[nfbmi-talk] links to mcb basics

[joe harcz Comcast]

Overview: Michigan Commission for the Blind (MCB)--More than 30 years of "Changing Lives, Changing Attitudes"

MCB Video

The Michigan Commission for the Blind (MCB) was established on October 1, 1978 (by
P.A. 260).
For more than 30 years, MCB has been "Changing Lives, Changing Attitudes" by providing services to people in Michigan who are blind or visually impaired.

MCB Mission: The mission of the Michigan Commission for the Blind is to provide opportunity to individuals who are blind or visually impaired to achieve
employability and/or function independently in society.

MCB Vision: Someday it will be said that Michigan is a great place for blind people to live, learn, work, raise a family, and enjoy life because:
List of 4 items
1. An excellent array of rehabilitation and education services are fully accessible to blind people,
2. Blind people in Michigan believe in themselves and their capacity to achieve excellence,
3. The state's general population believes in the abilities of     blind people and understands what blindness is and what it is not, and
4. Michigan employers understand, believe in, and hire people who are blind.
list end

Overview: The Michigan Commission for the Blind is the state government agency that provides training, services, and other opportunities to individuals
who are blind or visually impaired, so that each person can achieve his or her own goals for independence and/or employment. Each year, the Michigan Commission
for the Blind serves nearly 4,000 individuals who are blind or visually impaired, providing services in all 83 counties of the state.  Services may be
provided in a person's home, at
Mini Adjustment Seminars
held at various locations around the state, and/or at the residential
MCB Training Center
in Kalamazoo.  Specific programs and services include:
Block quote start

Vocational Rehabilitation Program
Business Services (for employers)
Independent Living Program (age 55 and over)
DeafBlind Services
Youth Services
Business Enterprise Program (food service entrepreneurship)
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MCB
locations
include a central office in Lansing, eight field offices statewide, and the MCB Training Center in Kalamazoo.  MCB has a staff of nearly 100 available to
serve the state's estimated 50,000 persons who are blind.

For more than 50 years, the state of Michigan has been providing educational, training, and rehabilitation opportunities to individuals who are blind or
visually impaired to help them
achieve their goals.
MCB was created under
Public Act 260 of 1978,
as amended. Federal guidance is provided through the
Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)
of the United States Department of Education.  MCB programs are funded under various federal grants with matching state revenues.

Read a copy of the MCB brochure,
 Welcome to the Michigan Commission for the Blind .

For more information, call toll-free:  1-800-292-4200 (voice) or 1-888-864-1212 (TTY).

MCB Commission Board Members:
Ms. Jo Ann Pilarski, MCB Commission Chair
Ms. Velma P. Allen, MCB Commissioner
Ms. Geraldine G. Taeckens, MCB Commissioner
Ms. Margaret Wolfe, MCB Commissioner

MCB State Director:
Mr. Patrick D. Cannon, MCB State Director
Michigan Commission for the Blind Orientation