The PCB Advocate
Published
by the
Council of the
Blind
Summer Edition 2007
The
PCB ADVOCATE is a quarterly news publication of the
Please
send change of address and other matters to the PCB office,
June
M Horst, Editor
John
A Horst, Ass't Editor
Send
articles to: ADVOCATE, PCB Office,
To
promote independence and opportunities for people with vision impairments.
VISION
To
continue to be recognized as the leading advocacy organization for people with
vision impairments in
EDITOR'S
NOTE: Articles in this publication
reflect the views of the individual writers.
They do not necessarily represent the views and policy of the
CONTRIBUTIONS:
Contributions are tax deductible, and are always much needed. They can be sent to Anthony Evancic, Treasurer,
at the PCB office address, at
If
you wish to remember a relative or friend by sharing in the Council's work, the
PCB office will acknowledge contributions made by loved ones in memory of deceased persons. Anyone wishing to remember the PA Council of
the Blind in his/her Last Will and Testament, may do so by including a
paragraph for this purpose. If your
wishes are complex, you may contact the PCB office.
SUBMITTING
ARTICLES: If you wish to submit articles
for consideration in the ADVOCATE, please do so. Deadlines for submission are:
March 1 June 1
September 1 December 1
You
may send them in any format, either to the PCB office, or email them to:
jjkhor95@epix.net. Your input is always
welcome.
From
the Editors: This Summer issue of the
ADVOCATE updates the activities, functions, and critical concerns of the
The
submission date for articles for the Fall edition of the ADVOCATE is September
1, 2007.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
President's
Report 7
From
the Director's Desk
8
Committee
Reports:
Awards
10
Employment 12
Fundraising 15
Your Trash, PCB's Treasure 19
Membership 20
Transportation 23
Transportation Resolution 26
Chapter
News:
Beaver County 27
Capitol Cities 28
Regional
Meetings Reports:
Central
30
Northeast
33
Southeast
39
Southwest
43
Northwest
47
State
News:
Braille Awareness Day At the Capitol 47
Get Ready to Read, and More 54
PCB's First Annual Sidewalk
PCBer's at National Convention 62
Proposed State Legislation 63
Newsline Report
64
National
News:
Personnel Notes from ACB Office 64
ACB National Convention - 2007 66
The Talking Book Program 69
Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide
For People with Disabilities 71
UN Treaty Up-Date 71
New Bosewave Music System 72
Seven Steps to Stagnation 73
Board
of Directors 74
Chapter
Presidents
74
Membership
Application
75
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
By George Holliday
Members
of the
or
by calling the state office at 717-920-9999 or toll free at 877-617-7407, and
give them your name to be added to the petition.
Also,
you can contact a member in your chapter and ask him or her to add your name to
the petition. We can accomplish more
with numbers.
Did
everyone vote in the past year? If you
did, we would like to have comments on your experience. If you did not, voting machines are now
accessible, in case you haven't heard.
You can now vote with assurance of casting your ballot without
assistance!
In conclusion, several strides are being accomplished
in making our lives less stressful through accessibility. Let's work together in achieving these goals.
FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
By John A Horst
As
we move into summer, activity at the PCB office has not slowed down. Rhonda Hanafi, our very able office
assistant, keeps coming up with new ideas to reduce operating costs, and to
make the office operation more efficient.
We
have recently changed our telephone service to a lower cost operation, which
was no small task. As most of you know,
this necessitated a change in the toll free number for PCB. That new number is: 877-617-7407. The local number (717-920-9999) and the Fax
number (717-920-9988) has not changed.
The
five regional meetings that took place around the state are now completed,
thanks to the chapters who planned and hosted them. See reports of these meetings in this
ADVOCATE. The PCB committees are continuing
to function, and are developing new projects, such as considering a college
intern to assist with advocacy work, chapters assembling resource information
for daily use, and a power point presentation on PCB.
Advocacy
issues that require our attention and action at present are: dedicated funding for mass transportation,
expanding the shared ride program to cover the whole state, continued voting
issues, and most recently and very importantly, adequate funding for the
National Library Service to move to a digital operation for blind people.
