[Nfb-editors] The Blind Missourian - June 2015

Sun Jun 21 02:29:23 UTC 2015

The Blind Missourian

                                           June 2015

Table of Contents

Presidential Report by Gary Wunder                                 1

2015 Resolutions by Erin Magoon                                     4

Two Generations of Heroes by Carol Coulter          9

The Making of a Video by Carol Coulter                        11

A Busy Mom by Carol Coulter                                      14

Not Just Mere Words by Daniel Garcia                         17

Presidential Report

National Federation of the Blind of Missouri

Presented March 28, 2015

By President Gary Wunder

Some who have studied the agenda, (and from the number of corrections I
received, I believe there are many), you may have observed that I have asked
for a little less time in presenting this report. To ensure I would actually
live by the self-imposed limit, I placed it right before lunch, knowing that
if you had to choose between this message and enjoying a good meal, the good
meal would win out.

One of the things that will make this report shorter is that many activities
I would normally summarize in a paragraph or two actually appear on the
convention agenda. The BELL Program gets a slot, tomorrow we will talk about
the seminar for social workers, our governmental affairs chairman will talk
about the two pieces of legislation we are supporting, and the substantial
changes we have helped to bring about in the recertification of blind
pension recipients is still fresh in your minds.

Since 1979 we have been attending the Washington Seminar, and this year our
representatives were Dan Flasar, Bethany Bennington, Shelia Wright, and Gary
Horchem. Because I was already in DC to witness and report on the event for
the Braille Monitor, I came along to most of our meetings, and Debbie was
present, at our family's expense, to make sure I behaved myself and stayed
on topic.

Now I know all of you are up to date in reading the Braille Monitor, so I
can probably restrict to a sentence or two a discussion of the legislation
we've worked to advance. The TEACH Act addresses deficiencies in the
education we receive, the TIME Act speaks to the issue of the unfairness in
paying blind people less than the minimum wage, and the Marrakesh Treaty
asks the Senate to embrace a policy that will let blind people share with
other countries in the world books already adapted for our use. Our team was
collegial, congenial, enthusiastic, and very effective. Now it is up to us
to move the ball down the field by pressing each of our members to become
cosponsors. You will hear more about this tomorrow in Shelia's report.

While we are on the topic of legislation, let me say a few words about the
Jefferson City Seminar without stealing Shelia's thunder. We know about and
believe in the power of Braille, but sometimes this leads us to the mistaken
belief that other people do as well. Our experience with the Missouri
General Assembly proves beyond any reasonable doubt that for most of them
Braille is a mystery. Some of them know that it is used by the blind, but
they have had so little experience with it that they are easily taken in by
the argument that it is a way of reading and writing whose time has long
since passed. Another way to say this is that they are absolutely amazed
when they see that someone can read from our fact sheet as rapidly as they
can read it in print. Realizing this means we need to think of new and
innovative efforts to publicize just how important Braille is to us and how
linked it is with our success in education and employment.

In the seventy-fifth year of the National Federation of the Blind, we have
been honored by being asked to host the National Convention in Florida along
with the other states that compose the founding seven affiliates. It is
tremendously important that we get as many people to the convention as we
can, both for what it will give them in being a part of such a momentous
celebration, and for what it will let them contribute to us in our work as a
host affiliate. We will be a part of the welcoming ceremony, will help host
the dance, and will be a part of giving the door prize at the banquet. One
of our jobs will be to staff the affiliate suite, and while we will have six
other affiliates to help us, there is no question that we will have to put
significant effort into this. We are going to have a tremendous door prize
to commemorate this milestone, and no less than $7,575 will be given at the
convention.

Just before Christmas we were alerted through television coverage about a
young student in North Kansas City whose cane had been taken away and
replaced with a pool noodle. This not only made the local television news,
but it created a firestorm on the internet. Since things are not always what
they seem, and sometimes the enthusiasm of a reporter will take second place
to the facts, we sent our first vice president to help determine whether we
should be involved. She concluded that there was reason to be concerned, and
we put this out on our list. After seeing reports of the incident, some of
you took action directly. Lawrence Luck called the superintendent and was
surprised to have his call promptly returned. The superintendent apologized
for the pool noodle, said the cane had been returned, and vowed that this
would never happen again. Similar reports made their way back to local
television and again featured prominently in their newscasts.

Given that this happened during the Christmas season, President Riccobono
created a special Christmas package and mailed it to our Kansas City chapter
for delivery. The family was very impressed that we cared enough to visit
with them, and, what do you know, inside that Christmas package was a cane!

