The Beacon Fall 2003
A Publication of the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI)-Goodwill Industries of Greater Rochester, Inc.
(585)
232-1111
###
Jeffrey’s Journey
ABVI-Goodwill’s Skinner Career and Training
Center continues to live up to its namesake and mission by providing job
readiness training and career opportunities to people who are blind or visually
impaired. The most recent success story is that of Jeffrey Hodson.
On August 25th, 2000, Jeffrey was in a car
accident that left him in a coma for two and a half months. The impact of the
accident was so strong that his retinas were shattered, causing him to lose his
sight. Three months after leaving the hospital, Jeffrey went to the eye doctor
to find out if his lost sight could be restored. His doctor told him that he
was “totally and irreversibly blind.”
Being an active teenager who enjoyed playing
basketball, football and hanging out with his friends, this news was a shock
for Jeffrey and his parents. However, his positive attitude and love for life,
along with his parents’ encouragement, brought Jeffrey to ABVI-Goodwill to take
advantage of the services we have to offer.
He went through orientation and mobility
training, learning how to travel safely and use public transportation. He also
learned the valuable computer skills that he needed to become an intern in our
call center, where he spent the summer of 2003 as a Customer Service
Representative.
With his improved computer and typing skills,
his zest for accomplishment and the support of his parents and ABVI-Goodwill,
Jeffrey will succeed at any job. He has the people skills, positive attitude
and training needed to do whatever he sets his mind to.
Similar to Mr. Shirley Skinner, Jeffrey isn’t
going to let his visual impairment stop him from achieving his goals. He
survived a potentially fatal car accident and is grateful for a new lease on
life. “I’m blind, so what? I have the rest of my life to live,” Jeffrey said.
Best of luck to Jeffrey Hodson in his career
and life goals. It’s the success and positive attitude of people like Jeffrey
that help ABVI-Goodwill raise the bar on our programs and services. Also,
through the generosity of donors, we can continue to serve people who are blind
or visually impaired and enable them “to achieve their highest level of
independence in all aspects of their lives.
See page 4 for a special message from
Jeffrey.
Photo caption: Jeffrey Hodson,
ABVI-Goodwill’s Customer Service Representative Intern.
###
ABVI-Goodwill Scores A Hole In One
Silence on the green. Flag blowing in the
wind marking the 18th hole. Fundraising for ABVI-Goodwill. What do all these
things have in common? They were all made possible by Cypress Financial
Consultants’ first annual golf tournament. Held on September 15, 2003, at
Midvale Country Club, 72 golfers and sponsors helped Cypress Financial raise
$5,683 for ABVI-Goodwill. This generous contribution will help us continue to
expand programs and services for people who are blind or visually impaired.
The tournament was such a success that
Cypress Financial Consultants has reserved Monday, August 16, 2004, to hold
their second annual tournament, with proceeds once again benefiting
ABVI-Goodwill. So, if you’d like to hit a birdie and help support
ABVI-Goodwill, mark your calendars today!
In addition to holding great golf tournament
fundraisers, Cypress Financial can help you or your business with retirement,
business or estate planning; 401(K) and other company-sponsored plans; fixed
and variable annuities; mutual funds and all your other financial needs. For
more information, call (585) 475-8401.
Photo caption: ABVI-Goodwill’s President/CEO
A. Gidget Hopf receives golf tournament check from Fred Cyprys, CPF, Managing
Director, Cypress Financial Consultants.
Photo caption: From left to right: Tom
Thaney, Gidget Hopf, Eric Voss, Marc Fischer. Not pictured: Jim Briggs.
Congratulations to our winning foursome!
###
From The President
With the holiday season upon us, I thought I
would use this column to share with you all of the things for which I am so
grateful.
First and foremost, I am grateful for the
opportunity to serve this great community. As President and CEO of the
Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired-Goodwill Industries, I get to
see firsthand how our efforts make a difference in the lives of people who have
lost their sight. Being able to use my talents and abilities in a way that
affects people’s lives is an opportunity and a gift for which I am deeply
appreciative.
