DOUG: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Helen Keller Services virtual telethon. Today is Giving Tuesday now. I think before we start anything else I want to explain what Giving Tuesday Now is, it is an annual day that happens at the end ever November or early December. It's a day to give to nonprofits and charities and given the recent happenings with COVID there has been a much greater need to fund raise now hence Giving Tuesday being pushed up to now. We went with a virtual telethon theme here. I know I grew up watching those PBS telethons where the phone bank was in the back, and as you can see there's no phone bank back here, we do have some amazing interpreters on this call to make this accessible, a captioner. If you want captions that's a video setting on Facebook. We have live captioning happening so if you want to turn that video setting on, you can use that. If you don't want them and you want to turn them off that's fine as well. But we are raising money today for Helen Keller Services. I think first and foremost I want to address that there are so many places that you can give money today. And a lot of really obviously great causes. But today what we're going to do is over the next few hours we're going to talk to the people that really make up Helen Keller Services, both the staff and the consumers that benefit from the services and hopefully exemplifying why you should give to Helen Keller Services and why their services are ones that provide essential services for a lot of people who benefit greatly from them and quite frankly we need your help. Things have been tough for everyone during this time and especially for organizations like our organization that really need your help now. So without further adieu, I would also like to introduce myself real quickly. For those of you that don't know me my name is Doug Roland. I've had the distinct pleasure of work along side Helen Keller in a few different situations. First The Feeling Through Experience with the first DeafBlind actor. Now support in a media director capacity and I am honored to be able to host this virtual telethon today. We're going to be talking to a lot of different people today. We got a little bit behind because of technical difficulties so what I'm going to do is jump right into our first discussion here. I want to bring them into the room in just a moment and we're going to be introducing everyone and hopping right into the discussion so just a moment. All right. Everyone's joining our room right now. Hello Antoinette.
ANTOINETTE RICHARDS: Hello. Hello Minjiy and hi Alona. Sorry for the delay. Invariably we test and when it comes time to go live we had a couple of snafus but we're live now on the Helen Keller Services virtual telethon. For those joining in today I want to make it clear that we are raising money and there is conveniently a donate button attached to the live stream. So if you can see over above the chat room there's a donate button. It's very easy to donate. You just click that button. You will have that option to donate through PayPal, credit card and any donation does help whether it's one dollar or a thousand dollars every dollar that you donate goes a long way. So we will be redirecting to you the donate button to you over the course of this virtual telethon but without further adieu I'd like to just go around and if each one of you that just joined the room could introduce yourself tell me who you are and how you are connected to Helen Keller Services and we'll hop do a discussion here.
ALONA MARTIN: Hi my name is Alona and my son is a student at Helen Keller. His name is James and this is his dad James. And James was born blind and with other endocrine insufficiencies. And he's been getting services at Helen Keller since early intervention. He will be graduating in June to go to kindergarten but we're really going to miss our Helen Keller family.
ANTOINETTE RICHARDS: I am Antoinette Richards the school's social worker at Helen Keller Services. We have been there for 30 years. We have a preschool program where we service children throughout the tri‑state area, Brooklyn, queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, we service them, we offer each and every day teachers for the visually impaired, occupational therapy, physical therapy, a myriad of services and we offer social work services, parent counseling, music therapy for our kids. We always believe that we're partners with our families working together that our kids can reach maximum potential. Whatever it is wherever they are we start there. Our kids have IEPs, we go through the Department of Education which funds services for our children to receive but like a lot of schools there's so many things that we add. We have music therapy for our kids, sensory therapy for kids. It is wonderful to see families like James and we have many families in our school that we've been able to not just affect in the classroom but also community services that are beneficial to them.
DOUG: That's great.
MINJI KWON: I am one of four teachers at Helen Keller preschool. We service children with 8 children per classroom along with TAs. My focus is with children with severe multiple disabilities including visual impairment.
DOUG: Thank you. Just to hop into the heart of this and a question for Alona. As Minjiy articulated, what Helen Keller Services for the blind has provided for James and the experience of the services that they provide.
ALONA MARTIN: For James it was important for me to let them be sociable to other children, him being know blind and him going into the public and hearing voices, he would hear them interacting but he wasn't sure what was going on. We just went him to learn how to be independent and how to get around as a blind child. He's really developing those skills at Helen Keller. He gets speech therapy, occupational therapy. He gets mobility, PT, basically everything that he would need they provide for him. And I just, I'm really thankful for them. He's come a long way.
DOUG: That's amazing. This is an open question for all but obviously with recent occurrences can COVID things have changed a little bit but I understand you are still finding ways to provide services even during this time is that correct.
ANTOINETTE RICHARDS: Yes. Our school, the physical building is closed but our school is active. And I can say as we say parents as partners again, this has come in full circle, because the communication, the interaction that's needed, families like the Martins, they have really come and James participates in circle as well as other families and teachers like Minjiy and our therapist finding new ways our kids can reach their therapy goals.
DOUG: I think it's an important thing to stress, obviously it's a tough time on any organization providing services but it's amazing how Helen Keller Services and its divisions in Helen Keller Services for the Blind and Helen Keller National Center have still been able to provide services and connect with families like Alona and James IV and James V and still be able to provide those services and obviously this is a time where just because we're not able to connect in person that doesn't mean these services aren't still really essential and valuable so I'm really glad to hear that you are able to continue to do that. Maybe if you could tell me more about what a class might look like. Minjiy I know when we got a chance to talk the other day you were telling us about circle time. Maybe you can describe what that's like.
MINJI KWON: We started circle time because we wanted the children to have a sense of [inaudible] in their homes, and you know our children because of their disabilities they are tactile learners, auditory learnings, kinesthetic learners and to provide all of this we need the help of the parents to guide them through whatever we're trying to do on line. It's basically you know the same things that we have been doing that is familiar for the children while incorporating the parents and different aspects that we want them to incorporate into the circle time and you know the parents have been so cooperative and helpful and I hope that this has been also an opportunity for the parents to learn about what's going on, and the, you know, during a regular school setting and learning different positioning and different ways of handling the children's hands and incorporating different activities into their daily lives that are beneficial for them through therapies and such.
DOUG: And just I want to pause real quick to thank those who have already started to donate to our virtual telethon today. Thank you so such Alona [inaudible] and Angela, and Matthew Ravey, Sue Ruzenski and thank you so much for your donations so far. For those ever you who tune in there's a donate button, just click that and use PayPal or any credit card that you have. Any amount helps. If you don't have the ability to donate today but want to help out please refer people to join us on this live stream. We will be here for the next, two and a half hours or so, and please help other people join in, learn more about Helen Keller Services and the essential services they provide and also have an opportunity to participate in the fund raising. So with the last [inaudible] here an open question for each of you, for those tuning in and watching if you could take a moment and express whatever you would like to tell people who maybe don't know anything about Helen Keller Services just what the organization means to you. Obviously on the consumer side for Alona, what it means to you and your family and obviously James and on the staff side I guess maybe the best part of the work and what you do. So let's go around in the same order again starting with Alona and James if you could let us know that.
ALONA MARTIN: I think that the service, it basically offers hope for us. It just gave us a different view on James' future. Like we can actually see him getting around by himself, and you know, going places on his own. So it's a lot of hope. What do you think?
>>: It was basically help, it helped us with anything we needed. Gave us the opportunity to have the help that we needed.
DOUG: Just to comment on that, I imagine that you know, maybe without that kind of support you might be left just wondering about how to do really basic things around education and things like that. It kind of fills in all the dots.
ALONA MARTIN: It gave us a better opportunity to get to know our son in different ways to learn with him not just teach him but to actually learn things with him.
DOUG: That's really great. Thank you. Antoinette.
ANTOINETTE RICHARDS: As I said when I started I've worked at Helen Keller for quite some time and I've enjoyed my work there. Not only working with the parents and the kids every day, it's seeing the results that happen. You know you stay at a place because you believe it gives good results. I've worked in various parts of Helen Keller from adults to children's services and every part, everywhere from rehab to the youngest to James starting when he was about a year old and to see the progress now of our kids about to enter kindergarten and transition to that way of life and also his parents just coming together and supporting and also learning in the classroom learning how to be advocates that's the greatest thing is as a social worker I can encourage our parents to be the greatest advocates for their kids, also connecting with a great staff. We have our principal to our teachers and our therapists, everyone working together even as an agency we're connected with our rehab staff, our low vision and different [inaudible] work together for the benefit of our children and also our adult clients. It's been a comfortable fit for me. We face challenges every day but I really enjoy where I work and what I do because I see results like the family that is sitting with us right now.
DOUG: That's really beautifully put thank you. And Minjiy.
MINJI KWON: I real appreciate and love our Helen Keller family that we have. We are constantly collaborating to you know, better the experience of the family and the child as they're experiencing through difficult times and different transitions in their lives, even through you know virtual meetings nowadays, we have been it trying to collaborate and, as to how to make all of this easier for the families and easier for the children. And I think the greatest part of being in the Helen Keller is celebrating the small accomplishments for a typically developing child walking and talking, all those things may come easy but a lot of what we do in collaboration with the therapists and teachers comes with a very, very small accomplishment and it may take a really long time but those accomplishments are a huge celebration for us so watching that has been really, really gratifying.
DOUG: Thank you so much Minjiy for sharing that and thank you to all of you for joining today. It's great for people tuning in to put faces to the name that is Helen Keller Services and hear personal accounts from both the staff and consumer side of what that organization means and the essential services that they provide. So thank you so much for joining us today. James IV and James V thank you for joining us as well. So nice to meet you James. Thank you for joining us and I hope I get to chat with you all again sometime.
ANTOINETTE RICHARDS: Thanks for supporting our agency.
DOUG: We'll be moving on to another group shortly. And while we're getting situated here I would like to thank some more people who have been donating so let me just pull that up for a moment here. Look at this. Thank you, everyone so far, you have been very generous. Tracy Lee thank you so much for your donation, Nikia Wood, Chloe Blake, and Chanally, FitzPatrick thank you so much, we appreciate your fund raising so far in the fund raising portion today, that is ultimately the purpose that we're joining here for. Again if you are just tuning in, this is Helen Keller Services virtual telethon as part of Giving Tuesday Now. We just heard from an amazing group part of the children's center at Helen Keller Services for the Blind. In just a few moments we'll be speaking with the working age adults at Helen Keller Services for the Blind, some consumers and staff there as well. And again if you are tuning in, please consider donating. There's a donate button connected to the live stream. That's one of the nice things about Facebook they make it easy to donate. You just click that button. You have the option to use PayPal or a credit card. Every dollar you donate gives a really long way. And for those that might have missed the intro, Giving Tuesday is usually toward the end of the year which has been bumped up to today because of everything that's happened with COVID and the needs that that has created. And Helen Keller Services, like a lot of nonprofits out there certainly has additional financial needs in the wake of COVID and every dollar you donate really supports that. And what's really great about Helen Keller Services is that they have been able to continue services even during this time of COVID so kudos to the entire organization and everybody that makes it up for working quickly to move services to a virtual space and still being able to support consumers. I'm going to start bringing our next group into the room here. And as we get situated here, hello Marcia.
