[Nfb-editors] Arizona's Monthly Presidents Email Newsletter: for October 2012
Robert Leslie Newman
newmanrl at cox.net
Mon Oct 8 16:06:36 UTC 2012
October 4, 2012
Hello, fellow Federationists,
We have lots of activity in October! Here is what we will discuss in this
monthly message.
* Phoenix chapter Bowling fundraiser Saturday, October 6
* Registration to vote ends October 9
You can register on-line to vote by going to www.servicearizona.com You can
find your polling place by going to https://voter.azsos.gov/
* White Cane Safety Day activities Monday, October 15
* The Benefits Assistance Program of the Area Agency on Aging, Region One,
together with Arizona Bridge to Independent Living, will be offering
Medicare counseling at the Disability Empowerment Center during the Medicare
Open Enrollment Period.
* NFB comments on a film regarding becoming blind
* Arizona Parents of Blind Children and SAAVI team up for parent / child
Halloween activities October 27
* The University of Arizona teacher of blind kids program receives important
grant
* Adult Braille Readers Are Leaders contest begins
* Progress of efforts to eliminate sub-minimum wages for the disabled
* From Sharonda Greenlaw, Phoenix chapter president - our Bowl-a-Thon will
be on October 6. Keep your fingers crossed, we plan to have some of the
T-shirts that were available at our Convention for sale--our goal is that
they will come in on Friday, October 5. Please let your chapters know! Come
out and let's the community meet the blind!!!!
The bowl-a-thon will be from 1:00 to 3:00. The address is 7241 W. Indian
School and Phoenix Dial-a-ride goes there. The fee is $10/person and can be
given to Donna. Come on out and have fun with us! Make this year's event
awesome!
For any questions, contact
Sharonda Greenlaw (602) 281-5955
dailyovercomer at gmail.com
• Arizona Celebrates White Cane Day
• The NFBA, in conjunction with the other organizations of and
for the blind is celebrating White Cane Safety Day at the state capitol!
• Here is the flyer going out to these organizations
•
Location: 1700 W. Washington St. Phoenix, AZ
Date: October 15th
Time: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
White Cane Day is a nationally recognized day that brings public awareness
to the white cane’s symbolism and importance in the Blind Community.
Special Thanks to the participating organizations who made this celebration
possible: Governor’s Council on Blindness and Visual Impairment, National
Federation of the Blind of Arizona, Arizona Council of the Blind, Southern
Arizona Association for the Visually Impaired, The Blind Merchants of
Rehabilitation Services Administration Business Enterprise Program for the
Blind
Please identify your legislative representative and senator by using this
link: http://2001.azredistricting.org/
You can also call 1 800 352-8404 Arizona legislature info , and press zero
so operator can determine your legislators from your address
Agenda of Events
9:00 am-10:00: am Arrive at the Capitol located at 1700 W. Washington St.
10:15 am – 11:00: Tour of the capitol museum; 1700 W. Washington St. Copper
Dome Building
11:00-1:00: Lunch, donated by the BEP Blind Merchants, served in the Capitol
Eatz Cafeteria located in the basement at 1700 W. Washington St.; meet with
dignitaries at noon
1:00-2:00: Collect Literature at 1700 W. Washington in the Executive Tower
Governor's 2nd floor conference room. (be sure to make time to clear the
security) Visit legislative office and deliver white cane day literature.
You must pre-order the box lunch the APOC blind merchants are donating!
Please send your lunch order by email, or telephone Bob Kresmer if you
cannot email it.
White Cane Day: Lunch Order Form
Lunch donated by the Blind Operators of the Rehabilitation Services
Administration Business Enterprise Program
All forms due by: 10/10/12 please send completed form to: dfowler at saavi.us
Lunch will include a cold cut sandwich, bag of chips, and a fountain drink.