I am grateful for the wonderful employees
that comprise the team here at ABVI-Goodwill. Every one of our team members
chooses to be here because they care passionately about our mission and want to
impact the lives of others. They are a talented and spirited group who make
coming to work everyday a real joy.
I am also grateful for the incredibly
dedicated members of our board of directors who selflessly give their time and
talent to lead this organization in a progressive and responsible manner. They
are mission-driven and community-focused. We would not be as effective as we
are without them.
I have deep appreciation for our one hundred
plus volunteers who work tirelessly on a myriad of tasks that help fill the
jobs that we cannot afford to hire others to do. This includes assisting our
consumers with shopping, driving to doctors appointments, reading mail and so
much more. In addition, volunteers carry out vital administrative functions
like operating our Braille library and multi-media center as well as our
Consumer Shoppe. They also can be found in our Goodwill stores!
I am deeply grateful for the eye doctors in
our community who understand how ABVI-Goodwill’s Low Vision Center can help
their patients who are blind and visually impaired. We depend on their
referrals to ensure that people who can no longer be helped medically have
access to vision rehabilitation to maximize their residual sight.
I am especially grateful for the
entrepreneurial spirit that exists within our organization. It is this spirit
that enables us to research and develop new opportunities that fulfill the dual
purpose of supporting our mission while generating revenue to ensure that our
services will be available for years to come. Recent projects include the
securing of a major contract with the federal government to produce CD-ROMs and
our new call center contract with the Environmental Protection Agency to serve
as its National Lead Information Center. Both of these entrepreneurial initiatives
are providing challenging jobs for people who are visually impaired while
generating financial support for our vision rehabilitation services.
Finally, I am grateful for our generous
donors who continue to believe in us and the work we do. In spite of our
entrepreneurial spirit, the costs to run an agency like ABVI-Goodwill continue
to rise. Government support for rehabilitation programs pays only a fraction of
the real cost. Medicare still does not pay for our low vision services. In
addition, facility needs continue to increase as our building and equipment
ages. It is our donors to whom we turn to fulfill the financial needs that
cannot be met by other sources. They truly are the lifeblood of the
organization. Our future depends on our ability to sustain their trust by
continuing to do the best job we can for people who are blind or visually
impaired in our community.
Best wishes to all for a wonderful holiday
season and a healthy, happy new year!
A. Gidget Hopf
###
From The Medical Director
There’s a saying that to everything there’s a
time and a place. For patients who are visually impaired, determining the right
time for surgery or other complicated treatments can be very challenging. This
is particularly so where there are extenuating circumstances at home or the
patient’s doctor doesn’t think the time is right for surgery.
One complicating factor we often deal with in
our Low Vision Center has to do with patients experiencing vision loss—often in
the form of cataracts, macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa—where the
patient has already lost all or most of his or her sight in one eye and now
vision in the remaining eye is deteriorating. This frightening and
anxiety-producing experience is compounded when the patient is also a caregiver—an
all-too-common scenario.
Many visually impaired caregivers are torn
between addressing their immediate need for surgery and the timing—whether that
timing is driven by the doctor or family needs. At ABVI-Goodwill, we understand
the difficulties associated with vision loss. Our job is to offer treatment
options that can “buy time” or make the patient’s visual impairment more
manageable—even when it seems that all the patient can do is wait.
Often, I advise patients to consider
carefully their quality of life issues. That is, what is it that they really
want to be able to do with greater ease in their everyday lives? Our role is
not to diagnose, but rather to provide resources as simple as carefully
prescribed magnification devices to more complex in-home rehabilitation
services designed to maximize independence and bolster self-confidence.
The starting point is a referral from the
patient’s eye care professional and a low vision examination at ABVI-Goodwill.