MARCIA: Hi Doug!
DOUG: And we have Christine joining us as well and Joe is joining us here in a moment. Welcome to the virtual telethon. Hello Joe. I would like to take a quick moment to wish Joe a happy birthday as well and what's nice about what Joe decided to [inaudible] fundraiser today for Helen Keller Services so thank you for contributing to the fund raising efforts today and making your birthday about that. So thank you so much and a very happy birthday to you. I am sure you're not a day over 22.
JOE DINERO: How do you know that?
DOUG: I've got a good eye I guess. So why don't we start off by quickly going around, each of you give a quick introduction of yourselves. Why don't we start with Marcia, Phillip, Christine and Joe in that order and we'll give a quick introduction.
MARCIA: I'm Marcia Hamilton, I am a vocational instructor at Helen Keller Services for the Blind.
PHILIP: My name is Phillip Duncan and I'm a client for Helen Keller.
CHRISTINE GERACE: I am Christine, a former client ever Helen Keller Services for the Blind in [inaudible] New York.
JOE DINERO: And I am Joe Dinero an assistive instructor for Helen Keller Services for the blind.
DOUG: I want to make mention that I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Phillip and Marcia this past Friday as part of the Feeling Through Live streams, I encourage all of you watching to continue to learn more about the various facets of Helen Keller Services, it's a great way to acquaint yourselves personally with the organization like we're doing today.
Just to hop into the meat of this conversation maybe we could take turns talking about you know whether again you are coming from the staff side or the consumer side, just how you've either directly benefited from the services and what Helen Keller Services for the Blind means to you as a consumer or from the staff side what you find to be the best or most rewarding part of the work you do. Do you want to start Marcia.
MARCIA: Sure. What I love about Helen Keller Services for the Blind is the holistic approach to ensuring that an individual will get all the tools they need to get out there and live a full, rewarding and fulfilling lives. The way the program is structured from the beginning they start preparing you first of all getting you oriented in your home environment, moving from there to work and providing so much support. So there's always someone there to guide you on this journey. And we have a former student, we're still keeping in touch with our students after they leave. It's like one big family and that's what I find so rewarding about this agency.
DOUG: Just to piggy back, I love the mention of the holistic approach. One of the things I was really enlightened by in our last conversation on Friday was how you walked through each step of those services which we can get to in a moment on this call but it's amazing to address not just one aspect but really be able to address every aspect of life regardless of what stage or where someone is at personally so thanks for sharing that. And Phillip what has been most impactful for you as a consumer of Helen Keller Services for the blind.
PHILIP: For me I would say the most impactful thing for me was especially with how my situation was with me losing my vision basically overnight, waking up and not being able to see and after all the training and rehab that I had to do and then coming out and being introduced to Helen Keller I just thought it was great to know that they were coming in the home and just the different steps that they were taking to get me to this point, it was just great. Everything was structured perfectly from starting my vision rehab in the home and learning the different techniques with. Walking cane and from there then transitioning into coming into the company and the agency. And now starting to attend some of these classes. And the first class was the adjustment to blindness class which was great because you have a variety of individuals that all lost their vision in different ways. I mean, and we were all getting adjusted in some ways. So for me I lost my vision due to a brain tumor but we also had people in there that lost vision due to glaucoma or they're in the process of losing it slowly. And then you also have the people that are kind of like I guess further along than me and maybe they lost their vision and it's been many years and they're able to give a little more feedback on how they're managing and getting by day to day.
DOUG: Thanks Phillip. Christine.
CHRISTINE GERACE: I have been now on a 30 year journey of slowly losing my sight. So I came to Helen Keller initially to learn basically relearn how to use the computer because someone who is losing their sight slowly pretty much hangs on to what they have that they could use obviously visually and not using their auditory skills so I was a visual screen user as far as my computer skills were and had no idea how to acclimate to that. So I came to Helen Keller and I started attending assistive technology classes and I basically learned how to use JAWS, which is a speaking software program that's in conjunction with an enlargement feature that's also in addition to the program itself. And now I'm able to use the internet, read my email as I had before just using talking software and also just to mention the organization really taps into finding these amazing people that not only are able to educate the blind or visually impaired in technology, different tools that are available to us, but also doing it in a way to making us feel that we're not just numbers, you know. We really established a lot of or I have established a lot of great relationships with my occupational mobility instructor teaching me how to use a cane when I was no longer able to be mobile on my own independently without fear of tripping into or walking into something. So it's really the personalities also that go hand in hand with the education that these wonderful people in this organization are there for people that in our a scary situation. Whether you lose your sight overnight like Phillip said or you lose it over time. There are different stages, different emotional aspects to adjusting and acclimating to your life as it has changed. So it's a really great organization and I'm just happy that I was able to be a part of it and it's put me back in the game basically as far as working and being able to take back my life and be independent again.
DOUG: Thank you for sharing. That was well put. I want to touch on the personal aspect of it that you are sharing which is so resonant. I think one of the reasons we wanted to do this virtual telethon today, it's one thing to ask for financial support from people but I think when you have so many amazing people that make up an organization both on the staff side and the consumer side it would feel like a wasted opportunity to not have a platform to be able to connect directly with people who are tuning in today and to give them a much more intimate understanding of who the organization is and who the people are that make it up. On that note just to reiterate here this is a fundraiser as well and if you are watching and able to donate, there's a donate button attached to the live stream. You can click there and use PayPal or a credit card. If you have either already donated or don't have the means to donate yourself but want to support please share this live stream with other people. You can share it on Facebook like you would with any other post. You can reach out directly to people and share the link with them and tell them to tune in. We'll be here until 3:00 p.m. eastern time. We have a good ways to go so please share this stream with other people so they get an opportunity to hear directly from the people that make up Helen Keller Services. With that said, Joe, what's the best part of what you do with the organization.
JOE DINERO: I come to this, I was a consumer with Helen Keller prior to my employment with them and through that, I you know got an opportunity with Helen Keller to work for the company and it was a long journey for me to find employment and it's a long journey a lot of times for people that are visually impaired to find employment. So my approach when I look at it you know, I'm teaching students the skills that they're going to need to get out into the workforce and I approach that with the perspective of I don't want any of my students to be thinking about that when they're in a job interview. I want them to be confident in that job interview that I can do this job. Christine will probably tell you I talked to her when she first came in, I told her I would make her a rock star when she was done and that she would be ready to be employed and that's how I approach it. I am visually impaired myself so I, you know, I look at myself as more than an instructor. I understand sometimes students come in and they're not having a great day. Sometimes it's not an hour and a half of technology training, it's 15 minutes of just somebody talking about what's going on with themselves and being an ear for them to listen so that they can get in the right, in a better head space so that they can learn what they need to do to get out there and do what they want to do. So it's rewarding when somebody like Christine gets back into the workforce or you know, being able to, sometimes it's not about the training. It's about turning somebody's frown upside down and getting them in the right head space again on a particular day. There's a lot of things we do that's outside of the scope of what we're normally doing.
DOUG: I love that. That's a great example of going above and beyond because of that real care for what you do on both sides and obviously the passion for, in what Christine and Phillip shared about what they've gotten from their experience at HKSB. And you know just with the last kind of minute or two we have together, maybe Marcia if you could give a quick walk through of what that holistic approach looks like, and kind of like we talked about the last time, just a quick overview. I know we don't have too much time to go into details but what that holistic approach looks like in more detail.
MARCIA: We start with vision rehab and Phillip, you have teaching in the home where you get orientation and mobility. After that there's a adjustment to blindness. Then we have Joe with ATC where they start learning how to use assistive devices. From there they move to Foundations, a program of self‑and career exploration and from there we move to TEAM which is our work readiness program which is focusing on getting them back out to go to work. Of course we have an awesome placement team which is also part of [inaudible] ensure that the students get placed not just making sure they have skills but we care about them as individuals also.
DOUG: That's beautifully put. Thank you all. For the final question Joe, what are you doing for the rest of your birthday?
JOE DINERO: I'm going to enjoy the sun. I'm going to enjoy the great outdoors and get out with my guide dog and do a little walk and maybe enjoy some sun, just relaxing outside.
DOUG: If one thing this time has taught us is to really appreciate the simple things again so that sounds like a perfect way to celebrate your birthday. Thank you all for joining today. I really appreciated everything you had to say and I hope to get to speak with you all in more detail at some other point. Thank you so much for joining us today.
AI really appreciate it.
PHILIP: Thank you.
DOUG: We're going to get situated here for our next guests in just a moment but as we're signing off and signing in, another reminder today for this Helen Keller Services, all you have to do is click that donate button. It makes it very easy. Any dollar donated is a dollar that will be well used by Helen Keller Services. Whether it's one dollar or a thousand dollars whatever you can donate it the will be really appreciated. For those joining in, Giving Tuesday Now is in direct response to the challenges that COVID has created among any number of organizations, Helen Keller Services included and there really is a need, a financial need now more than ever and Helen Keller Services very fortunately is still able to provide a lot of these essential services that they normally provide. But we really need your help. If you are able to give again, any amount helps and we really appreciate it. So without further adieu, our next guests here, Emma riley and we're getting situated here to speak with Emma. And let's see, hello! Well, welcome Emma. We're so happy to have you today. Just to jump right into it, could you introduce yourself and just let us know how you are connected to Helen Keller National Center and Helen Keller Services.
EMMA RILEY: Of course. My name is Emma riley. I am a DeafBlind individual. I'm, I have Usher's Syndrome. I am completely deaf and I have about 10 degrees of vision left. I was recently a client at Helen Keller National Center to receive training. I also train individuals so I am connected on both fronts.
DOUG: On the student side of things tell me what are some of the most valuable things you got from your experience with the Helen Keller National Center.
EMMA RILEY: I was in Helen Keller National Center for a brief period, only two weeks in December so I did not get the full client experience of Helen Keller National Center. I went to kind of have them be a guide for me. You know, people, I went as a guidance counselor. People that are DeafBlind tend to live very isolated lives you know. And I am starting to lose more vision myself and I want to continue to be able to work as a guidance counselor and I want to continue to take care of my son as well as when I have vision. So I went there mainly to learn how to use technology, and to get some braille training because I was there specifically to be able to continue to do the functions of my job.
DOUG: Can you tell us a little bit more about your professional life?
EMMA RILEY: So I work for the Kentucky Department of Education. My current focus is transition planning for DeafBlind consumers. I've worked for them for four years now. But now that my vision is changing, my equipment also needs to change so I need to continue what I have been doing just using some different equipment.
DOUG: Can you tell me more about what it is you do on a day‑to‑day basis there?
EMMA RILEY: So obviously, now with the situation with Coronavirus and COVID‑19 I am working from home. But before COVID‑19, I was, I had two office that I was going between. In my area I have limited access to transportation. I do have Uber and Uber Pool. My bosses were understanding to my needs. When I was [inaudible] I had all the accommodations that I require.
DOUG: I see. For those watching right now, can you just, what would you like to say directly to them as far as, you know, what it is that Helen Keller Services provides that's so important and by extension, why donating to the organization really goes a long way?
