Les Affaires

She’s Sighted and a Fine Federationist

By Joyce Scanlan, President

As I reflect on more than sixteen years during which I served as executive director of Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND), Inc. and the countless decisions involved in carrying out the responsibilities of such a job, I am often shocked almost to disbelief at the success of the program founded by Federationists with a dream that we could create something of value to improve the lives of our blind brothers and sisters.

Many people fully expected us to fail. We never considered anything but absolute success as the outcome of our brave venture. It’s impossible to list all individuals or entities deserving credit for our success; however, there is no doubt that a certain staff person in the home management department merits high praise for her dedicated service and numerous contributions in the building of our program. That is Betty Bishman.

Betty joined the staff of BLIND, Inc. in the summer of 1989, our second year of operation. She had excellent credentials as a professional home economist with a B.S. degree in home economics/education, certification by the American Association for Family and Consumer Science, and several years of experience in the county home-extension service of Minnesota. At the time of her application, Betty was also a novice nun with temporary vows in the Order of St. Benedict. As she applied for the position, we were all impressed with her outstanding home management credentials, but a nun in our midst! How would she fit into our unusual group? We never know what combinations of personalities and behavior will come together in our students. How would a nun handle the anger, possible swearing, passive-aggressive behavior, etc., etc., etc. of our students? Our staff also represented a broad cross section of society; some might imbibe alcohol; some might use “raw” language; some might eat way too much. Could a nun be comfortable working in our bizarre environment as we worked with students to free them from the stereotypes and misconceptions of blindness? Would she join and appreciate the National Federation of the Blind as much as a blind person would? We needed to determine the answers as we came to know Betty. Her interview had to provide help.

It was essential that Betty meet Mark during her interview. He was a young man who had lost his eyesight as he worked as a bouncer at a university fraternity party. He had been a star hockey player. Mark loved every person around, especially women, and he demonstrated it by throwing his arms around everyone in a warm cuddly hug. How would a nun handle this? Would she slap him? Would she push him away? Would she leave on the spot in anger never to return? Would she scold him, hug him back? What would she do? Betty’s reaction to Mark’s behavior was her supreme test. It would let us know many things about Betty, and how she might fit into our group.

Well, Betty passed the test by taking the whole incident in stride.

And that was the beginning of a very warm and friendly relationship between Betty and the students and staff of BLIND, Inc. and the National Federation of the Blind. She had many initiation experiences to learn about blindness, the alternative techniques we use, and about the Federation. She accompanied us to our national convention in Denver that first year and to all subsequent state and national conventions.

Soon after Betty came to BLIND, Inc., we made one of our traditional camping trips. Betty is a very sincere, deep-thinking, straightforward person. I can remember only one incident in which I detected some “plastic” or somewhat phoniness in her spoken words. On our first camping trip, as we were all crawling into our sleeping bags that first night, I heard her say with a definite smile in her voice, “Don’t you just love camping?” Camping may not have been her favorite program activity. She was more comfortable in her kitchens or our home building than out in the wilds of a campground where we carried our water for cooking and washing. Betty was a hound about cleanliness and clearing the environment of any germs whatsoever. Everything had to be “convent clean.” On every camping trip she would hang up a bar of soap wrapped in a nylon stocking on a string right next to the water faucet so we’d all faithfully wash our hands before meals or any activity around food. Betty was a real planner about meals, cleaning the stove, or making sure everyone lived in a germ-free environment.

She had a way with students that never caused them to be angry. In fact, I know of no other instructor who over the years never had a student in the director’s office complaining about something said or done. Other staff might say to a student, “Go wash your hands.” Betty would say, “We’ll first give you an opportunity to wash your hands.” Everyone loved Betty. Moreover, during Betty’s tenure as home management instructor, BLIND, Inc. never had a single case of food poisoning or any such gruesome thing. Betty’s techniques paid off. One of her favorite tools was the paper towel or “family napkin,” as she termed it; Betty confessed that because of her reliance on the “family napkin,” she would never have made it as a pioneer woman.

It is only a guess, but I always had the impression that the Minnesota State Fair was Betty’s favorite activity. She was brought up in the 4H program and had spent many weeks on the fairgrounds entering food and craft competitions. She knew the layout of the area better than anyone else and could instruct us on key locations to gather at specific times during our day at the fair. It was where she had some of her roots as a home economist. All students in Betty’s group had a special opportunity to benefit from her profound love and enjoyment of the state fair.