Shelia Wright has since been involved with Dakota and his family in trying
to figure out how to address other educational issues he faces. The family
is understandably impatient, and at this point we are not sure whether
Dakota will remain in the North Kansas City school district or whether his
family will have him transferred to another school. We have suggested that a
geographical cure is seldom the answer and that this school district has the
resources to teach Dakota. But we know that our role as advocates is to
support what the family decides, and this we will certainly do.

One of our most exciting efforts this year has been in the area of
employment research. We say that getting a job is a significant part of
joining in the activities of society, but often it is difficult to know just
what to do to get more blind people employed. We all know about the
discrimination faced by a blind job applicant when she appears at the door
of a potential employer. But we also know that discrimination is only one
element that figures into the high level of unemployment we experience. If
we want jobs, we must be competitive; to be competitive we must be
well-educated, and, to be well-educated, means having accommodations that
let us put most of our effort into learning and proving what we know, and
not into figuring out how to get along as best we can with electronic
gadgets that won't speak to us, learning management systems that cannot be
efficiently used with screen-reading technology, and textbooks that are
electronically available but keep us out because of the digital rights
management intended to keep them from being pirated.

Knowing that we can't hope to tackle all of this through the work of one
committee, we have decided to focus on the thing which seems to be most
obvious in determining whether or not a blind person gets a job: we decided
to focus on Braille. Not every Braille reader is employed, but the vast
majority of blind people who are employed are Braille readers. After months
of discussion and preparation, in June we will begin a program using Code
Master, and you will-this very afternoon-hear a good bit about that program
from Kevin Faust. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to him
and other members who work for Rehabilitation Services for the Blind for
agreeing to participate with us in this work. I also want to say a special
thank you to members of the employment research committee, who have devoted
an inordinate amount of time to conference calls, the minutes that chronicle
them, and the documents that were the result of all this work.

Tomorrow we will have elections. I am putting the finishing touches on this
report before knowing what slate the nominating committee will propose or
even who may be interested in the positions we elect this year. If you elect
me to be your president tomorrow, this will be your last opportunity to do
it. I have been blessed to lead this organization for a long time, but I
think that all of my talk about transition has to come down to a date after
which we simply must elect someone else. There has been no one to whom the
Missouri affiliate has been kinder or more loving than it has been to me,
and I appreciate more than I can tell you how it has made me feel to be the
president of this organization. But I can tell you that I am excited by the
change that must come, and I want it to come in time for me to be able to
help with the transition in leadership that must occur. I want to work on
building membership without having to worry about appointing committees or
approving expenditures or smoothing out all of the rough spots that
sometimes come when people of strong minds and strong wills have set upon
the same goal but have different ways to accomplish it. I know we have
people who are capable of being the president of this organization, and I
have every hope that, should you reelect me tomorrow, we will have even more
people to choose from two years from now. People will now clearly know that
the prize of the presidency is there for the taking and can begin to
demonstrate that they both want and are capable of taking on the job.

I want to thank each and every one of you for being here today and for the
commitment that your presence demonstrates to furthering the cause of people
who are blind. This is a wonderful mission we share, and I feel blessed to
call you my colleagues, my friends, and members of this special family we
call the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri.

Here are the resolutions that were passed at the National Federation of the
Blind of Missouri state convention which was held March 27-29 in St. Louis,
MO.

Resolution 2015-01 

A Resolution Regarding Braille in the Schools

     WHEREAS, one of the most valuable tools a child can be taught is
reading and writing, which for blind children means learning Braille; and

     WHEREAS, too many blind and low vision children in Missouri are not
learning Braille, in part because a standardized research based reading
assessment is not being mandated to determine which children need Braille;
and

     WHEREAS, House Bill 1003 has been introduced in the legislature
modifying RSMo167.225 to mandate such a standardized measure; and

     WHEREAS, passage of this bill would lead to brighter futures for blind
children who would no longer have to suffer back problems from bending over
their books, eye strain from holding a book too close, or reading speeds
that are inadequate for learning: Now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri
assembled this 28th day of March, 2015, in the City of Saint Louis,
Missouri, that we urge the General Assembly to pass House Bill 1003 so that
all blind children in the state of Missouri can obtain the same literacy as
their sighted peers and therefore are more ready for the workforce when they
grow into adulthood.

Resolution 2015-02

A Resolution Regarding the Value of a Secret Ballot

     WHEREAS, the right of a person to cast a secret ballot is as old as our
Republic and is a right that men and women have fought and died for; and

     WHEREAS, the Help America Vote Act guarantees this right to blind and
visually impaired individuals in Federal elections by providing accessible
methods of casting a ballot; and

     WHEREAS, Missouri House Bill 454 would extend this same right to state
and local elections thereby extending another full right of citizenship to
blind and visually impaired persons; Now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri
assembled this 28th day of March, 2015, in the City of Saint Louis,
Missouri, that we urge the General Assembly to enact this legislation so
that their blind constituents may have the full right of suffrage.