EMMA RILEY: I think Helen Keller Services and Helen Keller National Center are both really unique organizations because they provide services that encompass the whole person. So they work with people who are deaf who rely on vision. They work with people who are blind who rely on hearing and they work with people who are both, who need [inaudible] and they're the only organization in the world that does that. So people with dual sensory loss or deaf and blind don't really have any place else to go. So they really help people that are DeafBlind connect with the world in a way they wouldn't be able to otherwise so I think that's what makes Helen Keller so amazing.
DOUG: That's really well put. I think that's a good time to note that for those tuning in who may not be directly connected with or familiar with the DeafBlind community I think you might be surprised to know how large that community is you know, depending on you know, what numbers you reference, there's as many as a million and a half people in this country alone who are DeafBlind and I think sometimes that number actually surprises some people who maybe didn't have a lot of information about the community prior to hearing that but I think it reiterates how many people out there that really benefit from these kind of services and how essential they are and really particularly during this time of COVID where a community that largely and often relies on touch is in a situation where that's really challenging in a time where touch is either prohibited or really avoided at this moment. So just to make that connection of why Helen Keller Services and why the essential nature of the services that they continue to provide during this time and we really need your support in order to continue to provide those services and provide in the ways that Helen Keller Services is really able to do at that high level. So if you are able to donate today, click the are button attached to the live stream. Any amount you can donate really helps and if you can share this live stream on your page, share it directly with people who want to tune in and hear about the organization and people that make it up please do that as well. So with that said Emma, thank you so much for chatting today. I know we had a short window to talk but everything you said was really valued. I really appreciate it.
EMMA RILEY: Thank you.
DOUG: So moving on here, we're actually coming up, we have Kim Zimmer the CEO of Helen Keller Services so I'm going to bring her into the room right now. Hello Kim. Thank you for joining us today. We're about an hour into our virtual telethon here. It's been a real pleasure to talk to a lot of the people that make up the organization both on the staff side and on the consumer side and now I'm speaking to you who is the CEO of Helen Keller Services. I think it's a great opportunity to zoom out a little bit. For starters if you can give us a bird's eye view of the organization. I think for those out there help explain the connection between Helen Keller Services, Helen Keller National Center and Helen Keller Services for the Blind.
KIM ZIMMER: Sure absolutely. First I want to say hello to everybody tuned in and with us today and thank you also for all of the focus who are and have experienced the services through our organization and who have offered to share their experiences. It really is special to us and it's clear from what Phillip described you know, the relationship we have with him and Marcia did a great job of talking about how important relationships are and the connectedness and what that means. So anyway I thought that was really neat. So you know, Helen Keller Services is a sort of an [inaudible] organization and within it, there are two service divisions. One of those divisions is Helen Keller National Center. And that organization or that piece of Helen Keller Services is specific to people who are DeafBlind. And that is a national division. We provide services across the United States. The other half of it is Helen Keller Services for the Blind. And that is regional to the New York City area specific to Brooklyn in particular and Long Island but we serve people all across the region. So we've been around for a very long time. About 25 years so people who receive services from us know us well and I felt really good when Phillip said you know his mom referred him to us and he knew after that where to go. Because that's what we're all about. We're part of the community. Our mission really is to serve people and help them achieve independence and their goals, the ones that are important to them. You know we don't empower people. We assist them in empowering themselves. And so it's really important to us. And there you know, it's what we do. We don't do it by ourselves. We do it in collaboration with the people we serve.
DOUG: That makes me think of what Joe was just saying his mind set in preparing the students. It's about going in there and knowing that you are right for the job and that's what's most important. It's about being so comfortable and capable with everything that you are able to do that that's the focus. It's that self‑sufficiency and capability, it's creating an organization that fosters that environment and cultivating that.
KIM ZIMMER: I didn't take Facebook off. Can you still hear that behind me?
DOUG: I can't really hear it myself but you can also always mute it. I'm not getting it so much but if you go to the screen you can mute it but thanks for checking on that.
KIM ZIMMER: Just wanted to make sure.
DOUG: Absolutely. One thing it's important to touch on too is obviously the nature of Giving Tuesday Now. Giving Tuesday is something that happens every year but Giving Tuesday is something specifically tied to what's happening with COVID and the specific needs happening now. Maybe if we can speak on both how Helen Keller Services is able to provide services at the time and also the current climate.
KIM ZIMMER: We have an incredibly innovative team. We are in unchartered waters. It's incredibly challenging. And so you know, we can't meet every service direct with the people we serve but we've done I think a really great job of meeting folks virtually. We have adapted to meet folks' needs via technology. And I think we've done it really. Well. We have, you know, much of what we receive in funding, though, you know, hadn't quite caught up. Some of it has. But not all of it. We don't know what that means yet completely. And so, you know, we need some support. You know, we don't have the events that we thought we might have to provide some of that. And you know, so we're still looking at challenges. We don't know when we might come back to that direct one‑on‑one client interaction. But you know, we'll continue to move forward. We're not going to stop meeting the needs of the people with whom we provide services. But we're relying on the folks who are with us today. I mean that really is so important. And we know that the people we're working with really do rely on and look forward to our continued adaptation. And you know, we look forward to even after this virus has passed and we all look forward to that. How we continue to provide these services for people who might not have, you know, maybe we're looking forward to even growing the region so that people who can't get in as easily now might have opportunities. So all of that we're thinking about. But there's not the funding right now to reach that, those folks that need our help.
DOUG: You touch on two really great points there. One, really just it's really impressive for me to watch from an outside vantage point the services Helen Keller Services continue to provide during this time. Certainly known would ask for COVID and everything that's happened. The wake of it taking on that mentality of how do we approach this so we cannot only continue to provide services but use this as an opportunity to address elements where we can better ourselves as an organization and find ways to benefit from it down the line as you so well put. And it's a really great time to tell folks who are watching now Kim eloquently put the need for fund raising. We've made it easy on the live stream. If you are watching there's a donate button connected directly to the live stream. You just connect to that, pay through PayPal or credit card and really any amount helps. One thing about doing a live stream like this is any number of people can join in and if everyone's able to donate whatever it is that they're able to at the moment the collective sum total goes a long way.
KIM ZIMMER: That's absolutely true. Every donation helps. It allows us to continue what we're able to do and introduce new people into, I mean we provide services to people from preschool age all the way up into however age we can get. I mean senior citizens, et cetera. We don't deny anybody services. And you know we're not a fee for service organization. So we really do rely on contributions and donations from individual donors. And every single donation matters. So you're absolutely right. We appreciate everything.
DOUG: Kim, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing everything that you just did. I think it's a helpful way to connect the dots here and it's a way to inform people watching and coming to this and meeting Helen Keller Services and its division for the first time and learning a little bit more directly from the CEO who the organization is and what they do so thank you so much for joining us today.
KIM ZIMMER: Thanks Doug and thanks to everybody tuning in and we hope that we'll continue to build on this and the relationship we have with the folks who are participating via Facebook today with us.
DOUG: Absolutely. Well thanks Kim. Bye.
KIM ZIMMER: Bye.
DOUG: All right. So that was Kim the CEO of Helen Keller Services giving an overview and demonstrating the importance of the fund raising effort we're involved in today and illustrating where your donations go. I think this is a good time to take a moment and call out some new donations here. Thank you so much Chris Woodfill for your donation. Cindy Witkow thank you so much for participating in our virtual fundraiser her. Nickie Fitzpatrick and Travon and Vin Fitzpatrick, thank you to all Fitzpatricks. Thank you so much, Wendy thank you so much, Ruth Chris, really happy to see new names popping up here in the donation section. So thank you for that. I'm going to bring in our next guest here. Doc Francis. Let's get him in the room and all situated here. Hello! Hello Doc Francis. This is Doug Roland speaking. Doc, I'm so glad you can join us today. This is my first time meeting you, so maybe if you could just give me an introduction of who you are and your connection to Helen Keller Services.
DOC FRANCIS: Of course. So, when I became blind, you know it was like 9/11 and I was trying to get through the situation so I was just navigating through the situation as a blind person is how I became connected to Helen Keller Services.
DOUG: We haven't had an opportunity to speak yet so were you a student there? What was your direct connection to the organization?
DOC FRANCIS: So, I was a student at Helen Keller and I also work as a pastor so I have a DeafBlind congregation. I am a DeafBlind pastor with a congregation as well. And through Helen Keller I was able to learn a lot. You know, I had a lot of time for self‑reflection, I learned a lot about who I am and my condition. I am DeafBlind by Usher Syndrome. I didn't know that I had it so I learned to drive at first and when I became older my doctor told me they had something called Usher Syndrome but I didn't know what that entailed. My doctor just told me to go ahead and live my life normally and I noticed as I got older I was having more and more challenges. I was having a lot of close calls when it came to visual things and I noticed my peripheral vision was getting worse. My wife was helping me a lot but it was very frustrating. As I got older my vision got worse and worse. And I'm in California as well, so there are some services here but you know having faith has helped me, too. And in California I met Kathy Kersher and after speaking to her she told me about Helen Keller National Center. I decided to go there for training and after I went there my life really changed. I learned a lot about how to navigate through the world as a blind person. I got mobility training and cooking, I gained my freedom back. I was able to communicate with people through tactile sign language. I was there initially for 12 months which really wasn't enough time. I came back home after my training at Helen Keller, got to teach other people about what I learned and my wife and I worked together to educate people in my life and through church I was able to educate people and the congregation. I really appreciate everything Helen Keller National Center was able to do for me.
DOUG: Thank you. Thank you for sharing. I am interested to hear more about your work as a pastor. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
DOC FRANCIS: So I have been a pastor for 30 years. When I started as a pastor I was able to see. I was able to read my Bible and use my computer and see the congregation that I was preaching to and over time my vision got worse and worse so I started using technology like Zoom Text, I eventually learned braille. When I preach I always wait for someone to call on me and I have a support services provider an SSP come up with me on stage. So they guide me up to the pulpit and I can give my sermon from there but I do have an SSP with me in church and I have somebody with me when my congregation comes up to me. I sit in church, I use two interpreters who speaks out loud what I'm signing and I have another interpreter to tell me what other peopling saying. Sometimes it's my wife that comes with me but now with Coronavirus everything has gone out the window. I've had to close the church temporarily. We're using Facebook now. I have a friend come over and set me up with all the technology and the equipment that I would need to be able to do it on Facebook. You know, I have a little stand that I could put my Bible on. You know he taps me on the shoulder to tell me when we're going live, when to start the sermon and he taps me to tell me you know when the sermon is over and we can put things up on YouTube that people can still benefit from our congregation but it's very different now. I think it's important to show me as a DeafBlind person to show other people that we can do it, that we don't really have limitations as long as we put our mind to things and that we have the same capabilities of everybody else.
DOUG: That's such a great message to end this chat on is that the DeafBlind community like any other community can do anything. Though you are personally the first DeafBlind pastor I've ever met it's a great example of the community being able to participate in any facet of life. I am glad to hear about how Helen Keller National Center has helped your journey in that. Thank you for joining today. I hope we have another chance to speak together in more detail soon.
DOC FRANCIS: Absolutely.
