National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
2006 Annual Report

Background and Purpose

The National Federation of the Blind of Ohio is the oldest and largest organization of the blind in the state. It is the Ohio affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind. Interested sighted people also join. Founded in 1947, the NFB of Ohio now has over 500 members. It has twelve local chapters, a chapter for those who do not live near any organized chapter, a statewide division for parents of blind children, another for blind students, one for vendors, a fourth for blind diabetics, and our newest division, the Ohio Organization of the Senior Blind. Each fall the Federation’s state convention draws well over a hundred blind people—the largest annual gathering of the blind in Ohio.
The ultimate purpose of the National Federation of the Blind is the complete integration of blind people into society on a basis of equality. This objective involves the removal of legal, economic, and social discrimination; the education of the public to new concepts concerning blindness; and the achievement by all blind people of the right to exercise their individual talents and capacities fully. It means the right of the blind to work alongside their sighted neighbors.
The newly blind person faces a difficult adjustment. Members of the NFB contact such people to help them with problems of adjustment and orientation. They provide information about available services from private agencies and the Ohio Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired, as well as facts about laws and regulations concerning the blind. Many governmental agencies and private charitable organizations and foundations deal with blindness, but in a democracy only blind people (acting through their own organization, the National Federation of the Blind) can actually speak for the blind. By using pamphlets, speeches, radio, and TV, members of the NFB strive to educate the general public to the fact that the blind are normal people who can compete on terms of equality with others.
All members of the NFB of Ohio and other interested Ohioans can subscribe to the Buckeye Bulletin, the affiliate’s quarterly cassette and large-print newsletter, and the Braille Monitor, edited by the president of the NFB of Ohio. The Braille Monitor is the monthly magazine of the national organization devoted to news and discussion of issues important to the blind. It is available in Braille, in large print, on cassette, by email, and online and is available without cost to the blind and the sighted alike upon request.
The NFB of Ohio awards scholarships to blind students. It gives assistance to victims of blindness discrimination and to those whose rights have been denied. The NFB initiates court action, negotiates with public officials, confers with private groups or individuals, and seeks constructive publicity in the media.
Members research new state and federal laws and regulations concerning the blind. The organization informs blind people of services available to them and their rights under the law. It offers advice and advocacy support to families of blind students fighting for their rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and provides consultation to Congressional committees and the state legislature, as well as to federal and state officials. Local and state leaders of the blind from across Ohio come together for seminars to receive information to pass on to others in their home communities.
Knowledgeable Federationists around the state evaluate and use new technology and offer their advice and expertise to blind Ohioans who need their help. A valuable resource that the NFB of Ohio can make available to blind Ohioans is located at the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind, at the NFB’s national headquarters in Baltimore. The NFB has gathered together the largest collection of Braille-production and speech-output technology in the world. It is located in one immense room for professionals and consumers alike to study and compare.
Innovative new technology, created by the NFB, makes more than two hundred local and national newspapers and four magazines available free across the state of Ohio by telephone through the use of talking computers. The NFB of Ohio is working to raise the necessary funds to insure that this free service continues to be available across the state. Blind Ohioans can sign up for NFB-NEWSLINE® by contacting the NFB at (866) 391-0841.The same technology now gives all job seekers across Ohio telephone access to job listings available until now only on the Internet. Call Jobline at (800) 414-5748. In short, the National Federation of the Blind is prepared to take whatever action is necessary to improve the lives of blind Ohioans.
The NFB of Ohio works to insure the availability of training in the techniques necessary to function efficiently without sight. The state rehabilitation agency offers training to blind citizens, but often traditional training leads only to sitting at home or working at low-paying jobs for a few hours a week. Blind people today work as lawyers, psychologists, machinists, farmers, hairdressers; but the best estimates indicate that more than 70 percent of those who are able to work still do not have jobs or work only a few days a month in sheltered workshops. Many thoroughly capable blind people have never had a job.
Blindness does not discriminate. Any child can be born blind. Anyone can become blind in childhood or in later life. It is in everyone’s best interests to understand blindness and how to cope with its problems.

