[NAGDU] [NFB-NAGDU] NAGDU's response concerning the recent discussions about Southeastern Guide Dogs

Tue Mar 9 01:59:43 UTC 2021

As guide dog users and members of NAGDU. Nothing gets done if we are divided, and adversarial towards each other. Sounds like what is happening with the Southeastern thread. Thank you for the know your rights discussion. I will try my hardest to be there. I am sure like myself many have faced discrimination due to our guide dogs. I am thankful that I had support from Colorado, and the Colorado disability when it happened to me. 

Warmly,
Melissa R. Green and Pj
Good isn’t what you are. It is what you do.

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Raul A. Gallegos - NAGDU via NAGDU
Sent: Monday, March 8, 2021 3:12 PM
To: NAGDU List <nagdu at nfbnet.org>; Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Raul A. Gallegos - NAGDU <rgallegos at nagdu.org>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] [NFB-NAGDU] NAGDU's response concerning the recent discussions about Southeastern Guide Dogs

Kevin, thank you for this. If you will pardon the pun, we cannot go into a situation blindly without as much information as possible. 
Unfortunately, this also has the effect that a response is not instant. 
Then there are the situations where people sometimes play phone tag, slip phone calls and email between day jobs, ETC. While this is certainly no excuse, it is reality.

I am certainly looking forward to this Thursday and hope we have some great attendance.

Respectfully,
*Raul A. Gallegos* / President
National Association of Guide Dog Users, /NAGDU/
832.554.7285 | RGallegos at nagdu.org <mailto:rgallegos at nagdu.org>
Subscribe to the NAGDU Public Events Calendar Here 
<https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/nagdu.org_7eopjofhnd4968m46rcmgrck0s%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics>
Schedule a 30-minute Zoom meeting with me here 
<https://app.greminders.com/c/rgatechsolutions/r30/>
Join us on Facebook <https://m.facebook.com/groups/nagdu> | Follow us on 
Twitter <https://twitter.com/nagdu>

"Blindness is a characteristic, not a handicap." -- Dr. Kenneth Jernigan

On 3/8/2021 4:04 PM, Kevan Worley wrote:
> Mr. President, you are all over it! I have really appreciated your 
> objective advocacy. I very much enjoy guide dog matters. I have 
> enjoyed Yapi our a couple of times. I very much appreciate your team 
> approach to managing our challenges and creating our new 
> possibilities. The work that you and your team did along with our 
> advocacy and policy folks with regard to the airlines has been great 
> and is still on going! Keep it up! Thank you for your willingness to 
> join us on mountain time at five this Thursday evening. Also thank you 
> for thoroughly investigating and completely getting to the bottom of 
> situation before taking a stand and urging the board and the 
> organization to take a stand. I certainly hope the story I have read 
> on this list about a guide dog simply being summarily removed from a 
> handler without any cause, due process etc. is thoroughly 
> investigated. If that’s how it went down? That is extremely sad, 
> disappointing, provocative and I am confident that you and the 
> organization will take an appropriate position to advocate for our 
> member. Many of us understand your deep, caring commitment and 
> extraordinary hard work for your local chapter, the Texas affiliate, 
> national Federation of the blind and the amazing leader ship and heavy 
> lifting you provide to the national Association of guide dog users. As 
> the Colorado Association of guide dog users president. I sure have 
> appreciated your ideas, wisdom and support. Of course, here in 
> Colorado we are so very lucky to have two national Association of 
> guide dog users board members in our leader ship. Forward! Always forward!
>
> At Your Service,
> Kevan Worley
>
>> On Mar 8, 2021, at 2:41 PM, Raul A. Gallegos - NAGDU via NFB-NAGDU 
>> <nfb-nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> 
>>
>> Dear Fellow Federation family,
>>
>> As you have no doubt seen by now, there is some discussion about an 
>> incident involving a woman in Florida who recently had her guide dog 
>> taken away by  a representative of Southeastern Guide Dogs. 
>> Additionally, there is some discussion on social media where it has 
>> been said that members of the NAGDU board of directors, specifically 
>> me, couldn’t care less about this situation. I would like to 
>> personally reassure everyone reading that I very much care and so 
>> does the NAGDU board of directors. Furthermore, we do not condone any 
>> illegal actions taken by anyone against a blind person. As is also 
>> common with Federation policy, we try to investigate all angles from 
>> all sides to gather as much information as possible before deciding 
>> on an appropriate course of action. We are also here to support the 
>> efforts of local affiliates and guide dog user divisions. In this 
>> instance, the Florida Association of Guide Dog Users.
>>
>> I would also like to remind everyone that if there is something that 
>> you need to discuss with the NAGDU board of directors, you can always 
>> reach out to us by emailing board at nagdu.org. Additionally, you can 
>> reach out to any individual board member by using their direct email 
>> address, comprised of their first initial, the last name, followed by 
>> @nagdu.org. While we may not be able to find an instant solution, we 
>> will listen to you and we will investigate if we do not have all the 
>> facts.
>>
>> -- 
>> Respectfully,
>> *Raul A. Gallegos* / President
>> National Association of Guide Dog Users, /NAGDU/
>> 832.554.7285 | RGallegos at nagdu.org <mailto:rgallegos at nagdu.org>
>> Subscribe to the NAGDU Public Events Calendar Here 
>> <https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/nagdu.org_7eopjofhnd4968m46rcmgrck0s%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics>
>> Schedule a 30-minute Zoom meeting with me here 
>> <https://app.greminders.com/c/rgatechsolutions/r30/>
>> Join us on Facebook <https://m.facebook.com/groups/nagdu> | Follow us 
>> on Twitter <https://twitter.com/nagdu>
>>
>> "Blindness is a characteristic, not a handicap." -- Dr. Kenneth Jernigan
>>
>>
>> <rgallegos.vcf>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> NFB-NAGDU mailing list
>> NFB-NAGDU at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> NFB-NAGDU:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-nagdu_nfbnet.org/kevan%40wefitwellness.com