DOUG: Great. Well have a great rest of your day. Bye. Okay. Well thank you Doc Francis for everything you shared with us today. We'll be moving on in just a moment but I think it's a great opportunity to remind you that yes, this is a virtual telethon as well and we have a donate function connected directly to this live stream, so if you haven't already and you are able to, please donate whatever amount you're able to donate. Every donation goes a really long way in helping Helen Keller Services continue to provide the essential services that they do for the communities that they serve and we've gotten a chance to hear directly from a lot of the consumers, hear directly today from consumers who benefit directly from those services and have shared the ways in which those services benefit their lives and empower them to move forward and navigate the world in a confident and whole way. So if you are able to donate, please do now. If you already have or you are not able to make the financial commitment today, please do share this live stream. You can share it, you can click the share button and share on Facebook. You can message people directly and tell them to log on. We're going to be here for at leaf another hour and 45 minutes or so. Got plenty of other great people to speak with and we really love to be able to connect with anyone able to join in. We have a bit of a tight schedule but if you have questions or anything you would like to share in the comments section we certainly will try to get to those so feel free please to write any questions you might have. And without further adieu I'm going to bring in Charnora and Dwight. Hello Charnora and Dwight. Are you there? Dwight, do we have you there.
>>: Hello? Hi, how are you. Is Dwight here?
DOUG: I see his camera on. Maybe he's still getting situated there. So far so good. We've gotten to talk to a lot of really great consumers and staff about a lot of different facets of the organization. I am happy to talk with you now about the adaptive learning program. Looks like Dwight is connecting to the program now. Dwight if you are able to turn on your camera, there you go. There you are. We want to see your face. You know if possible are you able to flip around? Because with the window behind you it is hard to see your face.
DWIGHT MATTOCKS: [inaudible]
DOUG: There you go. Perfect. Dwight this wouldn't be the virtual telethon it could be without getting to see your face so we're really happy to see you there. Thank you so much both for joining us. So why don't we hop into it? Why don't you each give a quick introduction to who you are and your connection to Helen Keller Services.
CHARNORA TAVARES: Hello everyone out there. I am Charnora Simon, the Coordinator of the Adaptive Living Program our program that services people over age 55 that don't have a vocational role. I have been with the agency for a lot of years. This program is my favorite. The people who participate in the out program have the option of taking advantage of low visions services if they would like along with orientation and mobility training, visual rehab therapy which is a fancy way of saying daily living skills. Those are the main components of the program. Most of the services are provided in the home but of course the participant has the option of coming into the office to receive those services as well if they wish. Dwight I am really happy he was able to join us today because I like to tell people once a part of the Helen Keller family always a part of Helen Keller family. He is one of the people that has remained consistent with the agency, has really taken advantage of not only the out program but some of the ancillary services that we [inaudible] and he's terrifically engaged and I was happy that he was able to join us today.
DOUG: This is a perfect time Dwight, why don't you tell us about yourself.
DWIGHT MATTOCKS: All right. Well, I'm Dwight. And I'm part of the Helen Keller Services and I get a lot out of it.
DOUG: I'm going to interrupt you for one second. Move the camera a little farther back. There you go. Continue.
DWIGHT MATTOCKS: Okay. I joined because you know, I wanted to be a part of something. The library club is a good outreach for me. I have been enrolled in their art class which was very therapeutic. And it helped me open up and adjust to my conditions. I get a lot out of the program. I like it. They're informative. They connect me with people that go you know, that go through the same thing I do so we have, so I have someone to confide with. It's a good program. The people are there. It's very welcoming. I enjoy it.
CHARNORA TAVARES: So, Dwight just kind of randomly caught me out of the clear blue sky. He said I'm blind, I recently moved to the community, I'm in a brand new apartment, I need okay to acclimated to my space. One thing I enjoy about overseeing the program if I get enough information about the person I know exactly who to set them up with. I work with a very talented group of people, they're super talented, they have lots of patience and based on the information that Dwight gave me from that conversation I paired him with an instructor that I thought would work well with him and they did. To this day even though he's no longer a client in the traditional sense of getting the mobility, the rehab, his instructor to this day still asks about him, how is Dwight doing and how is he coming along? And because he lives in the community every now and then at lunch I will see Dwight using his cane, using it properly, going to the store, getting to know the neighborhood and that's exactly what we want for the people who seek our services.
DOUG: That's amazing. I love to hear from both of you. You know, Dwight how much you are able to be a part of the community and all the various activities that you do that sound like they bring a lot of fulfillment to your life and also what you said about being a part of the Helen Keller family. I think the ways you are both sharing experiences. Dwight with the last couple of minutes we have here I would love to hear about how your experiences with Helen Keller Services for the Blind has directly impacted your life for the better. Maybe if you could speak more on that. Like skills you've learned and things like that.
DWIGHT MATTOCKS: Like she said, the independent living program, the lady Katie, she came over and she thoroughly helped me and you know living on your own, being blind you know sometimes you feel kind of left out. Her training really opened me up and gave me more confidence in myself. You know to move around, to no longer feel helpless you know? I know I need help but I [inaudible] you know with the mobility training. She gave me implements that you know, that can simplify my life. Because a lot of the times we have hard times with simple things, common everyday things so her training really helped me. I'm more mobile now. I'm not just feeling stuck and isolated. The programs, the groups we have, you know, I can identify with people, open up and share experiences. I mean and it's really uplifting. I get a kick out of it. I love their art class. I love their groups. I love their book club. You know their book club opened me up to a different readings than normally what I generally read. So I mean it uplifted me in ways that I can move on. I'm no longer stuck.
DOUG: That's so beautifully put Dwight. So wonderfully put and that just underlines it right there. I think your enthusiasm for everything you talk about is really I be infectious in a really beautiful way and I'm glad to hear the ways Helen Keller Services and Helen Keller Services for the Blind has helped you enjoy life so much. You really just put a smile on my face hearing you talk about all of this and I am sure that you are putting a smile on the faces of everyone that's watching today. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and Charnora thank you so much. I would love to talk to you more at a later date but thank you for joining us today.
>>: Thank you so much and thank you so much Dwight.
DWIGHT MATTOCKS: I would like to meet you and shake your hand.
DOUG: We'll certainly work that out.
DWIGHT MATTOCKS: Okay. Thank you for including me.
DOUG: Thanks for joining. Take care.
DWIGHT MATTOCKS: Bye‑bye.
>>: Bye‑bye.
DOUG: Thank you so much to Charnora and Dwight for joining us. I'm going to bring Sue Ruzenski into the room. I am very honored to speak can Sue who is the Executive Director of the Helen Keller National Center, someone who I've worked with closely in the last few years. The film that I mentioned earlier on with the first fully DeafBlind actor Sue has been instrumental in every step of bringing that to life and sharing it with so many people but Sue we're here to talk about the virtual telethon. I thought it would be a great time to, we've gotten a chance to speak to Kim and get an overview of the organization but maybe if you can go in depth on the Helen Keller National Center side of things and tell us more about HKNC.
SUE RUZENSKI: Sure. It would be my pleasure and thanks for having me and I want to say thank you to you because none of this would be happening without you and your creative ways and just your ability to pull these things together so thank you.
DOUG: Thank you, I appreciate it.
SUE RUZENSKI: Really. So I'd love you tell you about Helen Keller National Center. We are one division of Helen Keller Services. And we're considered a special institution under the U.S. Department of education. We're an act of Congress. We were established 53 years ago and we are proud to say Congress has given us five mandates that we find very meaningful and enjoy fulfilling every day. One of those is to provide intensive services to individuals who are DeafBlind both in our comprehensive program in New York and to any individual throughout the country through our network of regional offices and our DeafBlind specialists and our community service programs. We work with families and professionals providing them with training and support, and we also conduct applied research and maintain a national registry. Our mission as you probably heard already today is to enable each person who is DeafBlind to live, work and thrive in their community of choice. How we enact that mission is through three major synergistic components of our services. One is our direct service training program which is the program that we offer in New York that provides direct rehabilitation training with an emphasis on employment to individuals from all over the country. We have a field service that extends throughout the country. Those 10 regional offices where we have regional representatives who work very, very closely with state VR partners and other providers to build and elevate services for people who are DeafBlind who may not want to come to New York. And then we have information research and professional development department and they offer professional learning opportunities, on line learning, seminars, producing products that can be helpful for people to build their knowledge and skills. So that's sort of, that's us in a nutshell.
DOUG: That's a fantastic overview. And obviously we can't separate today from the context of COVID‑19 and everything that's happened around that. As we've stated a couple of times throughout today's virtual telethon you know, Giving Tuesday is something that happens every year toward the end of the year. I think it still is happening but Giving Tuesday Now was created to have a much earlier international day of giving because of the needs that have been created in the wake of COVID. So maybe you could tell us how COVID has affected the Helen Keller National Center and their services and some of the challenges and also some of the successes of being able to navigate that.
SUE RUZENSKI: Sure. My pleasure. Well, you know, it's been an interest period, I have to say. You think about this time when we're all separated. The consumers that were at the center in New York left March 13th and we'll never forget it. It was a day that we never thought we would ever live and see a closing of our essential services in New York. We really were so uncertain about everyone's health and safety but also what does the future mean for people in our community that we work with every day who rely on the touch culture? And here we are practicing social distancing. But you know just in terms of how can we just you know continue with our services. And it's funny you know sometimes necessity is the mother of invention. So you have a situation where people, I would say to a person it's been an interesting process. But we have come together as an organization to a great extent. I have seen more collaboration among everyone and learning, and just this very focused meaningful purpose to figure this out and to see how we can make this work. So we've had to suspend our services. That was, you know, pretty devastating but we've reinvented those services and they're taking place in a remote format using Zoom often as a virtual platform but we've been able to connect with the people in the community. We have peer learning groups that sprouted out and are just growing in a variety of topics that include anything from learning about COVID and how best to live a life of safety at this time, to emergency preparedness, employment, preparing for employment, you know the mobility, the gamut of topics and really meaningful dialogues where individuals come together on Zoom and learn. And we've also been able to work with our state partners to sustain some of our services and offer them on an individualized basis in a variety of areas you know, through remote learning which is another thing. And we have these professional learning courses. This is really quite amazing. So you will find them on line for professionals to really enhance skills in a variety of areas. Since we opened it up, I think it was the end of early April. We've had 984 registrants taking courses on line. I was hoping we could tell you a thousand today. But we're almost there.
DOUG: Maybe we'll be able to announce that by the end of this.
SUE RUZENSKI: So even though it looks like oh my good networks you know, out of this we've learned so much. We've been able to really make some really good changes I think that will help us in the future. So to even provide services and reach people that we weren't able to reach before because they couldn't receive services in their home community or were unable to come to New York to receive those services.
DOUG: That's amazingly put Sue and thanks for sharing that. I am just wondering is there anything else that you would like to convey to those watching today or those who will find this later on.