On
August 11, we are planning a fund raiser for PCB. Those of you who attended one of the regional
meetings, heard about the sidewalk sale to take place on that date. See article in this issue of the ADVOCATE
about this sale and how you can participate.
PCB
is making a difference in the blind community and in the lives of vision
impaired people. There is much to be
done and we need to keep at it. For
those of you who are on committees, we want to encourage you to attend every
meeting. For all chapter members, attend
your chapter meetings faithfully and be an enthusiastic supporter of what your
chapter is doing.
Plan
now to attend the state convention on November 2-4. You need to know about the changes to take
place in the talking book program. As
Mae Davidow used to say, "We are all going to work hard and accomplish
much."
We
hope every one has a great summer. See
you at the convention in November.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS:
AWARDS
COMMITTEE
George Holliday, Chair
Once
again it is time for the membership of the
Accompanying
the nomination should be a letter listing why the individual should be
considered, and a brief bio on the nominee.
At that time, the Awards committee will discuss the list of nominations,
based on the criteria for that particular award. Once the committee makes its decision, the
state office will be notified and the plaques will be ordered. The awards will be presented during the state
convention and conference in
The
following is the criteria for the PCB Distinguished Service Award:
1.
The recipient must
be blind or visually impaired.
2.
The recipient must
be a resident of
3.
The committee may
not make prejudicial selections of
award recipients based on age, nationality, race, religion, creed, or sex of an
individual.
4.
The recipient
must have demonstrated a
satisfactory
adjustment to his/her disability.
5. The recipient must be acknowledged by the
"blind community" for having performed outstanding service(s) for the
blind.
6.
The recipient
must, through example and effort, have represented to the community at large,
the capabilities and respectability of blind and visually impaired persons.
The
following is the criteria for the PCB Honorary Award:
1.
This award may be
given to an individual, with or without sight, who has performed
meritorious service to the blind or for
the blind community.
2.
This award may be
made either in memory of a person, or to a person now living.
This
gives you plenty of time to start discussing the awards. The committee appreciates your participation
in this process. If there are any
additional questions or comments, contact George Holliday.
Please
send nominations to one of the following:
George S Holliday
Email: george.holliday1@verizon.net
Telephone: 215-748-3556
PA Council of the Blind
Email: pcb1@paonline.com
EMPLOYMENT
COMMITTEE
Carla
Hayes, Chair
18
Steps to Prepare for a Job
At a
recent PCB Employment seminar, Dr. Karen Wolffe, who is employed at the
American Foundation for the Blind as Director of Professional Development and
CareerConnect, suggested the following 18 steps that a job seeker who is blind
or visually impaired should take when preparing for a job. These suggestions sound like good advice to
me.
1.
Define on paper
the career you want and typical jobs of this type.
2.
Establish a
written plan to acquire this job. Learn
in advance the skills you will need.
3.
Set a time line in
your written plan. Establish short-term
and long-term goals. Then decide on a
date by which each goal will be completed.
4.
Tell other people
who care about you what you are doing.
These people can hold you accountable for accomplishing your goals and
be your conscience.
5.
Once you have
written out a plan, do it. (What good is
a written plan unless it is executed?)
6.
Network with those
who can help you.
7.
Research the job
market for the type of work you have chosen.
This will help you set more realistic goals.
8.
Ask employers for
whom you want to work for job descriptions so that you can work your
application with works they want to hear.
9.
Line up in advance
drivers, readers, and any other helpers you will need.
10. Apply, interview, apply, interview, apply, interview,
until you get a job. Don't get
discouraged.
11. Cheat: Make
copies of applications so you don't have to reword your responses to the same
questions every time. Use your responses
to application questions to create personal data sheets which can help you with
future applications.
12. Treat every interview as if it were the best thing to
ever happen to you. Use good skills,
treat the interviewer with respect, etc.
13. Be pro-active.
Don't ask others to do things for you that you can do yourself; only use
others for things you cannot do independently.
Remember, employers hire competent people, not needy ones.
14. Treat everyone you meet as a potential member of your
network and treat him or her accordingly.
Make conversation, discover things about the other person's common
interests, and be polite. Remember:
every person you meet could be a job lead.
