[Nfbf-l] Florida Outreach Center for the Blind moves to biggerFacility in Palm Springs

[Denise Valkema]

Carolyn,
I agree with Kathy. Congratulations!

Denise



-- Sent from Denise's Palm Pre
On May 16, 2011 11:06 AM, Kathy Davis <kdavisnfbf at cfl.rr.com> wrote: 

Congratulations Carolyn! You have worked so long and hard to make your

center a hub of training for older blind people. I am so happy for you that

you now have moved into a larger facility and subsequently can serve more

clients and perhaps more staff? 



Blessings,



Kathy Davis

 



-----Original Message-----

From: nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf

Of Carolyn Lapp

Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 11:14 AM

To: NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List

Subject: [Nfbf-l] Florida Outreach Center for the Blind moves to

biggerFacility in Palm Springs



Blind center moves to bigger space in Palm Springs

> Palm Beach Post

> By Willie Howard

>

> http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/blind-center-moves-to-bigger-space-i

> n-palm-1468310.html

>

> PALM SPRINGS - Florida Outreach Center for the Blind was started by 

> the blind, for the blind.

>

> Three of its four full-time staffers are blind. And more than half of 

> the nonprofit organization's board of directors is either blind or has 

> a family member who is blind.

>

> Carolyn Lapp, who lost her sight in a car accident in St. Lucie County 

> at age 14, started the Palm Beach County center in 2003 after 

> organizing seven chapters of the National Federation of the Blind 

> elsewhere.

>

> "Working with blind people, I saw the need for a training center that 

> was run primarily by blind people," said Lapp, 51. "Who better to 

> teach blind people than other blind people who have already been 

> through the training?"

>

> The nonprofit recently moved into a new building in Palm Springs, at 

> Congress Avenue and Dolan Road, which is twice as big as the old 

> quarters in West Palm Beach.

>

> About 100 clients a year take advantage of the center's free services 

> offered to those who are legally blind. They include living skills, 

> such as cooking and washing clothes, as well as job skills that 

> include using computers and reading machines, Braille reading, and 

> learning to use new technology, such as the Nokia cellphone that can 

> tell the difference between a $1 bill and a $20 bill.

>

> "We definitely work to make them independent," Lapp said. "If they 

> want to be employed, we work toward that goal ."

>

> Some of the training, especially for elderly blind people, takes place 

> in the client's homes.

>

> Beverly Gallus, the center's rehabilitation instructor, who is not 

> blind, teaches clients how to read and write in Braille, how to sew, 

> how to select the numbers on a phone and other life and work skills.

>

> Those who become proficient at Braille can read as fast as someone 

> with normal vision, Gallus said.

>

> Computer instructor Jason Goldfield teaches clients about programs 

> that read the text on a computer screen, such as the free NonVisual 

> Desktop Access program and the JAWS screen reading program, both for 

> Windows.

>

> Some clients need only ZoomText, a program that enlarges type on a 

> computer.

>

> Others might use a Solo reading machine, one of the many adaptive 

> machines for sale in the center's store. Set a book or a newspaper 

> under the machine and it starts reading in English or Spanish, in a 

> male or female voice.

>

> "They do a great job in the community to help people function in 

> life," Palm Beach County Commissioner Shelley Vana said. "The more 

> people who can function independently the better it is for them and 

> for society."

>

> Special activities of the center include an Easter egg hunt (with 

> beeping eggs) and the annual Dining in the Dark fund-raising banquet, 

> during which sighted supporters of the center get to experience what 

> it feels like to dine without seeing their food. This year's Dining in 

> the Dark banquet is set for Oct. 15 at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport 

> hotel.

>

> The center also lends out talking books and hosts weekly support group 

> meetings, craft classes and workshops on topics for the visually 

> impaired.

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

> ----------

>

> Florida Outreach Center for the Blind

>

> Blind people teaching other blind people to be self-sufficient.

>

> Address: 2315 S. Congress Ave., Palm Springs

>

> For more information: Call: (561) 642-0005, visit:

> www.flblindcenter.org or e-mail info at flblindcenter.org

>

> Cost: Free

> _______________________________________________

> fcb-l mailing list

> fcb-l at acb.org

> http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/fcb-l

>





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