SUE RUZENSKI: I think we're all really grateful. I just want to express my gratitude across the board to everyone, so the consumers who have stood there with us and gone through this journey of learning how do we make this work, how do we make ourselves accessible so we can have an inclusive remote learning opportunity in you know we couldn't do that without that exchange of support with consumers working with us and coming to join in with their peers. It's been a great experience. I have to thank the staff who have really stepped up. Just their ingenuity, commitment to figuring out how can we in the best interests of the people we work with make this a viable and a meaningful time not just throwing up our hands saying we're kind of stuck here. We're not at all. And everyone is giving it their all which is wonderful. I have to say we've received a lot of support in addition through our VR partners and service providers coming together, exchanging, really everyone is caring about each other and trying to make the most of this and even our funders have tapped on our door and said how can we support you? Where are you now? What do you need? You know how can we re‑purpose this grant so it will work for you at this time with an earnest interest in support. It's really made a difference during this time.
DOUG: Sue thank you for that and I think one of the themes that keeps coming up throughout the broadcast today is the team and the family that makes up the organization and the willingness to use this time to be able to continue to provide services and think of new ways to provide services in the future and I think you've done such a good job in describing that. I want to before we sign off to thank you personally for welcoming me into the Helen Keller family several years ago at this point and it's been an honor to get to know you and the organization in this process.
SUE RUZENSKI: The feeling is very mutual Doug thank you.
DOUG: Sue thanks for joining us today and we'll have to talk again soon. Take care, Sue.
SUE RUZENSKI: Bye.
DOUG: Great words from Sue there and again if you are watching this is the Helen Keller Services virtual telethon. Thank you to everyone who has donated thus far. We still have a little ways to go and certainly would love to continue to see those donations to come in so if you have been moved or informed or inspired by anyone that's joined us today both on the consumer side or the staff side sharing personal experiences and connection to this organization please consider making a donation right now. We have a donation button connected directly to this live stream. All you have to do is click donate and you can use PayPal or credit card. Any size donation goes a long way. As Sue and so many people have put it, the reality of COVID has created a real need for an organization like Helen Keller Services to rely on the generosity and support of people like you who are watching so please know that every dollar that you donate will go toward serving the consumers who you have heard from today. I certainly have been moved and inspired by what I have heard. Thank you Judith Roland for your donation and thank you also for being my mother and giving birth to me. I feel like I have to mention that. Thank you to everyone else who has donated. Jen Roman, Jamie, thank you so much for your donations. Zac, thank you so much we really appreciate seeing those donations popping up in the box there. If you haven't donated thank you for doing so now. We're going to be going for another hour and 20 minutes or so and we can really use all the support that we can get. So with that said I'm bringing in Simon here. Simon's getting set up here. Let's see. Simon is coming into the Zoom room here. And Simon is still connecting audio perhaps so while Simon is getting set up there, again if anyone has questions feel free to write them in the comments. I know we're moving through a lot of segments here but if we can answer your questions we'll certainly try to. Thank you for everyone who has participated in the telethon here, for donating and just watching this is really great. This is also an opportunity for everyone who is a part of Helen Keller Services to let you all know more about what the organization does and the people that make it up. So it's in addition to a fundraiser it's an opportunity to learn more about the organization. So let's see, Simon, if you can hear me, let me know. Perhaps you're still getting set up over there so Simon, can you hear me and if you are able to connect to the audio and put your camera on, we'll be able to chat. I think I see your audio coming on. Can you hear me Simon?
SIMON G.: Yep. Hi Doug.
DOUG: If you are able to turn on the camera there it would be great to see you. There you go. Hello!
SIMON G.: Hey, how are you doing Doug?
DOUG: Very well. Thanks for joining us today. Why don't you tell me and everyone who is watching who you are and how you are connected to Helen Keller Services.
SIMON G.: My name is Simon, I am a former student at Helen Keller National Center. I went through their resident program. I was there from January 2010, no I'm sorry, January 2009 to like June 2010 almost a year and a half. And I have Usher's Syndrome too so my hearing is stable but I am completely blind at this point in my life.
DOUG: Can you talk a little bit more about what, what you learned while at Helen Keller National Center and how that's served you in your life now?
SIMON G.: Sure. At the time just before I joined Helen Keller I already had a degree in computer science, but I was struggling with my vision. So, you know, my family member found out about Helen Keller and what Helen Keller National Center provided me was you know adaptive technology. When I used to code write I used to program with my eyes. You know, I could see the lines ever code and stuff like that but they taught me how to use JAWS, a screen reader, it reads out whatever is on the screen along with the application accessible, it reads perfectly out loud, everything I need. My screen reader is pumped up pretty fast. They taught me mobility at orientation. You know I have a goal to live on my own, which I am now you know. I never used a cane before. You know they taught me how to use a cane, how to travel safely, how to listen to the traffic cycle so I could know when to cross safely. You know, another big thing that I don't think a lot of people realize being in the resident program therapy being there, through all my life I've never been with a DeafBlind person or a [inaudible] hearing person or being with people just like you, you know, with really good therapy, you understand, you are not in it by yourself and with the, you know the social workers like Lisa Honan, my case manager and Susan, Autumn you know, really encourage you to be you know, just learn from the other students and you know we learn from each other and it was just very therapeutic to understand it's not the end of the world being DeafBlind.
DOUG: That's really, really well put and I love how you hit on the fact that you are not only able to get a lot of really useful skills from a place like Helen Keller National Center but it's also a place of community and it's a place to come together with other people in a similar position and really, and really get to support each other through community and I'm really glad you hit on that. Unfortunately we don't have too much time here but with the last minute we have here, I understand that you are a computer programmer now and that you took the skills that you learned at the Helen Keller National Center and applied it to your life as a programmer, if you could take 30 seconds or a minute to talk about your professional life.
SIMON G.: I currently work for Deco. I have been working there for seven years, I'm a senior programmer there. I go to work on my own, I use paratransit, I get around with a guide dog now. You know with all the skills I got from Helen Keller and with my job I'm able to own a place of my own, a condo, a little condo, you know, and I just live, I'm able to live my dream. My dream is the American dream, and I'm living it you know thankful for Helen Keller.
DOUG: Well thank you. That's really well put and thank you so much for joining us today Simon. It was really a pleasure speaking with you.
SIMON G.: Okay. Thank you, too.
DOUG: Okay. Take care. All right. Thank you, Simon for sharing all of that. If you are tuning in or if you have been watching for a while and thinking of donating now is a great time to do so. Click that donate button and every dollar donated is going to go a long way in helping essential services Helen Keller provides and that they continue to provide during this time. Giving Tuesday is an annual day of giving usually at the end of the year but Giving Tuesday Now is because of the need COVID has presented for Helen Keller to be able to provide the services that they do. We've had a pleasure of hearing from a lot of the staff and also the consumers today from Helen Keller Services as to how the organization has benefited their lives. We appreciate any donation that you can make and sharing this broadcast goes a long way in reaching people. So thank you so much for that. Let me go to the schedule here. We're going to bring in Nohemy here. Let me get situated. It takes a moment to bring somebody into the room. Hello! Welcome. Hi, how are you doing?
NOHEMY VIZCARRONDO: Hi.
DOUG: I think Diane is here as well so let me bring her into the room. Getting situated here. I think we're connecting to the audio Diane if you can hear me I think you are still connecting to the audio so just one moment. Let's see here. So in the meantime while we're waiting for Diane to get connected Nohemy maybe you can tell us a little about the day orientation program and who you are.
NOHEMY VIZCARRONDO: You are going to start with me?
DOUG: Yes.
NOHEMY VIZCARRONDO: I my name is Nohemy, I am a [inaudible] provider at Helen Keller Services for the Blind.
DOUG: Hold on is there music playing.
NOHEMY VIZCARRONDO: My daughter was making a phone call.
DOUG: I wanted to make sure where that was coming from. Please continue.
NOHEMY VIZCARRONDO: I work in one of the programs, it is Without Walls. We basically connect our individuals in the community, working in the specific goals and their personal interests. So it's like a mix of everything. So my group ages are from 26 to 80. So it's a beautiful group. They're very upbeat, willing to go to places and be part of the community. We also volunteer in the community so we try to be in everything we can.
DOUG: That's great. And can you just tell me a little bit more about maybe how your program has been affected by COVID and what's happening and maybe some ways that you have tried to work with those circumstances and continue to provide services?
NOHEMY VIZCARRONDO: Well, since the whole pandemic started we basically stopped operations and we couldn't like, the beginning of kind of awful because we couldn't really reach out but now with getting more structure like we doing phone calls and we're doing face time with them and trying to do activity package for them and sending activities in the mail. We are trying to later on connect with them if the house is permitted you know maybe to go and visit them and at least from the distance and with all precautions just to say hi and let them know we're still here for them and being supportive to them.
DOUG: That's great. That's something we've heard throughout the telethon today is the ways in which the organization has found ways to continue to support the consumers that really rely on the services that are really essential services in a lot of ways. Essential services is something, an essential has been a key word during this time and really what it is that you do and a lot of people throughout the organization do is essential to a lot of people so it's really nice to hear that you are finding ways to make adjustments and still connect with people. So with the last minute or so we have here I am just wondering if you are speaking directly to people watching right now, maybe people coming to this and maybe don't know much about Helen Keller Services and the services they provide prior to tuning in today is there anything you would like to say to anyone watching today.
NOHEMY VIZCARRONDO: Well we are doing all this together. We're trying to maintain our distances and you know, wearing the masks. I mean our individuals are the most important thing in our jobs. And we are trying to be there for them and protect them. So if everybody put some of their time to protect themselves and you know, do their part then we have to do in this pandemic we're going to be like be able to control this and go back to our more normal selves you know? That's the best part you know, then we can try to work on this together for our guys, for ourselves and families.
DOUG: Absolutely. That's really well said. Well, thank you for that and on that note I think that's a good place to end this conversation. Thank you so much for joining today. We obviously have a pretty packed schedule today. Thank you for sharing everything that you did. It was really informative. Thank you for joining.
NOHEMY VIZCARRONDO: You're very welcome.
DOUG: Well thank you Nohemy for sharing that. I'm going to take another moment, I see new donations, let's see if I can identify these new ones. Thank you so much Erin Quinn who is also interpreting on this broadcast. Thank you for being able to interpret and donate at the same time. That's amazing. We appreciate that. Thank you Brenda Barencelli. We appreciate every donation that's come in today. We have an hour left and certainly a long way to go with where we would like to get to this fund raising effort. You've heard from some of the amazing people that make up Helen Keller Services on both the staff and consumer side. Speak in really beautiful ways about what the organization means to them personally and the essential services that they're able to provide. So if you are able to, if you are able to support please do now. I know there are so many places in need and so many ways in which you can be spending that money. I guarantee if you choose to click that Donate button now it would be money well spent going to services people rely on. I know it can sometimes be a lot. You are inundated with so many requests. It can be a lot to take the moment and click through and put in a credit card and attach your PayPal but know it will be very appreciated by the people you've heard from so far. Please do click that button connected to the live broadcast and donate. So with that said, we're going to bring in Lorain. Hello, Lorraine. Can you hear me? I think you are connecting your audio there. She's the Executive Director for Helen Keller Services for the Blind and will be telling us more about that in just a moment when she is connected. I want to say thank you so much Cari Benson for your donation. We really appreciate it and it's so nice to see your name pop up here. So thank you very, very much for that. I think we've got you connected. Are you able to adjust the camera down a little bit so we can see a little clearer? That's great. Thanks for joining us today. So if you could just start off by introducing yourself and speaking a little more in detail about the services that Helen Keller Services for the Blind provosts.
