[Ohio-Talk] Fwd: Congress Approves $20 Million for Randolph-Sheppard

[Andra Stover]

This is great.

On Tue, Dec 22, 2020 at 10:54 AM President Capital chapter via Ohio-Talk <
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Good morning,
>
> I just wanted to share the below email with all of you. For all of you who
> helped with this, I sincerely thank you for all of your efforts. It is
> definitely news like this that makes me so proud to be a part of the
> Federation.
>
> Annette
>
> Annette Lutz
> President
> Capital Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
> 614-288-4323
> President.capital.nfboh at gmail.com
>
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characteristic that defines you or your future. Everyday we raise the
> expectations of blind people because we know that low expectations create
> obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you
> want, blindness is not what holds you back.
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Terry Smith <terry at merchants-nfb.org>
> Date: December 22, 2020 at 10:21:41 AM EST
> To: Terry C Smith <tsmith at nfb.org>
> Subject: Congress Approves $20 Million for Randolph-Sheppard
>
> 
>
> CONGRESS APPROPRIATES $20 MILLION TO PROVIDE RELIEF TO BLIND ENTREPRENEURS
>
> AN OPEN LETTER TO THE RANDOLPH-SHEPPARD COMMUNITY
>
> Dear Randolph-Sheppard Stakeholder:
>
> ​We were both excited and relieved when we learned last night that
> Congress had included our $20 Million in the 2021 Appropriations Bill to
> provide much needed relief to our blind entrepreneurs.  It was indeed an
> early Christmas present to our hard-working men and women, many of whom
> have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Congress heard our message
> and responded with what many thought was impossible – a direct
> appropriation for Randolph-Sheppard.
> ​When the effects of the Coronavirus first became evident in March, the
> National Association of Blind Merchants, in concert with our parent
> organization the National Federation of the Blind, developed a
> multi-pronged strategy to help our blind entrepreneurs.  A direct
> appropriation was the centerpiece of that effort.  We knew it was an uphill
> climb and we ignored those who said it was impossible.  It just goes to
> show again the power of the collective voices of our blind entrepreneurs
> and the influence of the National Federation of the Blind.
> ​I cannot begin to thank or give credit to everyone who had a hand in this
> effort.  It was a team effort with NABM working closely with the NFB’s
> Advocacy and Policy Office to get our message to members of Congress.
> Credit also goes to the hundreds of blind entrepreneurs who used the
> website we created to send letters to members of congress.  A special note
> of appreciation to our blind entrepreneurs in Connecticut, New York, and
> California who leveraged relationships with members of Congress and/or
> staffers to help get us meetings and personally engaged in explaining to
> their members the situation in which we found ourselves.  I don’t want to
> start mentioning individual names but you know who you are.  Thank you from
> the bottom of my heart.
> ​At this point, many of you have questions.  Unfortunately, we do not have
> a lot of answers.  This is what we do know. RSA will allocate the funds.
> What that process will be, we don’t know.  Nor do we know how long it will
> take to make the money available.  We do know that each state will receive
> approximately $11,000 per blind vendor as reported on the RSA-15.  We also
> know that the intent is to provide financial relief to blind
> entrepreneurs.  It will be up to the SLAs and the Committees of Blind
> Vendors to determine what makes sense for their respective states.  We are
> urging the SLAs and Committees to work collaboratively toward that end.
> ​This appropriation is a major victory but NABM realizes it will not come
> close to offsetting losses experienced by our blind entrepreneurs.  But it
> is a start.  Our pledge is to continue to advocate on behalf of blind
> entrepreneurs and the Randolph-Sheppard Program and to do our part to
> enhance opportunities for the blind.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> Nicky Gacos
> President
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