Resolution 2015-03

A Resolution Regarding a Commendation for Representative Elijah Haahr

     WHEREAS, recipients of Missouri's Blind Pension were required to
undergo eye examinations at least every five years even though many of them
had permanent inoperable eye conditions; and

     WHEREAS, after learning of this wasteful provision in Missouri Law,
Representative Elijah Haahr introduced House Bill 1835 exempting persons
with permanent blindness from such periodic exams; and

     WHEREAS, Representative Elijah Haahr successfully advocated for this
legislation along with members of the National Federation of the Blind of
Missouri resulting in it becoming law:

Now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri
assembled this 28th day of March, 2015, in the City of Saint Louis,
Missouri, that we hereby commend Representative Elijah Haahr for his
sponsorship and efforts on behalf of the blind of Missouri to pass House
Bill 1835.

Resolution 2015-04

A Resolution Regarding Greyhound Lines

     WHEREAS, Greyhound Lines is the nation's major inter-city bus company
providing needed transportation to those, such as blind persons, who cannot
drive; and

     WHEREAS, the reservation system on its website is not fully accessible
for blind persons to purchase tickets; and

     WHEREAS, recently blind persons purchasing tickets on the telephone had
to pay an additional $10.00 for their ticket even though they explained that
they were unable to use the website as it is not accessible: Now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri
assembled this 28th day of March, 2015, in the City of Saint Louis,
Missouri, that we demand that Greyhound Lines make its website for ticket
purchasing accessible and that until they do, they cease and desist from
charging an extra fee for telephone purchases made by blind persons.

Resolution 2015-05

A Resolution Regarding Accessible Set Top Boxes

    WHEREAS, cable and satellite television providers make available
hundreds of channels of diverse programming allowing viewers to enjoy shows
that suit their particular tastes; and

    WHEREAS, programming is now provided through set top boxes that also
allow viewers to watch shows on demand, record shows, set the box to record
entire series, and even rewind and fast forward live programs; and

    WHEREAS, very few features of these set top boxes are usable by blind
and visually impaired viewers other than turning on and off the box and
changing channels; and

    WHEREAS, current technology will allow for much greater accessibility as
demonstrated by new set top boxes being made available by ComCast: Now,
therefore,

    BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri
assembled this 28th day of March, 2015, in the City of Saint Louis,
Missouri, that we demand that other cable and satellite providers including,
but not limited to, MediaCom, Charter Communications, Century Link Prism,
Time Warner Cable, Dish, and Direct TV take immediate steps to provide
accessible set top boxes.

Resolution 2015-06

A Resolution Regarding the Efforts of the Family Support Division 

     WHEREAS, the President and Social Services Liaison of the National
Federation of the Blind of Missouri met with Program and Policy staff of the
Missouri Family Support Division on November 15, 2013 concerning numerous
difficulties recipients were having with the Blind Pension and Supplemental
Aid to the Blind programs; and

     WHEREAS, over the next 15 months communication lines remained open
resulting in dozens of individual cases being positively resolved while the
agency made assurances of progress on the broader issues; and

     WHEREAS, on February 26, 2015 a follow-up meeting was held in Warrenton
at which time information was shared that the agency was transferring all
Blind Pension Fund and Supplemental Aid to the Blind Fund cases to Warren
County so clients would be able to call an Eligibility Specialist to get
questions answered, and a robo-call system would soon be in place to notify
clients of the most important mailings among other changes: Now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri
assembled this 29th day of March, 2015, in the City of Saint Louis,
Missouri, that we commend the Family Support Division for working with
consumers to remove the problems that had plagued the programs and their
continuing effort in making the system more accessible and user friendly to
clients; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we encourage Family Support Division to
continue the fruitful dialogue with the National Federation of the Blind of
Missouri and that we stand ready to help in any way to strengthen these
programs.

Resolution 2015-07

A Resolution Regarding a Commendation of the University of Missouri-Columbia
Disability Services

     WHEREAS, many universities all over the country do not meet the needs
of their blind students due to the existence of inaccessible websites or
material; and

     WHEREAS, many students work with disability service offices that work
retroactively to find materials in accessible formats and solve problems
related to inaccessibility in the classroom; and

     WHEREAS, the University of Missouri Adaptive Computer Technology Center
has a team of experts working to make university websites and online
programs accessible to all students as well as looking forward and placing
accessibility at the forefront of negotiations when new technology is being
considered for the university; and

     WHEREAS, the Adaptive Computer Technology Center is an example of a
university service that does not simply provide accessible materials but
education to faculty, staff, and students on the rights of people with
disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, the university Disability Center has been a strong advocate
for blind students for over four decades; and

     WHEREAS, the Disability Center has a positive philosophy of blindness
that allows students to truly learn the material in their classes rather
than spend their time finding the materials they need to learn: Now,
Therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by The National Federation of the Blind of Missouri
assembled this 29th day of March, 2015, in the City of Saint Louis,
Missouri, that we commend the University of Missouri-Columbia's Adaptive
Computing Technology Center and Disability Center.