LORRAINE LOCURTO: I have worked there 42 years. Before I get started with our services I would like to thank everybody who is participating today and thank you for spending part of your day learn more about us at Helen Keller. Helen Keller has been around for more than 125 years. And we have a very wide range of services that we provide to folks of all ages starting with young children in our early intervention program and going up to the seniors in our out program that Charnora and Dwight spoke about so eloquently. We have location in Brooklyn and Hempstead and Islandia and in most of the facilities we provide the full gamut of vocational rehabilitations services. Those include things like low vision services. We have a low vision clinic in all of our facilities and the low vision specialist there will help prescribe low vision aids and devices to individuals to maximize whatever residual vision they might have. We provide rehabilitation training there, it covers how to make yourself more empty in your open home, management skills, laundry, cooking skills, basic communication, the use of apps to make yourself more independent in your own home. We offer orientation mobility which is to help someone learn to move safely within their own environment whether that be in their home, community or having to take the railroad and the subway to get to work. We provide individual and group counseling to help people adjust to blindness and to navigate the vast resources that are out there and people have sometimes trouble accessing. We have a placement department. We do employment skills starting off with diagnostic vocational evaluation and moving on to job seeking skills, resumé writing, interviewing skills, job development and then eventually to working with someone in placements and actually placing them in the job and giving them the support they need in order to be successful. We have a similar prevocational program we do with teens, letting them know what is possible for a visually impaired person to do, pretty much try to teach them that the sky is the limits if that's what they want and often help them get their very first job which is always very rewarding. We have our OUP program that you saw with Charnora and Dwight which is helping older seniors remain independent in their own home and then we have our technology programs that operate in our facilities which is really teaching somebody the adaptive software to make the computer efficient for them whether that be through a speech program or a large print program, a braille program because in this day and age if you don't have the technology skill you're probably going to struggle to find some kind of employment. We have an advanced technology program and customer service program which Marcia and Phillip talked about earlier that's been a boon to a lot of people who have participated in that so those services exist across all our facilities and then we have specialized services in some locations. In Brooklyn we have our Children's Learning Center, early intervention and preschool for multiply handicapped children. On Long Island we have the program that Naomi talked about a little bit ago a day habilitation program a service to disabled adults within that variety of programs we also have community habilitation which provides services to developmentally disabled folks who may live at home, give the families some help and relief and we have a respite program and we have a residential program. Doug if I could take a minute to give a shout out to the staff that worked in the group homes they've become the essence of an essential worker working 24/7 supporting people who have been in their houses since mid March. No visitors allowed that's a state mandate right now, they can't go to their programs, work or visit their families so that staff that have been working there have really been angels there. Also on Long Island we have camp Helen Keller a beautiful summer camp for visually impaired children that we're crossing our finger and hoping against hope that we'll be able to run that some summer. The book club, our health and wellness program that's running remotely and providing stress reduction to a lot of folks who I think need that right now. That's pretty much the services that we provide.
DOUG: Thank you for that very thorough run down. With the last couple moments we have here obviously this fundraiser's happening very much in the context of COVID and additional needs created during that time. For those watching right now or people who might be coming to this later is there anything you would like to say directly to them as far as the potential donors out there or people who are considering giving to this? Is there something you would like to say directly to them.
LORRAINE LOCURTO: We're all in this together. We have all been affected in some ways. Being able to provide the services in this time is very challenging and very expensive particularly like I said in our residential programs, we've had to you know employ many, many staff round the clock shifts that we've never had to do before so many expenses that are new to us but we're managing them. So any help from the community is always very appreciated.
DOUG: Absolutely. Well thank you so much Lorain for that and for sharing more details about Helen Keller Services for the Blind and all the services they provide. It was a pleasure speaking with you.
LORRAINE LOCURTO: Thank you Doug and thank you for putting this all together for us. Thank you. Bye‑bye.
DOUG: Bye. Well thank you so much Lorraine the Executive Director of Helen Keller Services for the Blind for sharing more information about the services they provide and thank you for all of you watching so far. We really appreciate everyone who has tuned in and donated. Thank you to Julie Mandelbown and to Barbara Fineman, my aunt, thank you so much. Thank you to everyone who has donated and I'm excited to bring on Holly right now. Holly, thanks for joining us today. Holly, I got to, so Holly, I will allow you to introduce yourself in just a moment but to give a little context Holly normally participates in Helen Keller Services run walk fundraiser which unfortunately was not able to happen this year but she still wanted to find a new way to support in the way that she always does every year. I was actually sent a really moving letter that she wrote sharing the sentiment that she really wanted to still help raise money for Helen Keller Services and support them even in the wake of not being able to do the run/walk so with that introduction Holly if you could tell us about yourself and how you are connected to Helen Keller Services.
HOLLY STERNLICH: Hi, my name is Holly, my mom is an interpreter so obviously I have been around sign language since I was little. In fourth grade she told me about the Helen Keller run/walk. I used to go at the end for the food and stuff but I wanted to be in it. I started a team in fourth grade called Holly's Homeys. We walked it, I didn't think much about it, I did it every single year, I did it fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh grade and I would have been doing it now and in sixth grade my mom started the Helen Keller youth club. It was more of an interactive way to be involved because the run and walk I wasn't really around anyone who was deaf or blind. It was just me and my friends but the youth club I was able to interact with students there. It would start with a guest speaker or someone would talk about their story and then we would do activities. You would feel like an obstacle course, they were fun activities but it gave you a new perspective and appreciation for anyone who is DeafBlind.
DOUG: If you recall some of what you shared in the letter, you were speak that a little bit but maybe if you could share some more of the sentiments you expressed in that because you did such a great job of expressing why this resonates with you so personally. Maybe if you could speak a little bit more on that.
HOLLY STERNLICH: I feel like they closed their doors for the first time since 1969. I feel like the DeafBlind community is already isolated because it's hard to communicate if someone doesn't know sign language or something like that and now they're even more isolated because they rely on touch and braille. People don't want to touch them because of corona right now. I feel someone who is already isolated is even more isolated. Right now Helen Keller is not open and they can't learn how to do that stuff. So someone like me has the, like the privilege of having a phone and a computer and I can know what's going on in the world but someone who doesn't know how to use that stuff right now doesn't know what's going on, they don't know if it's better or worse or what's going to happen and I think that can be really scary for someone. I couldn't imagine going through that. I think they need help right now. And anything that I can do to help them is like, important.
DOUG: So well put. What grade are you in right now Holly?
HOLLY STERNLICH: Eighth grade.
DOUG: It's so great, we've been trying to talk to so many people that day. It's great for you to come on today and represent a more youthful voice today. It's great what you are talking about is obviously Helen Keller Services services all age groups including youth as well. But for you who perhaps aren't directly connected to the DeafBlind community I think there's a real value as a younger person to have a connection to an awareness of all different types of people and having in the way that you have expressed and the way that just enriches your own life and gives you a much greater understanding of the world around you. So it's so nice that you are able to get involved in this at such a young age. Could you tell us about the HKNC youth club.
HOLLY STERNLICH: It's mostly targeted for middle schooler, high schoolers, Helen Keller is in Port Washington but people have come that are not from Port Washington. There are chairs in a circle and a student will come and speak and they'll share their story and sometimes they'll share technology, how they use their phones, and this and that. They'll take questions that anybody has. Usually we'll go into some sort of activity like I said before. We all had blind folds on, reach into a basket and try to guess what stuff was. We did the conference bike, there's a track there, one person steers the bike and it's six people, everyone has to pedal and that moves the bike. We did a bunch of fun stuff like that. Sometimes we'll learn some sign language, stuff like the alphabet, numbers, things like that. Just basics. And then sometimes we'll do another activity or something or just have our project, things like that.
DOUG: How many people are, partake in the youth group?
HOLLY STERNLICH: It started really small like 10 people but every month it gets bigger. It's not a commitment so it kind of depends but maybe 30 people. It's definitely growing. It's getting a lot bigger.
DOUG: Someone like yourself who has been there from the start seeing new people join in from time to time and watching their journey from maybe someone entering into the group for the first time and being connected to the DeafBlind community and seeing their evolution is there anything interesting that you have seen witnessing people coming into the group their evolution throughout the process?
HOLLY STERNLICH: People start off a little uncomfortable and unsure and as they come more times they're more excited to come and they're more familiar with some of the students, someone who has been there a few months they're like oh hi, how are you? I think that's really cool to see, people are really starting to open up and making the change and becoming more aware and stuff like that.
DOUG: That's so great that you mention that. And part of what Helen Keller Services does and what we hope this broadcast does is to bring awareness to the DeafBlind community that Helen Keller serves. There are many people throughout the country that are part of those communities and certainly a lot of people who aren't directly connected to someone who is but there's also plenty of people out there who may not have a connection to the communities. It's important to understand still communities of people that you might not be directly connected to but we still benefit from understanding more. We are certainly interconnected with each other and really need to be able to understand and communicate with each other. So with the last few moments here obviously a lot of what we're doing today is centered around the virtual telethon aspect and we are raising money to help support Helen Keller Services and the services they provide. So Holly speaking directly to the people watching now and people that will come to this later is there anything you would like to say about what this organization means to you and how important it is for them to donate if they can.
HOLLY STERNLICH: I think it's really important. It's important to me that I am lucky enough to have my full sight and my full hearing. And I think that if you are in a position to be able to give, it's really important. Especially in times like this where not everyone is doing as well as we want them to, that you need to give, like if you can give back like that's really important. It can help someone more than you think it could. And anything you could give could be beneficial and thank you to anyone who did give today. We're thankful for everyone who did give.
DOUG: Thank you so much Holly for joining today and also for everything that you do both with the HKNC youth club and your participation in the run walk every year. Again I was genuinely moved by the sentiments that you shared in first the letter and what you have spoken about today and I think you really are a great role model for a lot of other people your age that you know, hopefully you'll inspire them to learn more about the community and get involved as well so thank you for joining us today.
HOLLY STERNLICH: Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.
DOUG: Thank you Holly for sharing that. Thank you to all of you out there who have donated so far. We are really happy to see any donation of any size come in. We have about 45 minutes left in this broadcast so if you have been sitting there thinking about donating now would be a great time to do that. If you are able to reach out to other people and have them join us on this broadcast for the last 45 minutes or so that would be amazing as well and really helpful. And thank you Deb Harlan for your donation and Lorain who just joined us and donated shortly thereafter and Nicole Roth and if I have missed anyone who has donated please write something in the comments. I would love to give you a shout out. Thank you to everyone who has participated in the telethon so far. I want to bring Stephanie Trollo into the room. I see you are connecting. Thanks for joining us today for the HKS virtual telethon. I know we heard toward the end of what Lorain was talking about we heard her mention Camp Helen Keller. Introduce yourself and your connection to that.