Students from all cultural backgrounds came to our program. Many from other countries had arrived convinced that only women cooked or should do anything in the kitchen. It may have been an agonizing process, but absolutely everyone came out of home management with adequate food-preparation skills to ensure survival in any environment. If Betty wasn’t sure how a blind person would accomplish a certain task, she would seek out a live blind person to inquire, or she would don the sleepshades and figure it out on her own. She could devise a nonvisual technique so that students could accomplish any task in cooking, sewing, shopping, cleaning, or whatever. No excuses accepted. And students did accomplish all their personal goals in home management—some they were compelled by the program curriculum to meet, and some personal goals they chose.

As a new program, we experienced many ups and downs. We all came to know that we could always count on Betty for so many important tasks around the Center. She always worked at least thirty-six hours per day making certain we had safe, clean, and germ-free surroundings. Her expectations and standards for students were always high; she could give corrections always in the most non-threatening style. Several times other staff people would say to me, ”You shouldn’t make Betty work so hard.” My problem was how to stop her. Betty was always in charge. I frequently tried to send her home soon after the end of the day; she usually wouldn’t leave. And if she did leave, she would return later to clean up the kitchen or check on some unfinished task. Betty never complained.

Betty made sure all birthdays of staff and students were properly recognized and celebrated with the individual’s favorite cake. Everyone was given the opportunity to light the candles and cut the cake using alternative techniques. Betty set a fine example by lighting her candles and cutting her cake on her birthday, February 7; she faithfully wore sleepshades, too.

Betty’s commitment to projects and goals also included activities of the Federation. She contributed to our fundraisers, supervised our holiday dinners and summer picnics, and reached out to blind people in the community she met on the bus or in the grocery store. She was always quietly present and offered a helpful hand in countless ways. Her style of persistent tenacity worked with students who needed an extra push to realize that the Federation had something important to offer them.

It would be impossible to list all Betty’s outstanding qualities; however, if I had to give the one I appreciated the most, it would probably be her abiding loyalty to BLIND, Inc., its students and staff, including the director, and to the entire blind community. In so many ways, she was the ideal working partner and dear friend. If anyone wanted to know the picture of a “perfect employee,” Betty was as close as anyone could find.

Well, after more than seventeen years of worthy service, Betty retired at the end of 2006. Betty, I can’t tell you how much all of us appreciate everything you have done throughout your time with us. You’ve taught us all so much. Your giving spirit will long live in the BLIND, Inc. kitchens, which you managed with such loving care, and throughout our BLIND, Inc. programs. You are truly one of the primary builders of this program. Enjoy your retirement with some fun activities. I know it would be pointless to say you should take some time for rest. I’ll say just try. I will say, “Keep busy and stay healthy.” We’ll all miss you terribly at the Center. You will, however, remain a dedicated and active member of our Federation, so we expect to see you at NFB conventions and all other gatherings.

A Salute to Betty Bishman and the Healing Power of Raised Expectations

By Carrie Gilmer

When my son Jordan was in 7^th grade, he had the typical sewing project as all the other seventh graders at his school: a pair of pajama shorts. As the class approached, his teacher of blind students at Northdale Middle School in the Anoka-Hennepin school district informed me that I should go out and buy “highly contrasting fabric and thread” for the project. I was shocked. Hardly believing what she suggested, my immediate response was to ask aloud, “Is that what blind people do? Wear clothing with highly contrasting fabric and thread?” From discussion before and after this statement it appeared to me that this teacher (with decades of teaching experience) did not really know how blind people sewed. She had voiced some exploratory suggestions of a few possible low-vision techniques that seemed poor and inadequate at best—and some, such as the contrast suggestion, seemed completely ridiculous.

Thankfully, at the time I knew very well that totally blind people sewed proficiently everyday according to their own purposes (personal or professional) using a few simple techniques and tools. I also knew Betty Bishman, and that she regularly taught people to sew using absolutely no vision at all. Jordan’s teacher of blind students agreed to (and did) talk with Betty about the techniques, where to get the tools, and then was to inform and assist the classroom teacher in implementing them. The teacher of blind students never did so; she abandoned the techniques and the tools and left Jordan and the classroom teacher to their own improvisations—using teacher guidance (meaning the classroom teacher doing steps for Jordan that other students did independently—which the nonvisual techniques would have allowed for), and in the end by drawing a bold marker line on the seams for him to follow visually. He sewed the entire pair of shorts with his head tilted, forehead pressed against the machine while it was operating—straining to follow the marked lines. No one told me of any of this! Jordan never complained or told me he hadn’t gotten the nonvisual techniques or tools—he kept saying all was fine. I found out when the shorts came home. He had done this thinking he had to make the best of the only available option. He had been determined to complete the same project as his classmates. (Believe me we really worked hard on self-advocacy skills after this incident!)