Two Generations of Heroes

By Carol Coulter

On Monday, May 25, 2015, thirteen members of the Columbia Chapter gathered
to participate in the annual Memorial Day festivities. The morning started
with the parade. Chapter members walked as Lawrence Luck drove our honored
Veterans Lieutenant Colonel Charles Stevens and his son Colonel Mark
Stevens. The parade route ends at the Boone County Court House where a
ceremony is held in which distinguished Veterans are honored.  We are proud
to say we personally knew two of these heroes this year as Lt. Col Charles
Stevens and Col. Mark Stevens took their place on stage. Here is what the
Master of Ceremony had to say about this father and son.      

Colonel Mark Stevens United States Army retired: Col. Stevens thirty year
career of reserve and active duty service included a wide variety of command
and staff assignments. His combat zone assignments included tours in Bosnia
Herzegovina, Iraq, and the much contested district surrounding Kandahar,
Afghanistan. His awards include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with
two Oak Leaf Clusters, and multiple awards of the Meritorious Service Metal,
and the Army Accommodation Metal. Col Mark Stevens is accompanying his
Father, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Stevens United States Army Retired.

Lieutenant Colonel Stevens was commissioned in 1955 as a distinguished
military graduate from Southwest Missouri State University. His
distinguished service as an Infantry Officer included multiple tours in
Vietnam during some of the toughest years of that war from 1966 to 1969. His
awards include the Legion of Merit, seven awards of the Bronze Star to
include a Bronze Star with "V" Device for Conspicuous Gallantry against a
hostile force. He was also awarded the Air Metal, the Vietnamese Cross of
Gallantry and two awards of the Purple Heart. In 2013 Lt. Col. Stevens was
inducted into the Missouri State University ROTC Hall of Fame.   

I can only imagine how proud each of these gentlemen must have felt standing
on that stage shoulder to shoulder sharing in such a special moment. Let us
not forget Helen Stevens, wife and mother who has more than likely endured
many worrisome nights over the years. How moving for her and the rest of the
family to see such a memorable event. We salute the Stevens Family and all
the Veterans and their families for their dedication and service to our
country.     

The Making of a Video

By Carol Coulter

On July 27, 2012 President Gary Wunder and I made a trip to Jefferson City
to meet with Marta Halter, Director of Children's Division, and Christy
Collins of her staff. Keith Roderick and Mark Laird of Rehabilitation
Services for the Blind were also in attendance. In fact we have Mr. Laird to
thank for arranging the meeting. Ms. Halter was very supportive of our
desire to provide a program to educate the Children's Division staff on the
abilities of blind individuals as capable parents. We discussed many
different ways to get our information out to staff and since they had over
one hundred and fourteen meetings across the state, we decided that one way
was to make a video that could be shown without us being there. Thus the
journey begins. 

Now that the decision to make a video has been made, we needed a
videographer, children of various ages and blind adults to care for these
children. Gary had a friend who knew of a young man who did videography and
she had us all over for dinner one evening to meet. We discussed our project
with him and he agreed to take it on and at no cost. This was the start of a
wonderful relationship with a very talented and gracious young man named
Samuel Ott. 

Now we needed to find the children. If this would have been about twenty
years earlier we would have had quite a few children and parents to choose
from, but the children have grown and the adults have aged a little as well.
An email went out asking if people knew of children we could use for the
video and the committee of Gary Wunder, Rita Lynch, Keith Roderick and Carol
Coulter also were on the lookout. Rita contacted two fellow workers who had
both had children in the last couple of months and they both agreed to let
us use their precious little ones in the video. Thank you Ellen Clapper and
Jennifer Kixmiller, we couldn't have done it without you. We also had
Charlotte, Dacia Cole's niece to help us out. Three children are not enough,
but we would get started and continue our search. Over the next several
months our search brought us to the Huckaby girls, Emma and Haylie, Timmy
Grauel, and Michael, whose mom was new to the Kansas City Chapter. We didn't
forget about the east side of the state either or we would have missed out
on meeting Ben Carmack and his wonderful mother Jenny.

