELL is something very,
very important. He learned to say, "No, thank you." Everyone wants to help
him. He had a one-on-one aide at school, and they even had him going to a
separate bathroom. Now in fourth grade he's in the gifted program, and he
says, "No, thank you," and "Give me more, please!"

 

Amy: I want to give some demographics of our programs. In Chicago, as I
mentioned, we have three teachers, and that allows us to include students
with other disabilities in addition to blindness. Being able confidently to
say that we can meet their needs, that we can provide the appropriate
supports for our kids with additional disabilities, is significant. Too
often these children are excluded. The NFB of Illinois is able to provide
the programs they need. In Chicago we had eleven participants last summer,
and eight of those eleven had additional disabilities. In Springfield we had
nine participants, and four of those had additional disabilities. We're glad
we are afforded the opportunity to include as many kids as we possibly can.
I have conversations with parents all the time: "Your kid has a one-on-one
aide at school; we'll figure out what we can do at BELL Academy to meet his
needs." If you know of children between the ages of four and thirteen (or
older-I don't mind!) we have phenomenal mentors who will work with them. 

 

Charlie has written a poem that he'd like to share with us. Charlie, are you
ready, sir?

 

Charlie:

 

I love my cane,

Because it helps me know

What's in front of me,

Like stairs, curbs, sidewalks, people,

Cars, buses, trucks, and trains.

It gives me super powers, 

And it makes me independent.

[Applause]

 

Amy: Charlie is one of our youngest participants. You can see the
independence and the strength that he gets. Your cane can give you
information and even superpowers, right Charlie? 

 

Charlie: Right!

 

 

THE FIFTY-YEAR PERSPECTIVE

An Interview with Ramona Walhof

 

On the morning of Friday, October 26, NFBI board nember Cathy Randall
interviewed Ramona Walhof, one of our special guests at this year's
convention. 

 

Cathy Randall: I'm talking to Ramona Walhof about the beginning of the
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois fifty years ago. 

 

Ramona Walhof: The National Federation of the Blind organized a student
division in 1967 in Los Angeles. Jim Gashel was the president, and I was the
secretary. My future husband was second vice president. After the convention
we were invited to go to Montreal and organize students in Canada. Jim
Gashel and I did that, and we succeeded in organizing a group up there.
There was a lady named Lucy Sienkowicz who wanted it to happen. If you come
across Paul Gabias, he will tell you he was at that meeting. He's active in
the Canadian Federation of the Blind, and so is his wife, Mary Ellen.

 

Somewhere during the winter between the 1967 and the 1968 national
convention, I met Rami Rabby in Des Moines. Dr. Jernigan invited him to come
to Des Moines to visit. I was working there for a while, so I met Rami. We
didn't talk about Illinois when I met him, but he was interested in the
student division. He was working on a graduate degree at that time. After
the 1968 convention, which was held in Des Moines, Dr. Jernigan planned that
we would go to Illinois and organize an affiliate. We students had no clue
how to do that, but he got six of us together, and he said, "I want you to
go to Illinois." He said we would go one Saturday and organize an affiliate
the next Saturday. We said, "How will we do that?" He said, "We've got a
list of people." I don't know where that list came from, but they did indeed
have a list of people, and Dr. Jernigan gave the names to us. Rami knew a
few people also. By that time he'd been in Illinois for a few months.

 

So we drove into Chicago and met with Rami and Mrs. Hastalis, Steve's
mother. We might have met Steve that first day, but we didn't see much of
him until the next week. 

 

Cathy Randall: So you spent the week calling people?

 

Ramona Walhof: First we would call, and we would ask people if we could go
and visit them. We spent a lot of money on cabs. We took cabs all over
Chicago! I took a train down to Galesburg, Illinois, and met with a woman
who had adopted three children. She was blind, and it was rare in 1968 for a
blind person to be an adoptive parent.

 

Gwendolyn Williams, who was a very dedicated volunteer, drove us some
places, but of course she couldn't drive us to all of the places we needed
to go. We went two by two into people's homes. We would talk about why we
had joined the Federation and what we thought the Federation could do for
them personally. We'd talk a little bit about legislation and making better
vending programs and better rehab. 

 

At that time the programs in Iowa were unique in the country. We learned to
travel independently. We were not afraid to travel in Chicago by ourselves.
We had enough training that we knew how to do that, and we felt comfortable.
We would talk about how we got that training and how we wanted other people
to get it, too. We would talk about what we did in college and what our
majors were. We'd talk about the people we met at convention. 

 

I met a man named Gaspardus Belhuysen from Wisconsin. I met him at the
Washington, DC, convention in 1965. He said, "Ken Jernigan always wants me
to go down to Des Moines and get some training, and I'd love to do it, but I
can afford to get what I need." I thought that was the craziest thing I'd
ever heard! I asked one of the people I knew in the Federation what he knew
about Belhuysen, and he said, "Oh yeah! He's a millionaire!" He was not in
the vending program, but on his own he had gone out and found places where
he could put machines, and he hired a full-time driver to help him. I had
never met a blind millionaire before, and I was impressed. That's one of the
reasons I joined the Federation-because I heard about what Belhuysen and
other blind people were doing.

 

We told people about Belhuysen and other people we had met. Dr. tenBroek was
a lawyer, and there was a whole bunch of blind lawyers in California. There
was a whole bunch of blind chiropractors in Iowa. 

 

We talked about our experiences, but we also listened to what the blind
people wanted. We would say to them, "If you had your choice about what kind
of service you could have, what would it be?" Then we'd try to help them
figure out how an organization of blind people, locally and statewide, could
address something like that. We'd stay for about an hour talking.