A year and a half later, in the summer after eighth grade, Jordan had the opportunity to learn how to sew—as a blind person—from Betty Bishman at Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND). He made a beautiful, perfect-fit, pair of pajama pants—this time including a pocket!—using no vision, independently! He said it was MUCH easier nonvisually, more comfortable, faster (and, I thought, SAFER). Betty’s love, encouragement, and matter-of-fact high expectations helped to heal the memory and experience of betrayal and low expectations he had received from his school district’s teacher of blind students.

He still wears both the shorts and the pants regularly. Do you think he will ever forget the difference? Not until the day he dies! And that is how long we will think of Betty with fondness and gratitude. What would Betty say? She was simply doing her job. She was simply teaching with an accurate view of blindness. What had the teacher of blind students have to say? She “couldn’t be expected to be everywhere,” and didn’t I realize that “Jordan likes to use his vision.”

For over a decade Betty Bishman showed blind student after blind student—hundreds of them—that they can cook virtually anything from grilled cheese to gourmet, and that they can sew or shop or totally manage their own homes; eyesight not necessary!

Betty was a dear to work with, and she was on duty 24/7/365 by choice, always giving 100% MORE than was asked or expected. Whenever a student rang the Freedom Bell at BLIND after a major accomplishment, I noticed Betty’s face glowing with happiness for them as if it were the first time or the first student.

Betty’s retirement party was a night of great laughter and tears. I salute you Betty! And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you’ve done to bring my own son along on his path to personal freedom.

Childrey Honored with Martin Luther King Jr. Award

By Fritz Busch, Journal Staff Writer

(Editor’s Note: The following article was published in the New Ulm Journal on January 16, 2007. It contains some factual errors in organization names that I have corrected and enclosed in square brackets, but it is otherwise a good explanation of Charlene’s many activities and accomplishments that brought her this well-deserved award.)

A New Ulm woman was honored Monday at the Lind House for her exceptional service to the visually impaired and dedication tohuman rights principles like leading by example.

Charlene Childrey was awarded the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Awardby Lee Johnson, Chairman of the New Ulm Human Rights Commission.

"Dr. Martin Luther King would be 78 years old today and what a wonderful example of human rights his life was and his legacy is,"Johnson told a standing-room-only crowd.

Childrey was nominated for the award by Marsha Eyrich and Jan Dallenbach of the New Ulm Lions Club for her efforts to create the Low-Vision Loaning Collection at the New Ulm Public Library.

She was cited for scheduling and directing the annual New Ulm Move-A-Thon, a fund-raising event for the [National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota].

Cancer claimed Childrey's vision as a 2-year-old but it didn't stop her from studying occupational therapy and early childhood development at St. Catherine's College in St. Paul.

Since then, she has served the blind in many ways as an occupational therapist.

For seven years, she worked at the New Ulm Medical Center hospital before becoming a rehabilitation instructor for the State Services for the Blind. She often travels around southern and central Minnesota helping people who are losing their sight adapt to their new challenges.

Childrey helps people with a variety of tasks including choosing a career, cooking, writing resumes and traveling, among other things.

"I wouldn't ask people to do anything I couldn't do myself," she added.

Childrey, president of the Riverbend Chapter of the [National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota], helped create the New Ulm Area Partnership for Independence to address the needs of those with vision handicaps.

Thanks to a $5,000 donation from the New Ulm Lions Club, equipment available for checkout with library cards in the library basement includes closed-circuit televisions and other magnification equipment.

Library staff schedule appointments to try out equipment. Local Lions Clubs and state funding can be used to help purchase items found to aid the visually impaired.

Childrey directs the annual 10k Move-A-Thon each September that has raised tens of thousands of dollars for blind and nearly blind people from across the state.

Participants from as far away as Minneapolis walk, bicycle or skate from her home to Schell's Brewery where they stop for a cup of root beer.

Volunteers pass out water and snacks at checkpoints in parks along the way. Funds raised promote projects like voice-activated tellers and voting machines for the blind.