STEPHANIE TROLLO: Sure my name is Stephanie Trollo. I have been the director of the Camp Helen Keller for nine years but I worked as the music director before that and even before that my grandmother was the camp coordinator so I have been around Camp Helen Keller since birth. It's a fabulous program, a day camp for children 4 through 16. We get about 50 kids a summer. We have a very small staff to camper ratio. For every three campers we have one staff member. Our camp is actually an intervention program designed to help children who have vision loss catch up on those developmental gaps that vision loss can lead to. Most of our campers go to regular public schools during the year where they are the only visually impaired child that they know. Then they have five weeks over the summer where they get to be with 49 other kids that are just like them and that in and of itself say pretty meaningful experience. Then beyond that we have our staff who are trained to support really key parts of development that sometimes classroom teachers are not aware of or these things are easily overlooked and we use these five weeks to try to really help those kids catch up.
DOUG: You know I can't help but think of are you familiar with the documentary Crip Camp? It's a really great documentary, it goes back to a camp in the 70s the first camp for kids with disabilities. What resonates with what you just said and why I thought of that is what was really echoed throughout the documentary by the kids part of the camp and what you just shared is the importance of kids being able to come together and feeling like they're really a part of a community and a community they feel like they fit in better than other communities in day‑to‑day lives and really the importance of being around other kids that can relate much more closely to their experience and I imagine that's one of the most valuable elements of the camp.
STEPHANIE TROLLO: Absolutely. And as wonderful as it is to think about that there's been a fair amount of research showing that there are measurable psychological benefits to kids being around other kids who are like them.
DOUG: Absolutely. So I understand that we have a video clip. Can you introduce that while I get that ready?
STEPHANIE TROLLO: Sure. Two of our campers, they were both adopted from China, they're sifters, they both have Albanism which means they're legally blind. They have been attending here for five years and they have some pretty great things to say about the program.
DOUG: If you could do me a favor Stephanie, if you could let me know that you are able to hear the video when I start it, that would be great. Okay. So let me see here. Okay. All right so give me a moment here. Okay. Great. Share. All right. I'm just going to pull that up here. Give me one moment. I can tell you it's certainly worth it. I'm just connecting here. Sorry it signed me out of connecting to my Google Drive so I have to go back in here. Of course what would be a virtual telethon without some technical snafus. You know what? I'm not sure this is going to pop up now. It's not letting me connect. Maybe Stephanie while I try to troubleshoot this, if you could share a little bit more about, you know I understand that you know the camp this year is hanging in the balance a little bit depending on what's happening. Maybe if you could talk about how things have been affected by COVID and maybe some alternatives that you are thinking about or hopes that you have in terms of that.
STEPHANIE TROLLO: Sure. So I am waiting as long as possible to make any calls. There's some evidence saying warm weather and humidity will have an impact on the virus so I'm holding out for that. I'm also waiting to see what kinds of things school districts come up with for the fall in terms of social distancing. Our program has always mirrored schools in lots of ways and this could be another way where we could benefit from schools setting up something first but for now we're considering bumping the program back a week so starting later to buy ourselves more time and beyond that we would have to unfortunate cut maybe one week off the program. If that's not enough we might have to consider split sessions, some kids come one day and some on another. We're waiting as long as possible and things in New York seem to be changing every week or so.
DOUG: When traditionally does the camp start?
STEPHANIE TROLLO: We usually start the Monday after fourth of July and run for five weeks.
DOUG: I see. Well unfortunately, Zoom is not letting me connect to my Google Drive but I will share the video on our page later today. We look forward to sharing that later today and Stephanie, thank you so much for joining us today and talking about Camp Helen Keller and fingers crossed that all works out for that. We're hoping you are able to do that.
STEPHANIE TROLLO: Thank you.
DOUG: All right take care.
STEPHANIE TROLLO: Bye, thank you.
DOUG: All right. Thank you so much Stephanie for joining us. We are going to bring Cari Ford into the room now and Cari thank you so much for your patience today. I know the schedule got a little bit wonky so we'll let you just get connected there. Looks like you are connected. I know on your end the scheduling got switched around a little bit so thank you for your patience and we're happy that you are able to join us today.
CARI F.: Not a problem.
DOUG: If you could introduce yourself and talk about how you are connected to Helen Keller Services.
CARI F.: My name is Cari and I was introduced to Helen Keller Services via my regional rep. I had a meeting with her, she discussed the services that Helen Keller provides. Plus she told me about the professional learning leadership intern program, and that was right up my alley. So I went through all the process to get there, had some training and then went through the internship program.
DOUG: And could you talk a little bit about what you feel like I gained from your experience at HKNC in your personal and professional life.
CARI F.: Wow, well, to, I have to summarize because there so much I can't mention it all here. Of course my internship was in the independent living department. So, I have to say that the instruction I got personally was you know, very helpful and invaluable for not only my internship but for my professional teaching as I am a rehab teacher. And the other personal impacts that blew me away was audiology, because I didn't know that there were other choices of hearing aids. So I got a chance to try some out and I picked some hearing aids that really helped me personally, and professionally. I gained some tools as to how to make communication cards for when I get into situations where I can't hear I can use those cards. And so that blew me away. I have some basic sign language that I still practice just to keep it up. And also mobility. I have some tools for street crossings, when I'm not comfortable I can use the street crossing signs, and also the Lyft and Uber cab signs so I can be easily identified. I use all of these tools in my personal life. Professionally, PLLI, professional learning leadership internship I was on was absolutely what I needed. It gave me some hands on teaching experience. You know I had a lot of instruction, and then I actually work with students under the supervision of you know the instructors, and for three months. And it taught me a lot about myself, a lot about my teaching and made me face some of the challenges that I needed to face and think about. And when I got back to my home and went on the job interview I was able to talk about those experiences and demonstrate some of the skills that I was able to learn. And I think that really helped in gaining my rehab teacher position.
DOUG: And can you talk more about your professional life now as a rehab teacher and tell us a little bit more about that?
CARI F.: So I'm a rehab teacher for the state of Missouri so I'm working in the field when the virus isn't around, and so I teach people, my clients are mainly seniors, senior citizen adults who are blind and are losing their vision. Some of them also have hearing losses so there's a variety. I have been working for about six months and I have been learning all the way, and I am still loving my job even though we're remotely can be frustrating. But I'm still loving my job and I still love all the people that I work with.
DOUG: And you know obviously as we've been managing throughout this broadcast we're certainly operating very much in the context of COVID and obviously additional needs that have been created during that time particularly for you know today the theme is for certainly raising funds for Helen Keller Services as a result of some of the extra additional challenges from a funding standpoint and really needing people to participate and help support Helen Keller Services so it can continue to provide the essential services it does. I am curious, how is the recent happening with COVID‑19 affected your life?
CARI F.: I am working remotely so I am still working and I am very grateful to be working so I am, you know rehab counselors and teachers are essential so we still have to provide service even though we do it remotely. I'd say it's more positive, because I've gotten kind of spoiled on the remote side of it. You know, I don't have to get up so early and worry about transportation and you know, all that stuff. I don't necessarily have to dress up. I can still do and I do. So that's been a positive. And I've also had more chances to do some more professional development, a lot more readings and additional trainings that I wouldn't have time to do if I weren't in this situation. So it's actually been more positive than you know, than negative.
DOUG: I'm really glad to hear it's provided you time to learn and you know, further your development in other places that you might not otherwise have that time so that's a really great positive outcome from something that wouldn't otherwise necessarily have been the most positive thing but it's, you are able to find some positive outcomes in that. That's really great. You know with the last minute or so of our conversation here knowing that there are people watching this live right now, people who will be coming to this later as someone like yourself who has obviously been, benefited from services at Helen Keller National Center and someone who is a thriving professional yourself I'm wondering if there's anything that you would like to say directly to people watching about why it's important to support an organization like Helen Keller Services.
CARI F.: Well as far as the National Center, which is what I'm familiar with, it's important to keep the programs going. All the instructors are absolutely superb. Very supportive, everything is individualized, which I think is extremely helpful that it's all individualized. It's all one on one. Which is important for a DeafBlind person to have that one on one. And also there's supports after, you know there's different seminars. Right now they've got Zoom meetings going on so I am involved in three Zoom conference groups to continue sharing and continue gaining knowledge and continue staying in touch. So it's not only just like during when you are there. It's before. It's during, it's after that you have all the continued support and resources at your disposal.
DOUG: Well, thank you Cari. That was so well put and thank you for sharing what you did today. I think a lot of people will benefit from what you were able to talk about today. Thank you for joining and thank you, I know there was a mixup in the schedule.
CARI F.: I'm glad too and we all have to be flexible.
DOUG: That's very true. That's a good note to end on with this conversation and thank you again for joining us Cari.
CARI F.: You're welcome. Thank you.
DOUG: Okay. Well everyone, I see Beth Jordan just joined us, hello Beth, nice to see your name pop up. And thank you to everyone who has donated today. We have about 25 or so minutes left. I think we might have one more guest joining us if he can get things set up but in the meantime it's a great opportunity to reflect on some of the conversations we've had today. We've had the distinct pleasure of hearing from many people throughout the Helen Keller Services family and the divisions that make it up including Helen Keller National Center and Helen Keller Services for the Blind to be able to hear directly from the staff and consumers that really are the face of the organization. A lot of what we wanted to do today certainly is raise money for Helen Keller Services. COVID has created a really fund raising need and that's why we are fund raising today. Also this was an opportunity for Helen Keller Services to pull back the curtain and let all of you in to be able to get a more personal understanding and direct connection to the organization and the people that make it up. And you know for those of you that have been able to join us for any part of this and perhaps the entire broadcast I'm sure you would agree that there are some amazing people that make up this organization and certainly many more that we were not able to connect with today but hopefully we'll be able to talk with in future live streams. But with that said if you are watching and able to donate right now there's limited time left in this particular virtual telethon event so now would be a great time to click the donate button that is attached to this live stream. It makes it very simple to donate whatever amount you are able to will certainly go to good use. So whenever you are able to please donate. Thank you to everyone. I hope I haven't missed calling out any names. I know some of you may have donated directly to the website or prior to this broadcast so if I haven't been able to call you out feel free to type in the comments. It's been great to see familiar names pop up. Chad Hunt, Barbara Fineman, Mary Fu, I am seeing some great familiar names and good friends of mine and everyone has written comments, you know we may not have gotten to address everything that you have been writing but we appreciate all the supportive comments that you have been writing. With that said we have Mark Armstrong joining us now. I am going to bring Mark in. Hello Mark I see that you are connecting to the audio right now. We'll give you a moment to get situated.
MARK ARMSTRONG: Hello Doug.
DOUG: Thanks for joining us today.
MARK ARMSTRONG: I had a little bit of technology issues getting on today.
DOUG: We're glad you made it on. It wouldn't be a live broadcast and Zoom call without having some sort of technical challenges. I am facing a wood table and I have been knocking on it through the entire broadcast. Fortunately we've been able to have a long and fruitful live stream so far and I'm so glad to have you join me. With that said I would love if you could start off by introducing yourself and speaking about the role in the organization.