Now we have our videographer, our children and, oh yes, parents. Some of the
children came with blind relatives so no problem but two of the children
needed to be paired up with a blind adult so Carol Coulter, Gary Wunder and
Debbie Wunder willingly stepped in to be grandparents. Now everything should
be full steam ahead right, not quite. We all know how there are the bad
spots on the tracks where it seems like the train is just crawling, well the
same holds true for making a video. 

Arranging for a time to meet and video tape required working around several
people's schedules. I had to juggle anywhere from four to seven people's
schedules at a time in order to do a taping. We also had to work around the
holidays, bad weather and even the birth of one of our babies. Yes you read
correctly. When we first contacted Jennifer Huckaby, she was pregnant with
her second child and wasn't due until the end of May and of course we had to
allow her time to recuperate as well.

Since we did not know two of the children and we were strangers to them, I
felt it necessary for us to meet with them first before taping and then
schedule a second visit for the actual taping. This wasn't necessary for the
rest of the children since they had relatives that would be working with
them. 

After spending the last half of April juggling schedules, we had our first
visit in May of 2013 in Fulton and then proceeded to Jefferson City. By the
end of June we had our first two children on "film". Now we had to wait
patiently for baby Emma to arrive and mom to recuperate, but in the mean
time we captured Charlotte at play in a local Columbia park with her Aunt
Dacia. In August of 2013 it was time to meet Emma and her older sister
Haylie, so we traveled to Kansas City. The group returned to Kansas City the
first weekend in November to finish taping the children and to start
interviewing blind parents for the question and answer portions of the
video. Several of us met at Shirley Grauel's home where we videotaped
Michael and Timmy. We then ask the blind parents questions such as: how did
you give your child medication, keep track of them when they became mobile,
help them with school work, etc. On November 30, 2013, we traveled to St.
Louis to visit with Jenny and her son Ben. I was so glad they were able to
squeeze us in during the busy holiday season. Our last trip was back to
Jefferson City in early December. We were welcomed into the home of Rita
Lynch and we ask the same interview questions of her and Gail Lundberg.   

We finally finished up with the videotaping and now we need to add the
narrative. Gary and I set to work creating the narrative. He took the first
part and I the second since I was at all the tapings and knew what had taken
place. It was fun retracing our steps and getting all the visits in the
right order. When we were done Sam let us know that the narrative was a
little long, and we needed to shorten it a bit. After a couple attempts
Gary, Sam, and I came up with the final product.  

The taping is all done, the narrative written and now it is time for Gary
Wunder and Elisabeth Coulter to have their voices recorded for all to hear
as they read the narrative on to tape. We say good bye to Samuel Ott and sit
and wait as he takes what we have done and turns it into what we hope will
be something we can be proud of; something that will get our message across
to those who need to hear it.

The day has come, Sam has finished the editing and we have gathered at
Gary's house to view the final product. Tears come to my eyes as I watch our
video. Sam has taken this raw footage, that I was quite frankly worried
about how it could all possibly come together, and turned it into something
wonderful!

I was so proud to share this wonderful video with all of you at our 2014
state convention. How blessed we all were to have our then future National
President Mark Riccobono present to watch it with us.  I was then honored to
find out that we had not only been nominated, but won the Bolotin Award for
this project. 

Remember those rough tracks I spoke of earlier, well the train hasn't
reached the station yet. The video still has to reach its destination, the
Social Workers and others who don't believe that blind people can be good
parents. While all of this is going on, we find out that Marta Halter has
retired and that budget cuts have changed the way Children's Division does
their trainings. Luckily Christy Collins is still there for us and helps us
get a seminar arranged. Christy hooks me up with Lori Masek who has to
approve the seminar material and takes care of advertising the event to all
the staff. 

The day finally comes March 20, 2015, the Friday before our state
convention. The seminar was held in Columbia, Missouri at the Department of
Social Services building. We had sixteen participants and while this is not
as many as we would have liked, it is a start. We showed the video and then
had three panel discussions. First we had Melissa Riccobono and Jenny
Carmack talk about child rearing from infancy to school age. Next Rita
Lynch, Gary Wunder and Debbie Wunder discussed the school age child and
dealing with homework and other issues. The final panel was Susan Ford, and
Rita Lynch. They discussed general household chores such as laundry,
cooking, cleaning, etc. I felt it was important to touch on this topic
because that is one of the things that Social Workers look at when they come
into a home. They want to know that the home and children are clean and
there is food for the children to eat. I had a great time as Mistress of
Ceremonies until Gary let it be known that he had been multi-tasking with
one of his Braille devices, but even that worked out since several people
wanted to check it out after the seminar was over. 