Childrey reads to her children and others at New Ulm Area Catholic Schools by using a book with Braille text. She visualizes the story by asking children to explain illustrations and pictures to her.

She operates a computer using Braille text and mechanical voices.

"Her spirit is one of the most energizing things about her," Johnson said of Childrey.

Donations can be sent to the National Federation of the Blind, 100 East 22nd Avenue [sic], Minneapolis, MN 55404.

Letter: Kiffmeyer and Voting Machines Deserve Praise

By Andy Virden

(Editor’s Note: Andy Virden is the president of our Central Minnesota chapter. This letter was published in the St. Cloud Times on January 10, 2007.)

In reviewing events of 2006 in preparation for the annual fund-raiser for the Central Minnesota chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, I found that one thing last year was a real accomplishment: the use of new voting machines as required under the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

With these machines, the disabled population for the first time was able to vote with our privacy completely protected.

The National Federation of the Blind and its chapters throughout the nation were strong supporters of this equipment. These machines talk to you and have large screens for low-vision people. Also, they have to be arranged and equipped so that most people in wheelchairs can use them.

At the Federation's national conventions a number of members tried these machines before they were officially marketed. The final products are good.

In Minnesota, we are using a machine called the AutoMARK. It does have a paper trail, which was a concern to some people. I think it is good.

Former Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer must be commended. She took a strong interest in the project and appeared at training sessions and in the media to promote the project.

If a voter has trouble using the machines, contact your county auditor or the secretary of state's office. And, if a voter wishes, you still can use the older way of voting. Personally, I would try the machines.

What's Going Around and What's Coming Around at State Services for the Blind?

By Chuk Hamilton, Director, State Services for the Blind

(Editor’s Note: This presentation was given at the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota annual convention on September 30, 2006.)

Greetings, Federationists! What a pleasure to be with you all again. It seems only yesterday many of us were in Dallas at the national convention; and only the day before that we were in St. Cloud!

A special greeting to the Riverbend Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota (NFBM) and Charlene and Shannon Childrey.

I come before you today to share information regarding what we have been doing at State Services for the Blind (SSB) over the last year. However, I will not repeat, unnecessarily, items presented this past spring.

A significant amount of time and preparation since this spring has centered on our federal partner, the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). Some may say too much time was spent!

You may recall that RSA came under new department leadership some time ago and Joanne Wilson resigned. Since that time, the new team has made a number of changes including closing their ten regional offices and laying off half their staff. They have also been reviewing their activities and making a number of changes.

One of those areas of change has been in what is called “the state plan.” The state plan lays out what SSB has done and will do in order to meet federal requirements in delivering the vocational rehabilitation program to blind and visually impaired persons in Minnesota. In the past this has been a rather routine endeavor and our state plan was always approved.

This year that was different, for both SSB and every other agency in the country. The new leadership has taken a different view of the statutory requirements, including those related to a “needs assessment” that must be done every three years.

I must say this has been a trying experience with our new federal partner. But, because of great SSB staff and the leadership by the Chair of the State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind (SRC-B), Jennifer Dunnam, an experience we have completed successfully. The fruit of the effort is that I have just received word that our state plan for vocational rehabilitation services has been approved for 2007. I understand many states may only receive conditional approval.

As some of you know, RSA representatives, Erica Shephard and David Esquith, visited Minnesota in late August. They met with a variety of folks, including staff, the SRC-B, the Client Assistance Project, and consumers, including the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota.

At the spring convention of this body in St. Cloud, I received a question about the federal budget and its impact on SSB. I also commented on SSB’s finances, generally, for the future. Currently, the Congress has made no progress on the federal appropriations bill that sends dollars to the states for rehabilitation. Just this week I was informed that Congress had to do a Continuing Resolution to continue funding the programs for a while longer until the Congress agrees to and passes a regular funding bill. It is hoped that process will commence during the lame duck session after the fall elections.

Looking generally to the future, I still see rough weather ahead financially for SSB. This is not a new message I bring to you—rather, an update and acknowledgement of a problem that is not going away without intervention. Simply put, I still foresee a problem with financing our vocational rehabilitation program beginning October 1, 2008. We need more money put into that program from other parts of SSB, or we need to make cuts, or both. I have spoken with SSB staff, the SRC-B, and consumers including the NFBM about this anticipated problem for the last 18 months. Along the way, we have made some staffing cuts to reduce costs. I have developed a proposal that I hope makes it to the Legislature that will alleviate this problem and maintain existing services in all parts of SSB. I will keep you informed as best I can.

