[NFBMI-Talk] Richard Clay letter concerning Greater Detroit Agency for the Blind and Visually Impaired

[mpowell7583 at yahoo.com]

Hello to all on this list.

Richard has asked me to share with you the original letter that he sent to
the Board of Directors of the Greater Detroit Agency requesting an
explanation and clarification of what was being  proposed for the agency.
This letter did not receive an appropriate response which is why there was a
public demonstration at the agency this past week.

The letter outlines a brief history of our past relations with the agency
and is pasted below my signature.

Thank you.

Michael Powell, President

NFB of Michigan

(586)754-1325

Mpowell7583 at yahoo.com <mailto:Mpowell7583 at yahoo.com> 

Richard Clay

 

14841 Prevost

 

Detroit, MI 48227

 

July 14th, 2021

 

Frederick J. Simpson

Greater Detroit Agency for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Board Trustee

3019 W. Boston Blvd.

Detroit, MI  48206

 

Dear GDABVI Board Member/Trustee:

 

I am writing to you representing the Detroit Chapter of the National
Federation of the Blind (NFB), a coalition of concerned blind
leaders/steak-holders from the Greater Detroit Area, and concerned blind
consumers throughout Greater Detroit. We are deeply concerned about and
appalled at the disturbing direction that the GDABVI has recently taken. The
NFB has long disagreed with GDABVI’s rehabilitation service model of
training blind people to be capable yet still somewhat dependent upon
sighted people as opposed to our service model of training blind people to
be totally independent based upon mastery of their blindness skills. There
is a big difference between the two with the former more often resulting in
graduated clients who are not capable of living confident, fulfilling,
independent lives without considerable support from sighted people. We did
appreciate the agency’s last long-term Director Victor Arbulu’s efforts to
improve the delivery of services and applauded his vision of opening GDABVI
up to greater participation from and collaboration with the larger blind
community at a time when many nonprofits were struggling.

 

Since Victor’s sudden departure at the end of 2020, Sylvia Orduño became the
interim director. Within a matter of months, she too suddenly departed. No
formal announcements were made to the agency’s clients or the at-large blind
community that the agency serves. Since then, various stake-holders in the
Detroit blind community have made attempts to request a meeting with the
agency’s entire Board of Directors in order for us to express our concerns
and hear directly from the Board what is going on at GDABVI and what are the
plans for the agency’s immediate future. However, all such attempts have
been rebuffed. The Board has disrespected the blind public by refusing to
schedule any Zoom or public meetings with any blind consumer groups, or even
to release any official public statement’s regarding the direction of the
agency. As far as we the public know, there are currently only two staff
members left working at the agency part-time. Working via telephone, it is
impossible for them to provide adequate services to any significant amount
of clients throughout Greater Detroit? Therefore, as far as we are
concerned, GDABVI is and has been closed-down, providing little-to-no
service to our community since the beginning of the global pandemic in March
of 2020. 

 

COVID-19 restrictions and shut-down orders have all been lifted as the whole
system is reopening. Yet all we the blind public here are rumors that GDABVI
will not be reopening or increasing its provision of services anytime soon;
that the Board President Frederick Simpson has also become the agency’s new
interim director which automatically implies a conflict of interest; and
that GDABVI Board Members are routinely stepping down from the Board fearing
possible ramifications of mismanagement by the Board. One blind community
leader was recently told by Board Member Simpson that he is in fact the
interim director and will be keeping the building closed for some time while
he makes physical/cosmetic upgrades to it. On top of all of this, many
people, myself included, believe that there is an ongoing attempt to
close-down and liquidate GDABVI altogether. 

 

Well, We are done asking politely and waiting patiently for piece-mill
information updates on GDABVI. The rehabilitation services that many of your
blind consumers urgently need are in as high a demand now as they ever were.
To ensure that they get those rehabilitation services delivered in a
much-improved manner, we are beginning to take direct action. We truly hope
to be able to work with GDABVI’s Board to reopen a better agency than that
which ever existed before the pandemic. Yet we will boldly continue on our
mission along with our community partners with or without the cooperation of
GDABVI’s Board. 

 

Given all that has happened and all of the rumors that are swirling around
the agency, we would greatly appreciate it if you personally took the time
to respond back to us via my email or regular mail address as written in
this letter within 10 days of receiving this certified letter. Please give
us your answers to the following three questions. Are you still an official
GDABVI Board Member/Trustee? Will you participate in two community meetings
that we are requesting to be held either on Zoom or in-person; one with the
NFB and GDABVI’s Board, and another with blind community
leaders/stake-holders, the NFB, and GDABVI’s Board? Finally, can you tell us
who is the official legal head of the agency, whether or not that person is
being paid by the Board, and if that person is also a Board Member/Trustee
or not? 

 

We have sent a copy of this certified letter to every possible GDABVI Board
Member that we know of. We will carefully review all responses that we
receive up to ten days after each GDABVI Board Member has received their
letter. Then we will take appropriate actions on behalf of blind and
visually impaired consumers throughout Greater Detroit. Thank you very much
for your time and consideration.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Richard Clay

National Federation of the Blind Detroit Chapter

Education and Community Outreach Committee Chair

(313) 247-3301