More often than not, vision rehabilitation services are the ideal option for
patients with timing issues. It’s important to remember that there are
options—solid, time-tested options that can improve quality of life and
maximize remaining vision. For everything there’s a time and a place and when the
time is right, we’re only a phone call away.
Gwen K. Sterns, MD
###
Preferred Format
Do you prefer to receive reading material
from ABVI-Goodwill in large print, e-mail, tape, or Braille? If you are not
receiving information from us in your preferred format, please call Sindy
Cantor at (585) 697-5713.
###
In Her Own Words
Instructional Material Accessibility Act
(IMAA)
By Rene Latorre
I wanted to take this opportunity to offer
everyone a status report about the Instructional Material Accessibility Act
(IMAA), H.R. 490. The purpose of this important legislative decision is to
improve the timeliness of access to printed instructional materials for
elementary and secondary school students who are blind or students who have
print disabilities. These materials will be available in Braille, synthesized
speech, digital text, digital audio, or large print. Once the final standards
of the IMAA have been approved, publishers will have two years from the final
published rule to comply.
This legislation will require state plans to
ensure that students have access to instructional materials in formats they can
use at the same time that materials are provided to students who use standard
print. Also, this legislation will endorse a single, uniform electronic file
format for instructional materials and require publishers to produce a copy of
each textbook in this electronic file format. The file must then go to a
National Instructional Materials Access Center for distribution to schools.
Finally, the Act will fund capacity-building initiatives to assist state and
local educators in using electronic files supplied by publishers.
The principal benefit of this legislation
will be a low-cost and convenient means to convert printed textbooks into
Braille or other alternate formats. This legislation will not relieve the
schools of their responsibility to provide materials but rather, it will
institute a network between the schools that teach the children and the
publishers that create the books. This network will greatly lessen the time
lapse for alternate format materials.
Provisions of IMAA (H.R. 490) were included
in the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act,
(IDEA). The House of Representatives’ provisions to IMAA (H.R. 1350),
“Improving Education
Results for Children With Disabilities Act of
2003,” was passed by the
House of Representatives on April 30, 2003.
The Senate’s provisions to
IMAA (S. 1248) was approved for Senate floor
action by the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)
on June 25, 2003.
This is a major victory as these bills
contain many significant changes for students who are blind or visually
impaired. To follow the progress of IMAA and IDEA, go to www.afb.org.
###
Reachout Radios
Reachout Radio receivers are on loan to
qualified individuals as long as they are needed. If you, or someone you know,
have a Reachout Radio that is no longer being used, please call (585) 258-0333
to arrange for its return.
###
Consumer News You Can Use
Transportation Survey
The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is
conducting a survey on transportation for people who are blind or visually
impaired and they need your input. The focus of the survey is to look at the
current transportation options in our area (and all areas in the United States)
and determine what is available, how you can use them and how you feel about
the quality of the service and the cost.
To let your opinion be heard, go to
www.acb.org/trans-survey.html and complete the survey. This 57-question,
multiple-choice survey will be available for you to complete until January 31,
2004. Help make a difference in the transportation needs of people who are
blind or visually impaired and log on now.
###
Our Apologies!
In the Summer 2003 issue of The Beacon,
we inadvertently left a sponsor off of the 2003 Annual Celebration thank you
list. A special thank you goes to Graphic Communication Resources for their
Grand Fajita level of sponsorship.
Thank you very much for your generosity!
###
Creative Ways To Give
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
To David Smith for his generous donation of
funds for children’s books in memory of Ruth L. Smith.
Thank you for your support of ABVI-Goodwill.
###
Remember us in your wills and trusts.
###
Can You Help Jeffrey?
“I’m very excited about my future. I wish
everyone who really needs the help of ABVI-Goodwill could have the same
opportunities that I had. I know that no matter what I set my mind to, I will
succeed because I have ABVI-Goodwill and supporters like you behind me all the
way.
