[Nfb-or] ocb

Thu Jun 25 05:18:31 UTC 2009

Don,

Hey!  The direcotr of the OCB, and the departmental directors, "don't
believe in the NFB or Any of Those People."  The way they say this when the
subject comes up leads one to believe that they deny the existence of any
such thing as the NFB.  They display a lot of anger in tone and voice.

The staff, including instructors and VR counselors, are not allowed to
provide clients with information about either organization, even if only to
point the client to study materials the Ocb cannot provide.  One very fine
individual staffer did, in a hushed voice, mention that the NFB had the
materials I was looking for but made sure I understood they were not allowed
to tell me that.

So when I've exhausted whatever round of attempt to get services through my
VR counselor and go over his/her head to his boss, I'm always sure to
mention the NFB and/or ACB in a casual manner just to watch her come unglued
and get all huffy.  That sort of petty entertainment is about all I'm likely
to come out of the meeting with, anyway.  /evil grin/

I would say, to sum up, they are not friendly to the NFB of Oregon or
anybody else of our ilk.

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-or-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-or-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of don nepple
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 9:09 PM
To: NFB of Oregon mailing list
Subject: Re: [Nfb-or] ocb
Importance: High

hi is the hed of ocb verry frendly too the nfbo i know here thanks frum
idaho.

> From: tamara.8024 at comcast.net
> To: nfb-or at nfbnet.org
> Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:57:23 -0700
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-or] ocb
> 
> Jay,
> 
> I am very glad to hear that they are serving you well and giving you
support
> in attaining your vocational goals. What has made me feel frantic about my
> own situation is seeing some of the deeply ingrained attitudes and
behaviors
> that I know have to be affecting others, and I have been unable to do much
> at all about anything until recently. I recently received a new VR
> counselor because my former counselor retired; hwoever, I am getting the
> same utter lack of professionalism and responsiveness from him as I was
> before. The problem, in my case, goes over his head, so I cannot expect to
> get the tools I need to get back t omy vocation any time soon.
> 
> I wish you the best in your efforts and future!
> 
> Tami Smith-Kinney
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-or-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-or-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf
> Of Johnston
> Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:06 PM
> To: NFB of Oregon mailing list
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-or] ocb
> 
> Hello Tami,
> It is disappointing to hear that you have experienced a decline in your 
> services at OCB. This experience is not universal. The Commission is 
> providing me with better support in attaining my vocational goals than
ever 
> before. The instructors are at least as friendly and proficient as those
in
> 
> the past, and my counselor has provided unflagging support- even during
and 
> after the closure scare.
> 
> You write that the agency is in need of broad housekeeping. This may be 
> true- I am not familiar with the Commission's inner workings- but from one

> client's perspective, the Commission always seems to be striving for 
> self-improvement and the achievement of its clients.
> 
> I wish you luck in your VR efforts. Perhaps requesting the assignment of a

> different counselor would make a difference.
> 
> Best,
> Jay Johnston
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> To: "'NFB of Oregon mailing list'" <nfb-or at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 11:12 AM
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-or] ocb
> 
> 
> > Joseph and all,
> >
> > They may have their budget approval, but they don't seem to be providing
> > services or behaving with any sort of responsibility. We may need the
> > agency, but it needs to be restructured from the top down, by which I
mean
> > the top couple of layers of directors and a good portion of the staff 
> > simply
> > need to go so that they can be replaced by people who get that the 
> > function
> > of the agency is to keep people working or get them back to work and who
> > grasp the philosophy of VR in general. You know, things like "informed
> > choice," "mitigating barriers to employment" and so forth. It's not
about
> > giving us poor, pathetic blind people confidence. It's about providing
us
> > with the tools we need to continue in our vocations so that we can pay 
> > taxes
> > to fund their services, ensuring that we can choose to earn our way in
the
> > world instead of being a drain on Social Security, that we can use our 
> > minds
> > and talents to benefit our employers and those around us. And that we
can
> > add to the economy by having money to spend to create the demand that
> > creates more jobs elsewhere.
> >
> > Not that I have an opinion. /smile/
> >
> > Tami Smith-Kinney
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nfb-or-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-or-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> > Behalf
> > Of T. Joseph Carter
> > Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 6:25 PM
> > To: NFB of Oregon mailing list
> > Subject: Re: [Nfb-or] ocb
> >
> > Don,
> >
> > There's not much to tell. They've gotten their budget approval. Who
> > knows what is going to happen as a result of the audit, if anything.
> > I'll see what I can find out this week.
> >
> > Joseph
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 01:34:19AM -0500, don nepple wrote:
> >>
> >>hello just is going on with ocb have not herd much about that please let

> >>me
> > know allso do you all paula achter and is ron knepper in valeved. sory
> > about the emails but i got that fixt.thanks for the help.have a good 
> > week.by
> > ffrum idaho.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Nfb-or at nfbnet.org
> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-or_nfbnet.org
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > 
> 
> 
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