National Industries for the Blind Jump-Starts Reading Program with Local Community Center

National Industries for the Blind (NIB) is a non-profit organization benefiting those who are blind or visually impaired by helping them gain economic and personal independence through employment opportunites from the AbilityOne program, so when we heard about United We Serve, we knew our employees would be eager to get involved.

In our efforts to contribute, we have joined with the local Charles Houston Community Center in Alexandria, Virginia to initiate a summer reading program designed to encourage kids to read and to help improve literacy rates during the summer months. NIB kick-started this reading program Monday, July 27 through Thursday, July 30, and dubbed it “Education Week”. NIB employees, both blind and sighted, took the time to volunteer with the children at the center.

Throughout the week, they read to children of different ages, ranging from five to 12 years-old. They also took some time to teach the children about what it is like being blind or visually impaired.

Some of the week’s activities included Elizabeth Shelby and Rebecca Bridges, an NIB employee who is blind, reading a twin vision, Braille and print, version of “Helen Keller and the Big Storm” to the kids.

“It’s a little cliché,” Bridges said jokingly, but the children enjoyed listening and learning about the life of Helen Keller. After they finished reading, Bridges passed the Braille book around for the children to see and feel.

During another session at the center, Catherine Schultz and Stephanie Perry took some time after reading to explain to the children what it means to have impaired vision. They gave each child a card that enabled them to visualize the difference stages of vision loss when you hold the card up to your eyes.

The last two days at the center, NIB employees interacted with older age groups and organized activities where the kids were blindfolded to get a glimpse of what it might be like to be blind. “This is really hard,” said one young girl from the center when she tried to stand up.

The kids had a great time with our employees and asked us to come back soon. There’s even a possibility of a field trip to the NIB office to show them what we do and introduce them to technologies that enable people who are blind or visually impaired to hold jobs.
With funds decreasing for the Charles Houston Community Center, we hope to continue our reading program throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall, while also making ourselves available to kids for tutoring.

What we love about the United We Serve initiative is the domino effect that occurs when you do something for the better and help in the community. We are happy to say that we have already inspired others and hope it continues. Two 11-year-old girls from the community center approached Connie Wilson and Derrick Draughn at the end of their reading session hoping to get advice about where they could read to younger children, too.

NIB extends a special thanks to Rebecca Bridges, Elizabeth Shelby, Catherine Schultz, Stephanie Perry, Michelle Hobby, Sarah Schraven, Connie Wilson and Derrick Draughn for volunteering at the Charles Houston Community Center.

Written by: Kelly Jamieson. Kelly helped to coordinate all the readers and gets photo credits for all the pictures during Education Week.

MENTOR A CHILD DURING EDUCATION WEEK JULY 27-AUG 2

SIGN UP YOUR AGENCY’S VOLUNTEER PROJECTS AT SERVE.GOV A SUMMER OF SERVICE

NIB is participating in the Obama Administration-led UNITED WE SERVE – SUMMER OF SERVICE campaign now through September 11, 2009 by promoting participation in volunteerism and public service at all of our associated agencies. NIB is specifically focused on reading programs for children, especially low-income or underprivileged children.

NIB is partnering with local groups and Reading Is Fundamental for events throughout the summer with the goal of having volunteers sustain their community involvement beyond the United We Serve campaign period.

“Our goal is to have all of our associated agencies participate in the United We Serve campaign,” Kevin Lynch, CEO, NIB said in a message to staff July 10, 2009. “We are especially interested in having people who are blind participating in the program to demonstrate how we give back to our communities.”

Most associated agencies and their employees participate in a number of volunteer or charitable activities. For the United We Serve campaign, it is important that these activities are chronicled through the United We Serve web site at http://www.serve.gov/.

Help us reach 100% participation from all associated agencies. Share your activities, pictures and experiences on our Blog site.

NIB Reading Mentor Kathy Gallagher Kicks Off Summer of Service in Alexandria, VA

Kathy Gallagher is serving as a reading mentor under the United We Serve volunteer program to help children maintain and improve their reading skills during summer vacation. Kathy uses books with one page printed in braille and the other in traditional lettering to read with her students. She also uses an electronic reader that is built into her mobile phone.

On Monday, June 22, 2009, as a kick-off to the United We Serve program (http://www.serve.gov/), Kathy introduced two boys to braille and learned more about the kinds of books and stories they like to read.

Kathy works in the human resources department at the National Industries for the Blind (http://www.nib.org/). She also spoke with 140 Girl Scouts at a day camp in Alexandria, VA on June 23, 2009 discussing how she lives a productive and active life as a person who is blind.

NIB is supporting the President's call to community service by encouraging employees at their headquarters office and more than 85 related agencies nationwide to participate in the United We Serve volunteer program. The program runs from June 22 to September 11, 2009.

Volunteer. Share your experience. Be part of a Summer of Service through United We Serve!