I hope you can help support ABVI-Goodwill so
that others will have the same chance to improve their lives. Thank you,
ABVI-Goodwill.”
I would like to help!
Enclosed is my gift of $
_____________________
Name: __________________________________
Address: ________________________________
Telephone number: ________________________
E-mail: _________________________________
Please charge my gift to:
Amex Visa Discover
MasterCard
Card Number: ____________________________
Expiration date: __________________________
Signature: _______________________________
Thank you for your generous support of
ABVI-Goodwill.
Please mail your gift to:
ABVI-Goodwill
422 South Clinton Avenue
Rochester, New York 14620
###
Agency News
New Employee Spotlight
ABVI-Goodwill is constantly growing! We would
like to welcome all of our new employees and staff who have joined us since
August 24, 2003:
Christopher Barr September
2 Goodwill
Roberto Barrionuevo October 5 Goodwill
Holly Bibens September 8 Vision
Rehabilitation
Melissa Bruce October 11 Goodwill
Adam Chatfield October 26 Goodwill
Shirley Coddington November 3 Goodwill
Pauline Falco October 25 Goodwill
Carrie Fess October 20 Goodwill
Jeremy Frank September 20 Goodwill
Elric Gardner October
15 Goodwill
Beatrice Higgins October 5 Goodwill
Nouphin Khammanivong September 2 Goodwill
Patricia Leonardo October 15 Goodwill
MaryEllen Lessord September 15 Vision Rehabilitation
Thomas Look September 2 Manufacturing
Teresa McCullough August 24 Goodwill
Sarah Osterberg October 25 Goodwill
Antoine Reeves October 27 Food Service
Jason Reeves October
29 Goodwill
Andrea Robare November
12 Goodwill
Elizabeth Rodriguez September 15 Vision Rehabilitation
Julie Summerhays August
27 Goodwill
Mary Wells October 20 Goodwill
Welcome aboard! We’re so pleased to have you
here.
###
ABVI-Goodwill’s Information Sharing Policy
It is our policy to provide information and
resource referrals to anyone who contacts us. Interested parties may contact us
Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. by telephone
at (585) 232-1111, by TTY at (585) 232-1698, or by e-mail at info@abvi-goodwill.com.
###
Bequests, Memorials And Honorary Gifts
Estate gifts have been received from the
following between September 1, 2003 and November 17, 2003:
Virginia
C. Smith
Margaret
B. Spoor
By giving to ABVI-Goodwill in memory or in
honor of a family member or friend, many charitable people have found a way to
express their caring spirit while helping to ensure the success of
ABVI-Goodwill.
Thank you to the following friends who made
contributions from September 1, 2003, through November 17, 2003:
Memorial Gifts:
Kenneth DeMent
Ralph
and Josie Buis
Flower
City Printing
Charles
and Judith Hadeed
Clark L. Hastings
Teresa
Laskowski
Simone
McNamara
Mary
Toole
Gayle
Winzenried
Marie L. Diquattro
Aldo
and Anne Fioravanti
Constance LaMendola
Sarah J. Ippolito
Kathleen Prince
George
and Jytte Palazzolo
Doris Sullivan
Culver
Hills, Inc.
Gaylen Enochson
Carol
DiCataldo
Ruth
Tuckey
St.
John Fisher College
Grace Piperni
Carolyn Walker
Patrick and Linda Camelio
Joseph
Memmo
Roger and Sandra Kopec
Sharon
and Dave Hogan
Diane and Tom DiCesare
Concetta Palazollo
Joseph Guisto
Mary
Congdon
Linda and Peter Ciaccia
Joseph
Lappan
Maurice and Ann Rasbeck
Jennie Mancuso
Richard Schwartz
Moo Gil and Chung Sook Park
Art and Dixie Messinger
Richard and Sarajane
Kleinhammer
Susan and Arthur Kaufman
Dave and Sandy Conrad
Harold W. Hershey
LeCesse Construction
Company
Roger and Domenica Thorley
Mary
Ann Esteban
Virginia
Sweeting
L.