Name:______________________________________________________________
Bread choice:
ð White
ð Wheat
Meat choice:
ð Turkey
ð Ham
ð Roast Beef
Cheese choice:
ð Swiss
ð American
** Vegetarian meal available upon request
All forms due by: 10/10/12 please send by email to: dfowler at saavi.us
* The Benefits Assistance Program of the Area Agency on Aging, Region One,
together with Arizona Bridge to Independent Living, will be offering
Medicare counseling at the Disability Empowerment Center during the Medicare
Open Enrollment Period.
Counseling will be provided by trained volunteers beginning in October on
the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month from 10a.m..- 2:00 p.m. at 5025 E.
Washington Street in Phoenix, Suite 200. Counseling available 10 – 2 October
3 and 17, November 7 and 21st.
The benefits counselors will assist the general public with all Medicare and
Medicaid related needs and questions including enrollment assistance,
problem solving, and general information. All counseling is independent,
unbiased, and offered without charge. The services are part of the State
Health Insurance Program (SHIP) funded by Medicare to assist beneficiaries.
The Benefits Assistance Program is one of many services available from the
Area Agency on Aging, Region One to support seniors (60 years and older) and
disabled individuals. To learn more about all programs and services call
the Area Agency’s 24-Hour Senior HELP LINE at 602-264-4357(HELP). Visit
them online at www.aaaphx.org.
Walk in appointments will be accepted or you can schedule ahead to secure a
meeting time. To schedule appointments or request any accommodations contact
Johnb at abil.org and put Medicare counseling in the subject line or call
602-443-0738.
* From Chris Danielsen, Director of Public Relations
Some of you have asked about a film that is being screened across the nation
and may be appearing soon on your local public television station. The film
is entitled Going Blind. It is the story of New Yorker Joe Lovett, who is
also the film's director, as he loses more and more of his vision to
glaucoma. You have asked whether anyone on our national staff has seen the
film and what our thoughts are, and how you should react to its screening in
your area or on your local public television station.
I, along with some other Federationists, have viewed this film. It
primarily focuses on the medical process of going blind, and in that respect
it is an accurate portrayal of what many people who are losing vision
experience. Mr. Lovett is given little advice by the medical professionals
who are trying to maintain his vision on how he will deal with its loss.
Indeed, he tells us that he does not even realize how much vision he has
lost until he visits a low vision therapist on the advice of someone other
than his doctor. Mr. Lovett interviews several blind individuals who are at
various stages of coping with their blindness or vision loss, including an
Iraq war veteran blinded by an explosion, an employee at The Seeing Eye, a
young boy, and an art teacher who resumed her career after going blind and
now works with students with multiple disabilities. These individuals have
adjusted to their blindness to widely varying degrees and have various
things to say about their blindness and adjusting to it, some of which are
easy to agree with and others which reflect typical misconceptions about
blindness and blind people.
The filmmaker has often invited medical professionals, persons who appeared
in the film, and others to participate in panel discussions following the
screenings. Mr. Lovett has reached out to and met with officials of the
Federation, including Dr. Maurer, and is more than willing to have us attend
screenings and participate in these panel discussions. The NFB of New York
has even set up literature tables at some of these events. I participated
in one of these panel discussions in Washington, D.C., following the
Congressional screening of the film that recently took place in one of the
Capitol office buildings. Other Federationists, including our D.C.
president and Executive Director for Strategic Initiatives John Paré, were
also present for this screening. The discussion was productive, and people
seemed to appreciate our perspective. We therefore encourage those of you
who are aware of a screening in your area to arrange to attend and, whether
from a panel or from the audience, participate in the discussion that
follows the film.
As mentioned earlier, the film is currently being scheduled on public
television stations throughout the country. A current list of airings is
located on the web. In some cities, events may be organized around these
airings. I encourage you to check the Web site www.goingblindmovie.com > to
learn if events are scheduled in your area, and to contact the organizers of
these events. Ask if your chapter or division can participate in the event
in any way, including handing out literature or participating in a
post-screening discussion. We can use screenings of it as a vehicle for
encouraging participation in the National Federation of the Blind, for
promoting our positive philosophy of blindness, for balancing the medical
perspective represented in the film and likely to be represented in
discussions of the film, for discussing discrimination and other barriers
faced by the blind, and for emphasizing the importance of good training in
the nonvisual alternative techniques of blindness.