I want to thank everyone who had a hand in putting this video and seminar
together. I especially want to thank my daughter Elisabeth who drove her
mother all over the state and lent us her wonderful reading voice for the
narrative on the video. I also need to thank my son Larry for driving me to
Fulton twice for the videotaping. I would also like to thank Gary Wunder for
having the confidence in me to pull this off. At times I felt like I was
left out there hanging, scared I would mess up something I knew was so very
important. I had never done anything like this before. I will take it as a
positive sign that he had more confidence in me than I did. I know that some
people will look at the dollar figures and focus on how costly the seminar
was, but we can not put a price tag on a blind parent's right to keep their
child. We must keep spreading the word.                     

A Busy Mom

By Carol Coulter

Jenny Carmack was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. She has one sister who
is four years younger than her. Unfortunately, Jenny did not grow up with
her parents. When she was five years old her mom had a brain tumor which was
not cancerous, but after the doctors operated to remove it, she was left
with permanent brain damage. Jenny's mother was left with no short term
memory, which meant she needed supervision twenty-four hours a day.  Her
mother was in the hospital for a long time, but she did come home for a
short while.  Her dad, family members, and friends worked together to care
for her mother and the girls, but it was very difficult and after a few
months her mom went to live in a nursing home. As Jenny's mother got older,
her dementia and paranoia progressively got worse.  Sometimes she didn't
even recognize Jenny or her sister.  Jenny said her dad was overwhelmed with
everything in the beginning and then she believes he really did not know how
to take care of her and her sister.  He also worked a lot to pay for her
mom's medical bills.  When Jenny's mom went into the nursing home, her dad
had to divorce her mom because he wouldn't be able to afford the cost of the
nursing home. Jenny's mom became a ward of the state. Her mother remained in
a nursing home for the rest of her life, which ended up being 31 years.

As time passed her dad became less and less involved with her mom as well as
her and her sister. Jenny thinks maybe they reminded him of everything that
had happened.  Her dad remarried twice, but neither of his wives was
interested in being a decent mother to the girls. Jenny and her sister lived
with her dad off and on and with different family members. The sisters ended
up spending a lot of time living with their dad's brother and his wife.
Unfortunately Jenny and her sister do not currently have any relationship
with their dad.  

Jenny attended Ft. Zumwalt High School in O'Fallon, Missouri. She
participated in the marching, symphonic, and pep bands. She said she worked
very hard during marching band season to memorize the music so that she
could use what vision she had to stay in formation with the band. Jenny was
chosen to march in the Missouri All State Lions Band and perform in Disney
World. A top performer from each school was chosen to be part of this band.
"It was very challenging and fun," Jenny said. 

While in high school Jenny also volunteered at a local elementary school.
She knew by the age of thirteen that she wanted to be a teacher. She also
did a lot of babysitting. "I could make money while doing something that I
enjoyed, being with children," Jenny said. 

While she was in college Jenny substitute taught for several of the school
districts where she lived.  It gave her some practical experience and some
extra money.  Since 2003 she has worked full time as an early childhood
teacher.  Jenny has worked with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.  From
2009-2013 she was a mentor teacher which gave her the opportunity to work
alongside teachers in the classroom as well as gain some management
experience. Jenny is currently a lead preschool teacher.

Jenny was born with Glaucoma and although doctors worked to save her
eyesight, by age one it was determined that she had no sight in her right
eye and was legally blind in her left eye.  About two and a half years ago
her vision began to slowly get foggy; she was told that she had scarring on
her cornea.  With her cornea being clouded doctors could not monitor Jenny's
Glaucoma very well.  In January Jenny had a cornea transplant and is still
healing from that. She was told it can take up to a year to completely heal.
"Right now I can see better than I could before the surgery, but not as well
as I could before my cornea began to get cloudy. I am not yet sure if
Glaucoma damaged my eye during the time when my cornea was clouded," Jenny
said. 

Jenny and Randy have been married for eighteen years. They had a long
journey between the time they first met in 1991, and the time they actually
married in 1997.  Jenny and Randy first met at Lions World Services for the
Blind.  He was there for the IRS computer programmer training and she was
there for braille and mobility training.  When they left they never expected
that their paths would cross again three years later in St. Louis where
Jenny was living at the time. 

