[nfbwatlk] welcome Jennifer

[Elizabeth Rene]

Hi Jennifer,
I don't have any children of my own, but I have always been very interested in their well-being. I would like very much to help establish an  NOPBC affiliate here in Washington.

I am a blind lawyer living in Seattle, who has recently returned to practice after a long hiatus spent pursuing ordination to Christian ministry. While doing that, I served as a chaplain resident in a children's Cancer Hospital and helped care for children in other hospitals, especially those who spoke Spanish. I had to learn Spanish to work effectively at Loma Linda.

I am a former chair woman of the Board of Trustees of the state school for the blind, and the daughter of parents who emigrated from Canada to keep me out of boarding schools for the blind. Since much time has elapsed since my term of service, I can frankly say that I oppose these schools on principle,  though they're better than no customized education at all. To me, there is simply no such thing as "separate but equal." In the 1980s, I was very active in a movement to find homes for hard to place children needing adoption, and a tried unsuccessfully, as a single woman, to adopt a blind girl from Columbia.
I am currently a recently certified guardian ad litem who has filed for registry with the king County Superior Court, and am receiving consultants'  training with the parent evaluation and treatment program (P ETP) sponsored by the University of Washington school of Law, that evaluates parents and children and makes recommendations to the court in high conflict divorce and custody cases. I also proofread for the talking book and Braille  library. 
I am very eager to get going with  NOPBC. Please, Jennifer, and anyone else who wants to start an affiliate, feel free to contact me personally at my email address, rene0373 at gmail.com.
And welcome to you and Luke!

Elizabeth 

Elizabeth M René 
Attorney at Law 
WSBA #10710
rene0373 at gmail.com