MARK ARMSTRONG: I am mark Armstrong and I live in North Carolina and I work remotely for Helen Keller from North Carolina. I am the senior adult programs specialist for Helen Keller and what that really means is I work with senior adults 55 and older who have combined vision and hearing loss. A lot of seniors I work with who are seniors who had vision or hearing or one or the other during their life and now they're losing one or the other or a combination and now it's hectic for them to try to live as they did before. So it's great work and I enjoy working with the seniors.
DOUG: That's such an interesting thing to bring up. I think certainly for a lot of people watching today there's a lot of people directly connected to Helen Keller Services or the community as well as some people tuning in today who will be watching this later who maybe are coming to Helen Keller Services for the first time and maybe don't know much of anything about the DeafBlind community, perhaps don't know anyone personally, might be surprised to know that one of the largest portions of the DeafBlind community is the elderly and that you know people who perhaps lived most of their lives with vision and hearing and are as they get older are losing it and are becoming part of the DeafBlind community. I think that's a helpful thing to point out because I know a lot of people don't necessarily know that without having some context.
MARK ARMSTRONG: That's right. And to be honest Doug it goes so unreported and a lot of people, they are people who have issues with admitting they have a hearing loss or a disability but particularly seems that people tend to hide that fact or they're not comfortable with wearing the hearing aids. And a lot of it they feel like they're going to be treated differently if people find that out. So it is a very good thing and those seniors are really, it's a growing population as we know. And it's more and more so it is a very, very large group if not the largest group of what we would now call DeafBlind.
DOUG: Right. And you know I went obviously COVID has affected all facets of life and certainly of the organization. I know obviously, it's great that we've reiterated throughout the broadcast that many of the services Helen Keller Services is still able to provide. I understand with the population that you work with there's some additional challenges during this time. Maybe you could speak a little bit on that topic.
MARK ARMSTRONG: Well, you mean the challenges right now during our current climate?
DOUG: Right.
MARK ARMSTRONG: It's very difficult. And Helen Keller is doing such good things with you trying to go with the remote training and things like this. But the seniors who are not necessarily technically savvy that's more challenging. And plus if they, you know, if they don't have the braille, the ability to access the information tactilely or anything like that so they're still depending on the hearing many of them. So when I do training it's very hard for them to, actually some ever them to hear and to really have that access to the information. So is that what you are asking Doug?
DOUG: I think again it's important to note that for many people you know technology is obviously a regular part of our lives and during these times where it becomes more important, for certain people it's seamless to switch over to Zoom calls and technology but for certain populations where technology is maybe not as much of a part of their normal lives this is an even more challenging time in that sense.
MARK ARMSTRONG: May I add that a number of seniors they don't live inside the cities, don't have access to the technology. Some states are pretty far out there so to speak and they just don't have the infrastructure for that connectivity.
DOUG: I am here in Los Angeles and any time my wi‑fi gets skittish I'm really upset by it but there are certainly parts of the country that wi‑fi is hard to come by so it's a reminder to not take the wi‑fi that I have for granted or rather other things that are provided for granted. But no, absolutely. So I'm wondering for those watching today, obviously we've been doing the Helen Keller Services virtual telethon and we're raising money for Giving Tuesday Now is Giving Tuesday bumped up from its normal slot to today because of the need that's been created in the wake of COVID. I am just wondering speaking directly to people watching now and those who will watch later, the value of them, those who can contribute financially today why it is so important.
MARK ARMSTRONG: It is so important because the states do not have a lot of money to spare. It's very tight and I have a feeling it's going to get even tighter now. But you know, people need access to the information they actually, wait a minute I'm getting confused about what you are asking.
DOUG: Just talking to the people able to donate today.
MARK ARMSTRONG: Yeah donations. It costs a lot of money for training and it cost a lot of money for equipment and it costs a lot of money for me to go places and to teach people if I want to do it live if that opportunity presents itself again. But there's not a lot of money for seniors through states because if there's no employment the money is harder to let loose for seniors. You know a lot of money is going toward educational goals and people who want to work. So if you are a home maker or at a point where you need to not work longer then it's harder to get the funding so donations are very well appreciated particularly for my program called the Confident Living program, we do it twice a year for five days each at the center but I have the opportunity to do that across the country and we call that on the road and I do work throughout the country everywhere so it's very expensive for me to go and to provide these trainings and to bring in the seniors. There's always the cost of bringing them to the location which is usually taken on by the state so that's very difficult as well. So definitely any funding people can share is great. It's a great cause, Helen Keller National Center as well as Services for the Blind does such an excellent job. Always looking forward to move forward and advance our skills and our ability to serve consumers.
DOUG: I know you touched upon this a little earlier with the population that you work with, the hesitancy to show their hearing or vision loss. Speaking to the awareness side of this, because on the one hand we're certainly raising money today. If you are able to donate today please click the donate button and do so. I think it's important to pull back the curtain and let people see the faces that make up this organization, both the staff and the consumer side showing the needs of the DeafBlind communicate in various spaces of media. In this case Facebook live and another case the film where I casted a DeafBlind actor. Can you speak of the experience of the awareness of the community and the integration of DeafBlind into the main stream community.
MARK ARMSTRONG: It's a little strange because I myself am DeafBlind. If you think about it, because the vision loss I have. I have very severe vision loss, I have hearing loss in one ear and the other one has its challenges. But you know, if you look at me you don't think hey he's DeafBlind because I function as a fully sighted and hearing person for so many years and now that I'm experiencing this it's quite different. So I wasn't, before coming on board with Helen Keller National Center I wasn't aware of what it meant to be DeafBlind to be honest. I thought you had vision and hearing loss or you had to be completely vision and hearing loss, either one but that's not the case. So the awareness is that it's out there. People may not understand. Maybe you are talking to someone and they don't quite understand what you are saying. You are thinking something is not quite right but in fact it is the communication between the vision and hearing that's causing the issue. And also it's just good to know because the awareness needs to be there because families often don't understand it and it creates so many communication issues and hard feelings within the family, a lot of stress even with the abilities I have it's stressful for my wife and I at times when we're trying to communicate. We go through it as well. So for me having you know, being a part of the community so to speak, it's really made me more aware of people's needs out there and particularly for those who are DeafBlind or have combined vision and hearing loss.
DOUG: Thank you so much Mark that was wonderfully put and thank you for joining us today as part of the virtual telethon. I appreciate hearing your side of things and I hope we can talk in the future.
MARK ARMSTRONG: I would not mind sponsoring one of the Feeling Through movie premiere. I haven't done that yet so at some time I would like to talk to you about it.
DOUG: Hopefully we'll be able to work that out soon.
MARK ARMSTRONG: Thank you, sir.
DOUG: Thank you, Mark. Have a great rest of your day. All right, folks that was mark Armstrong with Helen Keller National Center sharing some really great information about the senior population that he works with and also just some more information about the diversity of the DeafBlind community and that it is a community that includes quite a spectrum of people spanning all ages, many different degrees of vision and or hearing loss, and, but a community that we've really gotten to hear from today and gotten to hear from some really great consumers connected to Helen Keller Services as well as a lot of the amazing staff that make up Helen Keller Services. And with our final five or so minutes here, we're still raising money for our virtual telethon so if you are watching and you are able to donate please do so. All you have to do is click the donate button attached to the live stream and it will connect to the place where you can use PayPal or a credit card. Perhaps you have been watching the broadcast and aren't in the best financial situation even if you are able to donate a dollar or giving us a like today, if you are watching and maybe are financially more secure during these times I can guarantee that every dollar you donate today will go toward the services that Helen Keller Services provide throughout the country. Thank you to everyone who has donated. I think I've gotten a shout out to most people who have done so through Facebook. If I missed you please message us right now. I'm just scrolling through to see if I have missed anyone. Thank you to everyone who has been writing amazing comments throughout this broadcast. We love to see your name pop up and be able to hear from you as well. And again just on a personal note, again I had an opportunity to introduce myself at the beginning of this but now that we're closing out here, I want to say I'm someone who had no connection to the DeafBlind community whatsoever going back a few years prior to connecting with Helen Keller Services and being able to work along side them now for the last two plus years. And it has been such an amazing experience to not just intimately connected with a ton of people in the DeafBlind community but to work closely with the Helen Keller Services and Helen Keller National Center and Helen Keller Services for the Blind because for the simple fact that it's made up of a bunch of incredible people who I have the pleasure of call friends now and people that really inspire me on a daily basis in the work that I do and just in my every day life. And I can really just say from a personal note that it's an incredible organization not just for the reasons that we've mentioned in the essential services they provide but also that it's made up by a bunch of amazing human beings who are committed to the work they do and support the consumers that rely on a lot of services they provide. So just on a personal note I can say it's an amazing organization. It's been an honor to work with them and be connect with them in the ways that I have. So in the last couple minutes I want to state that we will, once the broadcast ends it will continue to live on our page so if you want to continue to share it then I will make sure in the comments section that there's still a direct link to donate. Certainly today Giving Tuesday Now is a day we draw folks to donating but it doesn't need to stop now. We welcome donations any day of the year, today, tomorrow or any other day following because we really, really could use the support. And again I think it's been demonstrated really well through the amazing people we've had on today just where those dollars go and specifically, the specific programs they support, the specific individuals they benefit and impact in an amazing way and I hope you were able to get a sense of that today and get a little bit better sense of the organization that this I've had the pleasure to get to know over the last couple of years as well.
Some of you watching might already be familiar with the weekly live stream series that we do called Feeling Through Live which is a collaboration between The Feeling Through Experience and Helen Keller Services. We do these live streams every Friday at 2:00 p.m. eastern time and they're an opportunity to speak with individuals from the DeafBlind community or the blind community, individuals that are directly served by Helen Keller Services and talk about timely topics that are really prescient right now. We've talked about the way individuals and services have been affected by COVID but it's an opportunity for individuals who are part of those communities to engage with other people in the community that are given the platform to speak more about the community and for those of you out there who are just being introduced to the DeafBlind community or blind community and are learning something as a result of tuning in. We will have our next broadcast this Friday at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. We'll be announcing it tomorrow. It will be an amazing couple from the Helen Keller National Center that we are really excited to talk about. You can also go back and watch our previous videos on this page on the videos section. It's an opportunity to acquaint yourself more with the people who make up Helen Keller Services and the community at large. Again in my closing remarks I would like to thank the interpreters who have joined us today and made this an accessible live stream, Alyssa, and Jamie and thank you to our captioner Laura who has been live captioning this conversation. Again accessibility is really important to Helen Keller Services and The Feeling Through Experience and creating an environment where everyone can participate. In the closing moments here we'll do a little count down. You've got 10 seconds if you want to donate now to this specific live treatment broadcast. Please click now and donate. Otherwise please continue to donate throughout the day and share this video once it is reposted as a non‑live video in a few moments. Share it with anyone else who you think will be able to financially support Helen Keller Services and who might find this of value. Thank you so much for everyone who tuned in, everyone who donated, thank you so much everyone who was a part of this broadcast and shared all the valuable information and personal experiences and we're wishing you all the best during these challenging times. And if anything, if this broadcast brings so many people together throughout this 3 hour broadcast has exemplified anything it's the importance of community and coming together during these times. We hope you've enjoyed this broadcast so without further adieu we're signing off for now and thank you for joining us. Bye.