15. Initiate social and vocational interactions often and
let people know what specific work you are seeking.
16. Look at your job search as a full-time job. Spend no less than 40 hours a week looking
for work. Dr. Wolffe conducted a survey
of 350 visually impaired job seekers in Canada, and found that most of these
people were only looking for work an average of 1 hour a week. ( Could this be one of the reasons that so
many people who are blind or visually impaired are either unemployed or
underemployed?)
17. Do your homework.
You need to know in advance what a company does and will want from
you. For example, don't go into Long
John Silver's for an interview and talk about Happy Meals.
18. Use all available resources. One of the most valuable employment-related
resources of the American Foundation of the Blind's CareerConnect. Their web site is www.afbcareerconnect.org
It
is accessible, free and easy to navigate.
It has been redesigned to be audience focused for job seekers,
employers, rehabilitation specialists, etc.
The site features resume builders and personal date sheets which can
both be edited. The web site can also be
used to locate mentors, successfully employed blind and visually impaired
people willing to answer questions about their work. Visually impaired job seekers can correspond
with these mentors via confidential email.
The
toll free number for CareerConnect is 1-888-824-2184.
Wouldn't
you agree that Dr. Karen Wolffe's suggestions for job seekers are practical and
down-to-earth? I will be sharing more of
her advice from the Employment Seminar in future columns.
FUNDRAISING
COMMITTEE
George
Holliday, Chair
Monthly
Monetary Fund:
Let's
all thank the PCB Board of Directors and those members who contributed to the
Monthly Monetary Fund during 2006. Last
year was successful, but let's all work together in making this a banner year.
The
The
Monthly Monetary Donation is a way for each of us to support our organization financially
with whatever amount we can afford on a monthly basis. We can contribute a minimum of $1 a month, or
give a flat yearly donation. It makes no
difference if you enroll for $1 per month, $25 per month, or more. Everyone's contribution is valued
equally! Some members can afford more or
less than others, and we certainly realize and respect that. All we are asking is
that you help
fund your organization.
For
further information and/or a form, contact the PCB office at: 717-920-9999 or
toll free at: 877-617-7407.
2007
Event of fun for everyone!
The
Fundraising Committee of the
You
will be able to purchase an envelope of fifteen tickets, numbered the same, at
a donation of $5.00. When purchasing the
tickets, your name will be noted next to the designated number on a master
copy. When you find an item of interest,
you will place one or more tickets in the basket designated for that item. You can purchase as many envelopes as you
would like.
Now,
this is where we need your assistance in making this auction another
success. We are asking members, friends,
chapters, businesses, vendors and organizations to donate items for the
auction. For example, here are some
items we are looking for: gift
certificates that can be used throughout the state, discriptive videos, music
CD's, baskets of cheer, assistive technology, including hardware and software,
radios, and more. If you think you have
something someone would like, or if you are not sure and have additional
questions, please contact one of the following:
Janet Facemyer
610-647-3365
email: efacem@comcast.net
Bonnie Newland
412-487-4995
email: bnewland1@verizon.net
I
would personally like to thank you in advance on behalf of the Fundraising
Committee, with your assistance, in making this project a huge success.
George S Holliday, Chairperson
Fundraising Committee
215-748-3556
email:
george.holliday1@verizon.net
YOUR
TRASH: PCB'S TREASURE
By
Susan Lichtenfels
The
birds are chirping, the flowers are peaking through the softening soil, and the
sweet smell of nature is in the air.
Like nature's many wondrous creatures, we too like to use this time of
year to renew and reorganize our lives.
Yes, it's time to don the hard hat and begin de-cluttering those bulging
closets. Put off the manicure one more
week and get to sorting through those overflowing drawers and overcrowded
shelves. Of course, the biggest
challenge will be figuring out what to do with everything you have thrown onto
the "give-away" pile. Surely,
PCB can help you with this problem.