Organizational Structure, Annual Convention, and Board of Directors
The National Federation of the Blind of Ohio has chapters in twelve communities across the state. Where there is no local chapter, people can become part of the at-large chapter. Parents and teachers of blind children are also welcome to join the Parents of Blind Children Division, which has members across the state. Secondary and post-secondary blind students are welcome to join the National Association of Blind Students, a division of the National Federation of the Blind, and periodic seminars are conducted for students across the state. Blind business people working in the Ohio Business Enterprise Program can now join the Ohio Association of Blind Merchants. Seniors are invited to join the NFB-O’s newest division, and blind diabetics are welcome to join our Diabetics Division, affiliated with the Diabetics Action Network, a national division of the NFB that produces a quarterly publication, the Voice of the Diabetic. Free to blind Ohioans, this optimistic periodical teaches them independent self-management of their disease.
The NFB-O is the Ohio affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind, which has active affiliates in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The president, the vice president, and the majority of the membership of each local chapter must be blind. All state and national officers are blind. Local chapters ordinarily meet monthly. The NFB of Ohio conducts an annual convention in the late fall, which attracts blind and sighted people interested in blindness issues from across the state. The annual convention is the supreme authority of the organization. The state board of directors serves as the governing body of the organization between conventions. The members of the board are scattered across the state and bring a rich background of training and experience to their work. Board members do not receive financial compensation for their services but may be reimbursed for travel expenses.

Board of Directors

Barbara Pierce, President
Magazine editor, Oberlin

J. Webster Smith, Ph.D., First Vice President
University professor, Athens

Barbara Fohl, Second Vice President
County social service professional, retired, Ashtabula

Sherry Ruth, Treasurer
Bookkeeper, Elyria

Paul Dressell, Secretary
Businessman and retired social service professional, Cincinnati

Annette Anderson, Member
Civil rights investigator, retired, Cleveland

Debbie Baker, Member
Teacher of blind children, Springfield

Deborah Kendrick, Member
Cindicated columnist, Cincinnati

Jennifer Kennedy, Member
Student, Kent State University, Orrville

Crystal McClain, Member
Order sorter, Nash Finch Co., Bellefontaine

Richard Payne, Member
Businessman, Dayton

Bruce Peters, Member
Trained social worker, Akron

Mary Pool, Member
Retired businesswoman, Canton

Statement of Program Service Activities
Education
If blind people are ever to take their rightful place enjoying the rights and carrying the responsibilities of full citizenship, the general public, blind and sighted alike, must become accurately educated about the abilities of blind people. Only when blind people expect that blindness will not stifle their lives will they exert themselves to acquire and use the skills that will allow them to compete. Only when employers believe that a well qualified blind applicant might be able to do a job will blind job-seekers have a real chance to prove what they can do.
For these reasons the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio works to educate everyone to recognize the truth about blindness and blind people: if blind people receive good training and are given a chance, they can compete. People need not feel apologetic about vision loss.
To this end we publish a quarterly newsletter, the Buckeye Bulletin, designed to educate blind people, parents of blind children, and those whose work affects blind people about what’s new in the blindness field and what needs to be done. We circulate the NFB’s Kernel Book series of paperbacks to libraries, schools, and individuals who need hope and promise when beginning to deal with vision loss. We give away sample copies of the Voice of the Diabetic, a unique print and cassette periodical published by the NFB for blind diabetics; Future Reflections, the NFB’s quarterly magazine for parents and educators of blind children; and the Braille Monitor, the NFB’s monthly magazine, the largest-circulation journal in the blindness field.

Advocacy and Protection of Civil Rights and Assistance in Self-Organization
Estimates by the Ohio Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired indicate that there are approximately 194,000 blind people in the state of Ohio. This would mean that more than one of every fifty-eight people in the total population of the state is blind or severely visually impaired. More and more of these blind people are beginning to form themselves into local groups, chapters of the NFB of Ohio. In the spirit of consumerism which is one of the characteristics of our times, the blind are seeking to engage in self-help, mutual assistance, and concerted action to solve common problems. Through these local chapters and the statewide organization the blind are also serving as watchdogs on the governmental and private charitable agencies established to give them services. The blind themselves are the only people in a position truly to know whether governmental grants and private charitable contributions are actually providing much-needed assistance to the blind or whether they are being largely wasted and diverted to other purposes.