Also having to do with finances, I want to give you an update on our fundraising efforts. As of this past Thursday, September 28, SSB had received $269,869 in gifts since October 1, 2005. A total of 2,533 gifts were received, three-quarters coming from Communication Center customers. Of the total, $97,663 was earmarked for the Senior Outreach Program and received primarily from granting organizations.

It is coming to that time of the year when we start to consider the SSB Annual Report, which is distributed widely. You will recall that last year we changed the format for the report, focusing our efforts on what customers had to say about SSB services. The format proved to be a success and we will continue on that path this year. I expect that another project we participated in, partnering with the Secretary of State in the outreach to inform and train the public in use of the AutoMARK, will also be prominent. The NFB-M has been a key player in the development and implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The federal act and the Minnesota equivalent developed and funded the opportunity for blind and visually impaired persons to vote privately and independently for the first times in their lives during Minnesota’s primary elections in September. We were pleased to be part of the roll-out.

Also in that Annual Report will be the final numbers of whom we served during the year. You should expect to see an all-time high of seniors being served, well over 3,000. At the same time, we anticipate meeting our goal of 101 individuals being successfully employed.

There have been several recent major developments concerning NFB-NEWSLINE® and Dial-in-News. Earlier this year the Communication Center Committee of the SRC-B formed a task force focused on these two services. Members included Steve Jacobson and Catherine Durivage, both of whom are present here today.

As a result of the research, efforts and input from the Task Force we decided to plan to add an additional newspaper (either St. Cloud or Rochester) to NFB-NEWSLINE® and then add a newspaper from Brainerd, Bemidji, or Faribault to Dial-in-News. We also agreed to add Minnesota Monthly to the local channel of NFB-NEWSLINE®. We secured sufficient funding to carry out these efforts from the Department of Commerce's Telecommunication Access Minnesota fund, a funding source that became available to us last year from the efforts of many of your members.

David Andrews is working hard developing contacts at both the St. Cloud and the Rochester papers to determine which is the best paper to put on NFB-NEWSLINE®. We hope to make that decision in the very, very near future.

Catherine Durivage, an active member of the Task Force, was instrumental in linking David to a contact at the Minnesota Monthly. As a result of their combined efforts, that publication went up on NFB-NEWSLINE® in August and is now available on a monthly basis to all Minnesota NFB-NEWSLINE® subscribers.

An additional activity undertaken in recent months is the NFB-NEWSLINE® mentoring project. SSB's Ellie Sevdy, working in cooperation with several persons present here today, has trained about a half dozen peer mentors. These mentors are working with new users of NFB-NEWSLINE® to increase their comfort with and ability to use the service. We hope this effort will help new users become long-term heavy users of the service. If successful in increasing usage, we plan to expand the mentoring project later this year to include users of Dial-in-News.

As many of you know, the staff of the Communication Center has been working on finding an improved radio receiver for the Radio Talking Book. Since one was not and is not available commercially, we have been working with manufacturers for several years now to develop what we need.

I am pleased to be able to tell you that we recently tested a unit that gives us most of the improvements we sought. We still need to do some additional testing, and will then have to negotiate an acceptable contract. However, if things go as we hope, we should be able to offer an improved Radio Talking Book Network receiver in the relatively near future.

I cannot conclude my remarks without first commenting on my experiences at the NFB Convention this past July. I had an inspiring, educational and energizing experience in Dallas.

Further, I had the opportunity to do a presentation regarding our own Tech Trainer Certification project before a national audience. I explained how we started working with our community to make this happen, what steps we took, what testing we did, and our adult learning course requirement of all trainers. By the way, we will be doing another set of sessions on adult learning for our trainers, who haven’t attended before, in November.

There were so many different breakout sessions on such a wide variety of subjects related to blindness. I couldn’t attend all those I wanted. I was warned before I left that I couldn’t! I met a number of new people, and renewed my relationship with yet others. I saw the latest that technology had to offer, in a truly “hands on” environment. I saw an organization doing its business in a logical, thoughtful and experienced fashion. I saw an organization taking blindness issues head-on, and allowing differences of opinion. This was particularly evident regarding how to address the issues caused by the new hybrid vehicles.

I know there is much that can be learned from attending national conventions, whether as a blind or visually impaired individual, family member, professional person, or agency director.