Do
you have music CDs that you haven't listened to in five years? Have you mastered the accessible computer
game you purchased two years ago? Is
there a movie video you've already watched a dozen times? Are you done with those audio books you
received at the holidays? If you
answered "yes" to any of these questions, perhaps you will consider
donating these unwanted items to PCB for its Used Media
So,
grab one of those boxes you just emptied and toss in all of those unwanted
media items. If you can, label each item
in Braille so others will have an easier time reviewing the selection. Please be sure the media is both complete and
in working order. Send the package
"Free Matter for the Blind" to the PCB office at
The
media sale will take place at the 2007 statewide convention in
Thank you
for helping to
make this year's Used Media
MEMBERSHIP
COMMITTEE
Sandy
Marsiglia, Chair
PCB
Lifetime Memberships: There are many
ways we can show our support and loyalty for any organization. We can give our time by serving on
committees. We can offer leadership
talents by chairing committees or serving on boards. We can give financial support by helping with
fundraisers, or by making donations.
PCB
has initiated a Lifetime Membership status as one way a member can make a
significant contribution and help to pave the way for a stable future for our
organization.
We
want to recognize three PCB members who have become the first to be PCB
Lifetime members. John Horst was the first Lifetime member, a gift from his
wife, June. Anne Porter and George
Holliday have also stepped forward to make this important statement of their loyalty
to PCB.
The
cost of a Lifetime Membership is $1,000.
You may pay this in installments of $200 per year over a period of five
years. Some PCB members have chosen to
do this and are working on that goal.
$200
a year represents less than $17 per month.
Can you spare that amount per month?
PCB would be happy to receive your installments in monthly payments.
Any
individual or chapter may provide a Life Membership in memory or, or in honor
of a PCB member. Can you think of
someone for whom you would like to make this gesture?
If
you feel that a Lifetime Membership is beyond your grasp, won't you consider a
smaller Monthly Monetary donation? Any
amount that you could contribute would be most gratefully received. Thank you.
RENEWING
YOUR MEMBERSHIP:
If
you have not yet paid your 2007 dues of $8.00 ($5.00 for ACB and $3.00 for
PCB), please do so immediately! It will
soon be time to collect dues for 2008.
Whether
you are a member-at-large or a member of a chapter, it is important that you
renew your membership each year in a timely way. All chapters should begin collecting dues for
2008 in September 2007. Dues for 2008
are expected in the PCB office no later than January 15, 2008. Members-at-large also are asked to send their
dues to the PCB office no later than January 15. This schedule is important because PCB needs
to prepare its membership list and send the appropriate dues to ACB by
March. Your cooperation is greatly
appreciated.
Chapters
can assist the office in getting renewals by having in place a system to remind
members of their dues. You might send
letters or post cards, or you might make a friendly phone call. These reminders could be made in November or
December, so that dues will come in on time.
Annual
dues for membership in PCB are $10.00 beginning in 2008, which includes
membership in ACB. Members-at-large
should send a check for $10.00 to the PCB office at:
Again,
due dates for annual dues are important in order for PCB and ACB to accurately
report membership statistics in a timely way.
In addition, having the dues come in when expected helps the offices to
run more smoothly, as we meet budgeted expenses. Please give us your faithful support in
providing us your annual dues in accordance with the schedule provided. Thank you from the PCB Membership Committee.
TRANSPORTATION
COMMITTEE
Joe
Perry, Chair
It's hard
to believe that Memorial Day is
behind us
and
summer is already upon us.
I'm
sorry to say that the problem of dedicated funding for mass transit is still
directly in front of us. There is one
bill in the senate (SB631), which addresses mass transit and shared ride for
senior citizens of non-urban areas only--nothing for persons with
disabilities. I receive legislative
updates almost on a daily basis through the State Independent Living Council,
(SILC), and from what I can gather, there is nothing more being proposed by the
legislature for dedicated funding for mass transit overall. A resolution developed by the PCB
Transportation committee, with help of the Governmental Affairs committee has
been sent to pertinent legislators. You
will find a copy of this resolution following this article. A list of pertinent committee members of the
legislature with their telephone numbers and addresses is being prepared by the
PCB office to be sent out to chapter presidents and various committee members,
so that a campaign can be mounted for dedicated funding for mass transit and
shared ride for persons with disabilities.