 

We spent about five days, maybe six, and we talked to a lot of people. A lot
of them said, "I just can't do anything, and you can't do it for me. I don't
want to help." But we found some who were responsive. Jim Gashel went into
Steve Benson's home and met him. I think Steve went to the organizing
meeting. 

 

On Friday evening Dr. Jernigan came, and we met all together. All six of us
who had been pounding the pavements met with Dr. Jernigan. He said, "Who
have you met who has leadership capacity?" There was no trouble with the
presidency; we thought Rami Rabby should be president, and he was willing.
(Dr. Jernigan probably would have twisted his arm if he wasn't!) I don't
remember who the other board members were. We may have elected Steve Benson
to an office.

 

Cathy Randall: Bill Myers?

 

Ramona Walhof: Steve Hastalis still had a year of high school to finish. He
was very young. His mother was the spokesperson at the time. Steve was kind
of quiet, but he was there. Anyway, that Friday night we planned what we
were going to do about leadership. The next day Dr. Jernigan introduced
himself. He explained what the Federation is. There were a few hostile
people in the audience, and he said, "If you pay your dues, you can vote. If
you don't want the Federation, you should leave the room." A couple of
people did.

 

Dr. Jernigan presided at the meeting. After he answered questions he said,
"We need to adopt a constitution before we elect officers." He had a model
constitution, and he read it article by article. A few changes were made. I
believe that at first the affiliate was called the Illinois Congress of the
Blind. Rami was very interested in politics, and since this was America, he
thought we should have the Illinois Congress of the Blind, so we did. 

 

After that meeting everyone dispersed, and it was up to Rami to keep it
going. I'm sure he was in telephone contact with Dr. Jernigan every day. I
went off to Idaho because I was engaged to a man from there. I actually
delayed my move from Des Moines to Boise to come to Illinois and organize.

 

When I came to Illinois we still had fewer than forty affiliates. When Dr.
Jernigan was elected president in 1968 he set the goal that we would have
affiliates in all fifty states. By about 1974 we did. We organized very
vigorously. I went ahead and organized in Kansas, Oregon, Washington,
Tennessee, and Michigan, and a little bit in North Carolina. Other people
did other states. We organized Nebraska and several of the southern states
and the smaller states. We still have to reorganize from time to time, but
we've had affiliates in all of the states for about forty years now.

 

I remember one person who said, "I'm in college, and I'm working for the
summer. I can't afford to take a week off work to go organize." Dr. Jernigan
said, "We'll take care of that. We need you, so we'll take care of your
salary for the week." We didn't have very many people available, and Dr.
Jernigan knew that if we sold the Federation for a week to as many people as
we could, we would become stronger Federationists ourselves. He was
absolutely right!

 

 

 

 

WHAT WE DO AND WHY WE DO IT

 

Through the NFB and the NFB of Illinois, blind people are able to help one
another in a multitude of ways. Youth programs such as our BELL Academies,
STEM programs, scholarships, and internships help our young people develop
skills and confidence. Recently we received a note from a parent whose son
was given an iPad through our NFBI Freedom Link program. The mother wrote as
follows:

 

I just wanted to send you a video of Rudy using the iPad you bought for him
last year. He has downloaded Bookshare and is using Dolphin to read, and, in
Rudy's normal goofy fashion, he is reading and learning Latin in slow motion
with a smirk on his face! Thanks again for all you do to help him with his
learning!

You can hear Rudy learning Latin at
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ5sNVWLW6E>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ5sNVWLW6E

 

Our conventions and seminars bring us together and inspire us to meet new
challenges. However, much of the important work we do in the Federation goes
on quietly behind the scenes. All of us work as ambassadors, sharing
information with other blind people, giving them encouragement, and building
positive attitudes about blindness. 

 

Recently NFBI Treasurer Patti Chang spoke with a man whose father is dealing
with progressive vision loss. Here is the letter he wrote to express his
appreciation.

 

From: Adam S. 

Sent: Sunday, October 7, 2018 2:57 PM 

To: pattischang at gmail.com 

Subject: Your help with our quest for resources for my father

 

Dear Ms. Chang,

 

I am writing you a quick note to thank you so very much for your thoughtful
and informative guidance as we deal with a very difficult and sensitive
situation regarding my father's failing vision, which has accelerated in
recent months. 

 

This change has affected him in many ways; he struggles with daily tasks,
especially related to his diabetes self-care, but also with maintaining his
reading of books and the news. Meanwhile, since he no longer can get around
well, lack of exercise has made him more frail. 

 

There are so many uncertainties in such a situation, and your confident
advice and wealth of knowledge have helped us gain a better footing. I
phoned you out of the blue, but you took the time to find out about my
father's situation and guided us to excellent resources such as the National
Library Service for the Blind Talking Books, NFB Newsline R, and the
Illinois Assistive Technology Program. Your generosity with your time and
your excellent understanding of available resources give us much more
confidence that we can help him function and maintain some quality of life
in his new normal. 

 

Thank you once again for your invaluable help.

 

Sincerely,

Adam S.

Evanston, IL

 

 



---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
_______________________________________________
IL-Talk mailing list
IL-Talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/il-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
IL-Talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/il-talk_nfbnet.org/moonriver%40mchsi.com


_______________________________________________
IL-Talk mailing list
IL-Talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/il-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
IL-Talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/il-talk_nfbnet.org/dkent5817%40att.net