About three years after she left Lions World Services for the Blind, Randy
and Jenny met up again.  This was due to Randy reaching out to try and
connect with her.  He remembered the address that she lived at when she was
at LWSB. "I'm not sure how he remembered it." Jenny said.  He wrote a letter
to her and sent it to that address, but she no longer lived there. He got
the letter returned to him with a note providing him with another address so
he re-sent the letter. At that time Jenny was moving around a lot and not
always putting in a change of address card with the post office. Eventually
Jenny got his letter even though he had an address on it that was from
several moves ago. The letter had taken about a month to get to her.  Jenny
wrote Randy back and gave him a correct address.  At this time he lived in
Sikeston, MO and she lived in St. Louis, so they spent some time writing,
making phone calls, and he came to St. Louis to see her a couple of times.
Then Jenny took a leap of faith for three reasons, first she wanted to begin
her college career to become a teacher and she heard that Southeast Missouri
State University had a great program for teachers; second things weren't
going well for her in St. Louis so she needed a change; and third to be
closer to Randy so that they could see if their relationship would grow into
anything. "My leap of faith was moving to Cape Girardeau, MO home of SEMO,
far away from St. Louis, and only 40 minutes from Sikeston.  Our
relationship slowly grew over the next three years. We slowly blended our
families together. When we got married Amanda, his daughter, gave him away
to me and Shawna, my daughter, gave me away to him and Stephanie, our
daughter, was our flower girl.  

Randy and Jenny have four children. Amanda is twenty-seven and even though
she is Jenny's step daughter, she loves Amanda as if she were her own.
Amanda is married and has two children Isabella who is almost seven and Liam
who is almost three. Shawna, Jenny's daughter that Randy adopted when she
was eight years old, is now twenty-one. Stephanie, who is our daughter
together, is twenty and Ben, our son is eight.

In January of 2015 Jenny started her first semester toward a Master's
Degree.  She is working to get a degree in Early Childhood Special
Education. Jenny wants to become certified in a specific area but has not
yet decided what that will be. This semester was a very challenging one for
many reasons.  First of all she had not been to school in ten years.  Jenny
said she had to become familiar with online classes, had her eye surgery,
and had to learn how to depend on a screen reader (and navigate the issues
that come with that). She got her electronic text books in the sixth or
seventh week of class which she heard happens a lot, and Jenny helped her
chapter host the state convention. She forgot to mention that she also
helped me with the Blind Parents Seminar that was presented to Social
Workers that took place the week before the state convention. "I am very
proud to say that I got an A in both of the classes that I took and I am
looking forward to taking my second semester in the fall. YAY!" Jenny said.

The two things that Jenny really enjoys doing are spending time with her
family and reading. She likes to read many different genres, but not science
fiction or action adventure. Between Jenny's family, work, school and her
work in the NFB, I am surprised she has time for any reading. Thank you
Jenny; I am glad I have gotten to know you better.  

Not Just Mere Words

By Daniel Garcia

Our tag line urges us to "live the life [we] want" and our brand value
proposition begins by expressing the idea that "[we] are filled with hope,
energy, and love by participating in the National Federation of the Blind."
These are not just mere words for us, we live them every day. I want to
share with you how I came to be in the National Federation of the Blind of
Missouri and how I live these words. 

My first contact with the NFB was in Kalamazoo, Michigan in early November
of 2011. Let me give you some background. In Michigan the Training Center
for the Blind is located in Kalamazoo. In 2011, the Center located on
Oakland Drive was undergoing a major $5 million renovation. So that skills
of blindness classes would not be interrupted, the then Michigan Commission
for the Blind (now Bureau of Services for Blind Persons) contracted with a
hotel across town on East Cork St. Back then they called themselves the
Clarion Inn. They have since undergone a name change, but in my heart they
will forever be "the Clarion." The first time I went to the Clarion was on
Wednesday, September 14, 2011. Lisa Williams, a student who was midway
through her skills of blindness training gave my mom, dad, and me a tour of
the hotel. After the tour we ate lunch at the cafeteria with the students
and then we went to meet the director. At the time this position was held by
long-time Federationist Christine Boone. My mom, dad and I were very
impressed with how she used the alternative techniques of blindness to do,
as a blind person, what a sighted person does using their sight. Two weeks
later, on Monday September 26, 2011, I started my skills of blindness
training.

In early November of 2011 the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
was holding their state convention in Kalamazoo. By pure coincidence they
had scheduled to have this event in the very same Clarion Hotel where the
Training Center was temporarily holding their classes. On Friday evening we
went to various exhibits and I met a few federationists from the Ann Arbor
area and from Western Wayne County who encouraged me to join. On Saturday a
few of us decided to check out the dance. We figured that since everybody
was blind they would not notice we had crashed their party. We hung out
there for about half an hour and then went back to our rooms. Little did I
know that this event would foretell what I would be doing three and a half
years later.