There is not much time for the state budget to be enacted by the
legislature, so it is very important that we all get behind this action and
contact as many legislators as possible.
Please make it very personal if you can.
There
are two pieces of legislation HB70 and SB790, having to do with shared ride for
the disabled specifically. Both bills
provide for an appropriation toward funding the program statewide. There are 16 counties which are currently not
covered by the program.
On
the local level, efforts continue to try to improve existing audible pedestrian
signals or have new ones installed in Allegheny county, York county, Dauphin
county, Monroe county, and Philadelphia.
If you or your chapter are working toward this goal and I have not
included your efforts, please let me know.
Finally,
there appears to be some concern among legislators that the use of placards and
license plates for the disabled is being abused. There is a bill in the Transportation
committee (HB498), the aim of which is to remedy this matter. However, in the process, there is wording in
the legislation which would eliminate blind persons and those with no arms from
this benefit. If you have strong
feelings against this provision, please contact your representative. In the meantime, we will try to keep you
posted about this and other pertinent legislation.
If
you have any questions about the information in this report, you may contact me
at:
TRANSPORTATION
RESOLUTION:
WHEREAS,
transportation is a salient factor in an individual's expression of
independence;
WHEREAS,
without it such things as health care, good housing, employment, shopping
tours, and social and recreational activities become inaccessible, thus
resulting in the loss of independence;
WHEREAS,
the visually impaired and other persons with disabilities which result in their
ability to drive themselves, must rely on a form of public transportation; and
WHEREAS,
the existence of reliable and safe public transportation throughout the
BE
IT RESOLVED that we, the members of the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind, in
consort with other organizations of the disabled, herein set forth our
intentions to make known to those legislators on the Transportation and
Appropriations Committees, as well as our local legislators, the immediate need
for adequate dedicated funding for mass transit, as well as funding for PWD
shared ride funding;
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we make known what a hardship it will be for all of us
if public transportation should be drastically curtailed or discontinued
completely.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we recommend that the Governor's proposal of levying a
tax on gross oil profits and privatizing the turnpike be timely acted upon and
adopted, or mandate that the legislature introduce and adopt an alternative
plan before the end of the fiscal year.
CHAPTER NEWS
Capitol
Cities Chapter: On Saturday, April 21,
2007, Harry S Long, husband of Cathy Long (PCB Board Secretary), passed away
after a long fight with illness. A
celebration of his life was held at 11 am on April 26 at
In
lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Kidney Foundation of
Central PA, Olde Liberty Square, Suite 101, Harrisburg, PA 17109 or to PA Council
of the Blind, 931 N Front St., Harrisburg, PA, 17102.
Ellie
Paules, a long-time member of PCB and a former member of Capitol Cities
chapter, has moved to Connecticut to be near her son, Hal, and his family.
Capital
Cities chapter has been busy in the past year.
We have held several fund raisers that may give some ideas to other
chapters.
Our
first fund raiser was a candy sale of Wolfgang candies. We did pretty well with that.
The
next one was a bake sale. The first sale
was quite successful; the second was even a bigger success. We had a large number of members who baked
delicious goods. We held it at
Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has two grants for
which you can apply: 1. A community
grant--a onetime grant at a sum they determine; 2. Matching funds--a grant that matches the
amount of your fund raising event (for us it was a bake sale held on their
premises). It is possible to apply for
one or both grants. It has proven very successful
for us.
The
3rd fund raiser was a coffee sale that will be all year round. It is a restaurant-quality dark roaster
coffee.
The
4th and final fund raiser
we will hold is a sub sale, with
delivery date being on a meeting night.
We are trying to raise enough money to assist as many members as we can
to attend State and Regional conventions. -- Georganna Caddy, Fund Raising
Chairman
We
just celebrated our first anniversary (cheers) and met at Luigi's Restaurant
for lunch, as this was the location of our first meeting. We recently participated in a health fair,
held by one of the local businesses and will also be participating in the
DuBois Community Days. We have ordered
bracelets to sell, which have "C/J Co. PCB" and also have Braille
engraved on them.
We have also continued to work with other groups to obtain auditory street crossing signals for both DuBois and