• * From Lynda Zwinger, president of Arizona Parents of Blind
Children –
Halloween Bash! Co-sponsored by Arizona Parents of Blind Children and SAAVI
When - Oct 27 -
Time 12 noon to 3 PM
Pumpkin carving (how does a blind person carve a pumpkin?--come and find
out!), tactile craft projects, piñata, apple bobbing, grilling (how does a
blind person grill a hot dog? Come and find out!), meeting new people.
All are welcome: all blind, low vision, visually impaired children and their
parents, family members, and teachers.
This event is sponsored by Arizona Parents of Blind Children and SAAVI. For
more information please contact Linda Zwinger at lyndaz at u.arizona.edu or
telephone (520) 404-4627
Or contact Shannon Kemlo, Children and Youth Services Team Leader,
at skemlo at saavi.us or telephone (520) 795-1331.
The event will be held at Mehl Park in Tucson.
* From Dr. Jane Erin, University of Arizona Teacher Prep program –
We are very please to share the news that the U of A is one of three
university programs nationwide to receive a federal grant that will support
the program that prepares teachers of blind and visually impaired students.
The program will allow four full-time Masters degree students, and also
teachers who will participate in summer on-line classes in Arizona, Utah,
and other southwestern states. An important factor in receiving this grant
is the participation of blind mentors to the university students. The
University worked closely with the NFB of Arizona to establish the program
of matching the university students with blind, successfully employed
mentors.
If you, or someone you know, are interested in becoming a teacher of blind
students, please contact Jane Erin at (520) 621-0945
* Braille Adult Readers Are Leaders -
It’s time to start reading! The reading period for the annual Braille
Readers Are Leaders contest for adults begins November 1. Registration for
the contest is now open! You can register at www.nfb.org/BRAL now through
the end of the contest, January 4, 2013.
The contest is for adults who read Braille. There are categories for all
levels of Braille readers, from beginners to experts. Participants read for
prizes, practice, and pleasure. Whether you love the competition or are
spurred on simply because it’s a great way to promote and refine your
Braille skills, this contest is for you.
For more information, you can check the Web site, www.nfb.org/BRAL. There
you will find all the forms and reading logs you will need to participate.
If you still have questions, please contact the Braille Readers Are Leaders
team at (410) 659-9314, extension 2312, or BrailleReadersAreLeaders at nfb.org.
Put your fingers to the paper and start recording what you are reading
today!
Braille Rocks,
P.S. Looking for information about the K-12 Braille Readers Are Leaders
program?
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the K-12 Braille Readers Are Leaders
program. To celebrate 30 years of success, later this fall we will be
expanding the program and launching Braille Readers Are Leaders 360: A
Community of 21st Century Braille Readers¬the first-ever accessible online
community for children who read Braille! The Braille Readers Are Leaders 360
(BRL360) online community will provide a safe place online where Braille
readers in kindergarten through twelfth grade can share their literacy
experience through: online discussions about their favorite books, book
trailers, live author chats, videos of themselves reading Braille, and much
more! Continuing with the Braille Readers Are Leaders mission, BRL360 will
promote a pride in Braille and a joy of reading among blind children all
year long. Stay tuned for more information about the expansion of our K-12
Braille Readers Are Leaders program. Contact us with your questions
at:BRL360 at nfb.org or 410-659-9314, extension 2418.
• * From Anil Lewis, NFB Director of Strategic Communications -
•
The Labor Protest We All Should Support
Goodwill Pays Some Employees Less Than Minimum Wage
John Hrabe, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Sep 18, 2012
Chicago's public school teachers will once again take to the streets to
protesan average annual salary of $76,000. In California, public employee
unions are upset with relatively minor changes to the state's public
employee pension system signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown. But, another
labor dispute is far more deserving of our attention and support.