Specialized Programs and Services
As a volunteer organization the NFB of Ohio offers services and staffs programs that draw on the special expertise blind people have acquired through years of using the alternative skills of blindness and dealing with public and private agencies providing professional services to the blind. Members provide support and peer counseling to newly blind people and families of blind children and adults. They work with teachers, school administrators, employers, and civic organizations trying to provide adaptive equipment and reasonable accommodation to blind people. They serve as advisors and advocates for blind people and their families in meetings with school or agency personnel. They serve on public and private agency advisory groups and governing bodies when the views of blind consumers are needed. They work to educate government officials at every level about the special needs and frequently unrecognized abilities of blind citizens.
The NFB of Ohio conducts several programs designed to encourage excellence among blind people and those who work with the blind. The organization presents two scholarships each year at its annual convention to outstanding blind post-secondary students. It honors Braille readers K through twelve who enter the NFB’s Braille Readers Are Leaders reading contest. And from time to time it conducts its own Braille-writing contest for secondary school Braille students.
If blind children are to learn to travel confidently and independently, they must learn early to use the long white cane. The NFB of Ohio has established a cane bank for families of blind children. When necessary, NFB members work with parents to teach them how to help their young children develop good cane technique. Families can receive a cane of the proper length for the blind child and then exchange it for a longer one as the youngster grows. In this way blind children always have canes long enough to keep them safe and moving confidently.
In several areas of the state blind adults are teaching Braille to newly blind people or those who have never had an opportunity to learn the code. The organization celebrates Braille Literacy Week (the week of January 4) across the state with Braille story hours in libraries and other media events designed to attract public attention for Braille and those who use it to read and write. The NFB of Ohio also conducts a small technology program to provide advice and technology to families of blind children who have exhausted all other possibilities for acquiring the access technology their blind children need.
The National Federation of the Blind recently designated October as Meet the Blind Month each year. October 15 was already White Cane Safety Day as designated by Congress in 1964. Chapters across the state and the affiliate as a whole conduct high-profile public-education and fundraising activities during the month to help our communities and neighbors learn that blindness need no longer be a tragedy. Our message is that people who become blind can and do live lives of adventure, contribution, and fulfillment, and the National Federation of the Blind is the voice of the nation’s blind.
In seminars, workshops, and convention presentations the NFB of Ohio strives to assist blind people and their families to develop the positive attitudes and strong skills that are the foundation of successful employment for blind people. We are also available to conduct training sessions and seminars for employers who are uncertain about hiring blind people. Our national Web site contains a great deal of helpful information for both blind job seekers and employers.

If you or a friend would like to remember the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio in your will, you can do so by employing the following language:

"I give, devise, and bequeath unto the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, 237 Oak Street, Oberlin, Ohio 44074, an Ohio nonprofit corporation, the sum of $_______________ (or ___________ percent of my net estate or the following stocks and bonds: _____________________) to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind people."

Statement of Activities
Year ended December 31, 2005

* Called blind people together in monthly meetings across the state for support and concerted action * Conducted workshops and developed materials to identify and train blind leaders across the state * Conducted seminars to educate parents of blind children * Advocated to insure that blind adults received appropriate vocational services * Assisted parents to get the educational services their children needed * Conducted a statewide scholarship program * Maintained a statewide cane bank to supply white canes to growing blind children * Staffed information fairs providing literature about blindness * Advised and educated businesses, governmental agencies, health care facilities, civic organizations, and school classes about blindness and reasonable accommodation for the blind * Conducted programs to stimulate Braille literacy * Educated state and federal legislators about issues of importance to blind citizens * Registered and trained blind people across the state to use NFB-NEWSLINE® telephone newspaper reading service and worked to secure permanent funding for it * Educated blind diabetics about independently managing their disease * Worked with blind vendors and the state agency to protect and strengthen the Business Enterprise Program, the largest and most lucrative single program employing blind Ohioans * Maintained the affiliate Web site and expanded the information available on it * Did peer counseling and skills training of blind people * Articulated the views of blind consumers to civic, governmental, and agency entities making policies affecting blind people * Advised members of the general public about blindness and services available to blind people

Finances
Financial data presented below are taken from the audited financial statement dated December 31, 2005, prepared by Roland and Dieleman, Certified Public Accountants, of Grinnell, Iowa. Contributions to the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio are tax-deductible under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)3. A more detailed report is available upon request.

Income:
Sale of merchandise, $212,369
Contributions, gifts, and grants, $247,328
Other, $140
Total income: $459,837

Expenses:
Management and administration, $11,852
Fundraising, $43,917
Program services A, $225,702
Program services B, $155,799
Total expenses: $437,270

For additional information or assistance contact:
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
(800) 396-NFBO
Web site: www.nfb.org/oh
Written inquiries may be sent to:

Barbara Pierce, President
237 Oak Street
Oberlin, Ohio 44074-1517
bbpierce@pobox.com

Eric Duffy, Director of Field Services
4501 N. 4th Street
Columbus, Ohio 43224-5126
eduffy@pobox.com

NFB of Ohio Chapter Locations: Capital, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Miami Valley, Muskingum, Southeast, Stark, Summit, and Toledo

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