[Tall-Corn] Announcement from the Iowa Department for the Blind - Emily Wharton to retire

Sun Jun 9 01:53:03 UTC 2024

Good Evening Federation Family:

Earlier this week, we received word that Emily Wharton, Director of the Iowa
Department for the Blind, would  be retiring due to medical reasons. Her
last day is July 18, 2024. Below is the text of the resignation letter sent
to the governor taken from the commission board packet on the IDB website.
We wish Director Wharton well in this next chapter. The National Federation
of the blind of Iowa will be watching the next steps in the search process
closely, and we will do what is necessary to protect the interests of the
blind of Iowa. This includes making sure that the blind of Iowa have
constructive input to share with the governor before a decision is made.
Emily, the members of the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa thank you
for your service as director over these last few years. It has been a
pleasure to work with you to advance the interests of blind people in Iowa,
and we wish you nothing but the best going forward! Now for the letter.

June 4, 2024

Dear Governor Reynolds,

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to notify you of my retirement
from the position of Director of the Iowa Department for the Blind. My last
day in this position will be July 18, 2024. As you know I have been battling
stage IV kidney cancer since January of 2023. I have greatly appreciated
your and your staff's willingness to let me take the time that I have needed
for treatments and healing. However, this is a battle I most likely will be
continuing to fight for the rest of my life.  Treatment side effects and the
chronic conditions they create have greatly reduced my stamina and tolerance
for stress. While my love of public service and passion for empowering blind
Iowans to be gainfully employed and live independently has not diminished, I
am afraid I can no longer continue to put forth the high level of energy and
effort our citizens deserve.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to the members of my leadership team
for the many extra tasks they have taken on and extra effort they have put
forth throughout my illness. I have complete confidence in Deputy Director
Sarah Willeford's ability to keep the agency moving forward until a new
Director can be hired.  She is an outstanding leader. I'm sure every
Director says this, but I am continually amazed by the innovation, work
ethic, and dedication of our agency staff.  Before I became ill, I had a
practice of commenting on and signing every evaluation in the agency. This
would regularly make me tear up with gratitude at how much heart and soul
people put into serving blind Iowans.  I will greatly miss being a part of
this extraordinary community.

It has been an outstanding opportunity and exciting challenge to occupy this
historic position. I had hoped to be able to serve during the 100-year
anniversary in April 2025. There is something deeply inspiring and humbling
about working in the office once belonging to Kenneth Jernigan. Because of
his legendary example, blind Iowans expect a great deal from the leadership
of the Iowa Department for the Blind and will not tolerate anything less
than excellence and equality. This can often make the position of Director
exceedingly challenging. I would respectfully urge you to select a new
Director in an open and public manner with the full engagement of blind
Iowans. I would also strongly encourage you to select a Director who holds
high expectations for those they serve and is dedicated to providing real,
meaningful vocational rehabilitation and true independent living services.
History has repeatedly shown that IDB Directors who do not meet these
qualifications (or are not perceived to have met these qualifications by the
public) experience a great deal of failure, frustration, and misery.  

When I was a client of the Iowa Department for the Blind and a student in
the Iowa Blindness Empowerment and Independence Center in the late 1990s, I
could not have imagined that serving as   the IDB Director would be the
culmination of a 26-year career in vocational rehabilitation. Having grown
up legally blind in a small town in Northwest Iowa without access to
blindness skill training or 

positive role models, I had believed that I was inherently less capable and
worthy than my sighted friends and family. I had no belief that I could be
employed or independent. I was so scared and hopeless that I attempted
suicide one month before graduating from Drake University. The skills,
positive attitude toward blindness, and self-confidence I gained in my
training in the IDB center made me understand that     the amount of
eyesight a person possesses has nothing to do with their worth, competency,
or potential. This   saved my life. In addition, the services I received
from IDB empowered me to    craft a highly meaningful career. I have so
loved watching my former students and clients going on to teach others and
achieve their dreams. I have been blessed by this rare opportunity to pay
forward such a profound gift. Because of this and my deep love for and pride
in the great state of Iowa, it has been a true honor and genuine privilege
to serve. 

Sincerely,

Emily Wharton
Director
Iowa Department for the Blind

Scott Van Gorp, President
National Federation of the Blind of Iowa
Phone: 515-720-5282
 <mailto:svangorp at nfbi.org> Email

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Live the life you want.

The National Federation of the Blind of Iowa is a community of members and
friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day
we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.

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