The National Federation of the Blind, along with other advocacy groups of
various disability communities, has been protesting Goodwill Industries, the
nonprofit corporation best known for its secondhand shops. Their complaint:
Goodwill has been paying 7,300 of its employees less than the federal
minimum wage, thanks to a loophole in federal labor law. Last month, a CBS
News affiliate in Denver reported that some Goodwill employees claim to earn
"just 20 cents an hour."
Under Section 14 (c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, employers can
apply for a special wage certificate that allows them to hire people with
disabilities at a subminimum wage. The special certificate grants companies
the legal right to pay these employees a commensurate wage based on
productivity. "Without the law, many people with disabilities could lose
their jobs," Goodwill argues in defense of the special loophole.
Shouldn't workers' pay be tied to results?
They aren't for you or me. The only group subjected to performance based pay
are people with severe disabilities. Goodwill's policy is even more
reprehensible, when you consider that people with disabilities have fewer
legal remedies for their employment grievances.
"(A)ll of the relevant information is in the hands of the sheltered workshop
manager, the statutory appeals process can provide little counterweight,"
writes Samuel R. Bagenstos, a professor of law at the University of Michigan
Law School and a former deputy attorney general for civil rights. "And the
process itself is fatally flawed-because it does not provide for attorney's
fees or opt-out classes-and is therefore rarely invoked."
In other words, employees can't fight back against the paternalistic charity
that is exploiting them.
Goodwill also has no credibility to claim they lack the budgetary resources
to pay their employees minimum wage. In 2010, Goodwill Industries
International, Inc., the national parent corporation for all of the nation's
secondhand clothing affiliates, paid its president and CEO James Gibbons
more than half a million dollars in total compensation. Dozens of state and
local chapters have copied the national headquarters' executive compensation
extravagance.
In Florida, R. Lee Waits, the president and CEO of Goodwill
Industries-Suncoast Inc., received a compensation package worth $440,197 in
2011. And that was a pay cut! In 2010, he took home $637,452 in total
compensation, according to the organization's federal tax forms for 2010.
California's Goodwill organizations are no better. They've been bullying
small nonprofits throughout the state with local efforts to shut down
competitors' donation bins. D.A.R.E America spokesman John Lindsay told me ,
"Their tactics over the last few years are despicable. They should be
ashamed that they feel the need to use their clout to squeeze out their
competition in such a manipulative manner."
Which brings us back to the labor protests that we all should be supporting.
In late August, less than a dozen people from Capitol People First, South
Area People First, and the Supported Life Institute joined the Autistic Self
Advocacy Network of Sacramento to protest Goodwill Industries of Sacramento
Valley & Northern Nevada, which pays some employees less than minimum wage.
The protest was one of the more than ninety informational protests organized
by the National Federation of the Blind.
"It is appalling that organizations that purport to assist workers with
disabilities in job training, would hold them back by circumventing the
standard of living that minimum wage provides other American workers," Andy
Voss, president of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Sacramento,
explained to me via email.
Goodwill isn't a private for-profit company. If it were, there'd be nothing
wrong with CEO's earning top-dollar. However, Goodwill accepts millions of
dollars every year in government funds and also receives a tax exemption.
Both gifts of our tax dollars are based on the organization serving the
public. In Goodwill's own words, their charitable mission is "to help people
achieve their full potential through the dignity and power of work."
That's dignity paid out at 22 cents per hour.
Published by John Hrabe
John Hrabe is a writer and communications strategist, who has covered
stories in Port-au-Prince, London and Seoul. In between international
flights, John finds time to report on California and national polit...
Thank you, and hope to see you at these October activities,
Bob Kresmer, president
NFBA
1 800-899-6322
Robert Leslie Newman
Personal Website-
Adjustment To Blindness And Visual impairment
http//www.thoughtprovoker.info
NFB Writers’ Division, president
http://www.nfb-writers-division.net
Chair of the NFB Communications Committee
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