Marie Parmenter
Herbert Bandemer
LaBella
Associates, P.C.
Naomi Kunken
Roger
B. and Carolyn Friedlander
John Lindgren, Sr.
Dan
and Carol Strong
Jacquelyn
and Charles Jansen
George
and Jean Swartz
Josephine Masucci
Elizabeth
Bianchi
Dodie Merriam
Virginia R. Quimby
Herbert Migliore
Bernice M. Underwood
Gertrude Miller
John Caruso
B.G.
Allison
Ben
and Jane Stone
Lori
and Charles Staudenmayer
Lillian Schreiber
Barbara
Degen
Michelle
McCall
Peter Rao
Walter
and Carol Bettin
Stuart and Rachael Axelrod
Rhea Paraprofessional Union
Gordon
and Annette Wilusz
Peter
Schreiber
John J. Guarre
Elvira Scondras
David
H. and Frances Hall
Marion Slavin
Kenlou
Foundation, Inc.
Katherine Tabakis
David
H. and Frances Hall
Helen E. Williams
Sherri
C. Kost
Marcia
A. Shafer
Kenneth & Lucille Williams
Kenlou Foundation, Inc.
In Honor Of:
Doris DeRycke
Carol
and Steve DeRycke
Helen Faxon Howe
Margaret
B. Spoor Estate
A memorial or honorary gift is a wonderful
way to celebrate special occasions, honor loved ones, or pay tribute to the
memory of deceased family or friends. Your name and the names of those that you
are honoring will be listed in The Beacon. ABVI-Goodwill will also send a note
acknowledging your gift according to your wishes.
###
Did You Know?
ABVI-Goodwill’s 2002–2003 Annual Report
“Moving at the Speed of Right” is now available on our Web site. Visit
www.abvi-goodwill.org to view the PDF of this report or download the text
version.
Many thanks to all of our generous sponsors
and donors who help make it possible for ABVI-Goodwill to keep “moving at the
speed of right.”
###
Computers for $295!
A great holiday gift! Visit one of our
Goodwill locations for more details.
###
Disclaimer
The products, services, and programs of other
organizations mentioned in The Beacon are not endorsed by ABVI-Goodwill.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Jen Enright at (585)
697-5718 or by e-mail at jenright@abvi-goodwill.com
###
Consumer Resource Guide Available
ABVI-Goodwill’s “Consumer Resource Guide” is
chock full of valuable information for you or someone you know who is looking
for state or national organizations that can assist someone who is blind or
visually impaired. Information ranges from guide dog schools and reading
services to assistive technology and transportation services.
If you have a computer, log on to
www.abvi-goodwill.org and select “Outreach.” On the Outreach page, select
“Education” and then “Consumer Resource Guide.” A new window will appear with
the Guide’s table of contents. All the information you ever needed to know is
right at your fingertips. If you would prefer a large-print version, you can
purchase one for $2.00 from our Low Vision Center. Log on or call (585)
697-5736 to get your copy today.
###
We’re Updating Our Mailing List
We apologize if you have received this newsletter in error, if your name is incorrect, or if you do not wish to receive The Beacon. A quick phone call to Sindy Cantor at (585) 697-5713 would be most appreciated. We will give your concern our immediate attention.
###
The Beacon Contributors:
Paul H. Bush, Jen Enright, A. Gidget Hopf, Rene Latorre, Gwen Sterns, MD
Editors:
Gina M. Buechel, Paul H. Bush, Jen Enright, and Michelle M. Mastrosimone
Design:
Archer Communications, Inc.
(585) 461-1570 * www.archercom.com
The Beacon is published four times a year. For additional copies in print, in Braille, by e-mail or on tape, contact Sindy Cantor at (585) 697-5713, or e-mail her at scantor@abvi-goodwill.com
###