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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#467886" vlink="#96607D" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Sometimes folks say a model letter is helpful. If this one is, please use it. I note that Mark Alford has a new legislative director, so for those of you in his district, this may help.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none'> Wunder, Gary <gwunder@nfb.org> <br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, August 28, 2025 12:02 PM<br><b>To:</b> Matt.Alvero@mail.house.gov<br><b>Subject:</b> Helping make and keep blind people independent<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Dear Mr. Alvero:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I write as a blind person who is concerned about critical appropriations for blind folks needing an education and rehabilitation. I got these services, am seventy years old, and have been and continue to be an employed person for forty-six years. America has been good to me, and I want the same for those who will follow me.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I want to urge Representative Alford to pay special attention to the Labor H Appropriations Bill. Specifically, I would like to urge a five percent increase over the Fiscal Year 2024 funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, special education programs, and vocational rehabilitation programs (including the client assistance program and protection and advocacy program). Most of my books come from the National Library Service, but our library in Jefferson City relies on funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. So too does my access to local library services at the Daniel Boone Regional Library from which I also borrow reading materials. Rehabilitation services gave me the chance for a college education and blindness specific equipment to help me get my first job.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I would also like to urge that the Independent Living Services for Older Individuals who are Blind program receives a significant funding increase up to $254.7 million. The most desperate calls I get are from newly blind seniors who desperately need training to stay in their homes; our country can teach these people how to walk and write again if we only use our funds to do it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I also ask that the American Printing House for the Blind receives an increase in funding up to $53.4 million. The services they provide to schools makes a lot of difference, and they have developed a truly revolutionary machine called the Monark which presents multiple lines of Braille, much like you see in print on your screen.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Finally, I would like to ask that the annual $9 million grant for Bookshare be maintained. This service offers more accessible books than any other service, and it does much to relieve the obligation of publishers to put their books in accessible formats. This is a godsend for students, whether they be fifteen or seventy.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I think the America in which I have lived has helped make my life very different from what it might\u2019ve been in other countries. I have a wife, children, grandchildren, a nice home, and although sometimes blindness is a nuisance, our country has helped see that it is not kept me from living the life I want. Thank you for passing along my concerns, requests, and my hopes for those who will find success in their lives as blind people.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Warmly,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Gary Wunder<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>