Fast forward to early 2013, I had decided to go to Little Rock, Arkansas to
World Services for the Blind to hopefully secure a position with the
Internal Revenue Service. I needed to improve my Braille reading speed to at
least sixty words per minute. One of my blind instructors at Kalamazoo, Shig
Toda, had told me that in order to become proficient at reading Braille I
should read until my fingers bled. I do not think that my fingers bled, but
I did read quite a bit of Braille that year. During the mornings I read
large Braille books from the Braille and Talking Book Library in Lansing. In
the afternoons I used my little Refreshabraille 18 Braille display to read a
lot of material from the Internet, including issues of the Braille Monitor.
When I was not reading Braille I was reading audio books. I was frankly
inspired by reading the history of the organized blind movement. I was
beginning to understand that it was respectable to be blind and that blind
people can lead normal lives. I also read a book about how blind Orientation
and Mobility Instructors faced prejudiced in the profession and how wrong I
had been in assuming that blind people could not be effective O&M
Instructors. The result of all this is that two days before I was to
interview with the IRS, I tested out of Braille by reading at 67 words per
minute!

On Wednesday September 18, 2013 I interviewed with three different sets of
interviewers from the IRS. We were supposed to pick three different cities
in order of preference and I had chosen Kansas City as one of my choices
because of my friend Jeff Giffen who I had met in Kalamazoo. He had gone
through the program a few months earlier and had moved to Kansas City. Jeff
had told me what a wonderful place it was to live in. I struggled my way
through the interview and I frankly thought I had blown it. I thought I
would be packing my bags for Michigan the next day. At 3 p.m. that day they
called us into the library and I was informed that I was being picked up by
the Kansas City Office! There is an old Chinese proverb that warns us to be
careful of what we wish for, we might just get it. I was truly scared about
the prospect of moving out on my own, seven hundred and fifty miles  away
from my family. When I called my family they were very supportive of my
decision to move out of state even though it would no doubt be hard on them.

Let's fast forward to Saturday, August 16, 2014. It was the third Saturday
of the month and my brother, his wife and my nephew were in Kansas City
visiting me. The Kansas City Chapter of the NFB of Missouri meets on the
third Saturday of every month at a local library. I had attended a meeting
in July just to check it out. In the month since then, I had decided to
join. I explained this to my family and they dropped me off at 1:30 p.m. and
went off on a guided Gangster Tour of the city. When they picked me up at 4
p.m., I had joined the NFB. Little did I know that less than a year from
then I would be asked to join the state affiliate board.

I am writing this on Sunday March 29, 2015. After much drama and fun at the
state convention elections today I was elected to fill a one year term on
the board. The membership of the NFB of Missouri in their wisdom decided to
reelect as board members two deserving and long-time Federationists. When a
vacancy opened up due to a board member being elected to the corresponding
secretary position, they decided to give me a year in which to prove that I
actually belong on the board. When I called my family and told them how
crazy all this seemed to me, they told me not to sell myself short and that
Ruby Polk and Gary Wunder knew what they were doing. 

I am eternally grateful to the Rittger's Committee for providing the funds
for me to attend an NFB state convention for the first time and I promise to
pay this forward. I am also very happy about how I have been welcomed with
open arms by this federation family. Even though I have only been a member
for seven and a half months, it feels like I have known some of you for a
lifetime. Being in the Federation has taught me to be more generous with
both my time and money, which are always in short supply these days. I also
understand the importance of Braille as a necessary tool in acquiring
employment and believe that the statistics concerning the employability of
blind people who are proficient in Braille are true. I am truly living the
life I want and yes I am filled with hope, energy and love because I
participate in the National Federation of the Blind. I will work hard to
earn your confidence so that on Sunday April 3, 2016 I can ask for your
support for a full term on the NFB of Missouri Board.

PLEDGE OF THE

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

I pledge to participate actively in the effort of the National Federation of
the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind: to
support the policies and programs of the Federation and to abide by its
Constitution.

Board of Directors

National Federation of the Blind of Missouri

Officers:

Gary Wunder, President                              Shelia Wright, First
Vice President 

Julie McGinnity, Second Vice President         Dacia Cole, Recording
Secretary

Erin Magoon, Corresponding Secretary          Carol Coulter, Treasurer

Board Members:

Eugene Coulter                                              Gene Fleeman

Gary Horchem                                             Dan Flasar

Chris Tisdal                                                         Melissa
Smith 

Daniel Garcia

Chapter Presidents

Debbie Wunder, Columbia                                      Helen Parker,
South Central

Rita Lynch, Jefferson City                             Erin Magoon,
Springfield

Ruby Polk, Kansas City                                Bryan Schulz, St.
Louis

Chris Tisdal, Lewis and Clark                       Dan Keller, Show-Me
State Chapter

Roger Crome, Mineral Area Chapter

Blind Missourian Editor Carol Coulter

Proof Readers Helen Stevens, Shelia Wright, and Gary Wunder

Read by Elisabeth Coulter

NFB of Missouri

1504 Furlong Dr.

Columbia, MO  65202

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