DECEMBER 2010 NEWSLETTER

ALASKA INDEPENDENT BLIND

As I have mentioned, we need your involvement. We are going to start monthly dinners again, but we need you to participate. How can we have a worthwhile organization if you don’t give your input? We had a great discussion on transportation with Marilyn Golden, and also a great health fair about health options available for diabetes as well as other health concerns.

PASSINGS

We were very sorry to hear about the passing of Margie Kayouktuk on September 28, 2010. She was a loyal member, and former board member, whose health had been deteriorating in the past year or so. She will be sorely missed. She was a quiet, gentle person who was not only blind, but had been through a fire so had limited use of her hands. She had become a Catholic in later life, and had participated in many meetings throughout the year. She became more active when her husband, to whom she was devoted, passed away.

We believe she was in her sixties. We do not have the obituary, so we are not certain of the exact cause of death.

Whatever your celebration is in December, we hope it is joyous and you spend your holidays with people you love. The holidays can bring on depression, so we hope that you find people to spend it with this year.

One thing to be aware of is when a significant event happens in your life that can depress you. Lack of a job, money, isolation, losing a dog as I did with my fourth guide Merry, can all be precursors to stress and loneliness. We must believe that things will improve, and seek assistance if it is necessary. The Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center supposedly has counseling available if necessary. The also provide services for low-income people. If you have no Medicare or MedicAid, Anchorage Project Access is a good source of medical care if you have no medical insurance whatsoever

Their website has this information about contacting them: Contact

Anchorage Project Access

1805 Academy Dr. Ste. 101

Anchorage, Alaska 99507

Phone: 907-339-8746

Fax: 907-339-8710

Email: info@anchorageprojectaccess.org.

In 2009, Charlene Vassar did speak to the conference/convention. This is a worthwhile service. I’m sorry that this is only in Anchorage, and I will try to see what other options are available. In Juneau, I know Urgent Care is available, but I am not sure of the low-income possibilities that are available for low-income people or so-called community health centers. There are income guidelines of approximately $27 thousand for a single person, $37 for two people and over $50 thousand for four people. Please check the guidelines for eligibility.

Nurse practitioners may be a lower cost and more available than doctors. Another thing that this newsletter has reported on in the past is HIPAA which stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act which was passed in 1996. It protects persons if changing or losing jobs from losing their health insurance by insurance companies dropping them. It also establishes national standards for electronic health care transactions. Mos providers know about HIPAA, but you, as the consumer, should be able to ask about it when you are in an office.

A related point is that you, as a blind or visually impaired person, should be able to give your medical information in a private office and not out in the waiting room, which is public. Others have a right to privacy, and why don’t we? This is similar to voting rights and access.

TIMELINE FOR ALASKA INDEPENDENT BLIND

It occurred to me that many people do not know the breadth of our accomplishments over the past fifteen or so years, so I compiled the biggest and best. There are some things I did not include, but these are the big things we did accomplish.

TIMELINE FOR ALASKA INDEPENDENT BLIND

1988 -- Formation

1989 – incorporation

1994 -- Went to Juneau to work for a separate agency.

1994 – Worked with Judy Salo on allowing blind people to be covered by disabled parking placards which had to be cemented in 2001

1995-1997 youth camp for Alaska Independent Blind

1995 – challenged under Open Meetings Act the RFP process

1997 -- won a $5000 grant to provide orientation and mobility to under-served areas

1997 – Recommended a certified mobility instructor to Access Alaska, Fairbanks

1997 Had Anchorage macular degeneration workshop with 75 people

1998 hb 170 An act relating to interference with the rights of physically and mentally challenged persons and relating to service animals during their pre-training and training periods. Gave input to a bill for training service animals

Article 5A passed an amendment to the Lemon Law” which set out minimum standards for those who taught assistive technology and orientation and mobility and it passed.

1999 Purchased the fastest Braille embosser in the state of Alaska interpoint 100 characters per second

1999-2001 Went around the state giving workshops on macular degeneration, diabetes, Social security, and assistive technology – Anchorage, Fairbanks and the Mat-Su Valley, and Sitka, Juneau and Ketchikan and Cordova and Palmer also.

2000, 2001 and 2005 Conducted Transportation summits.

2002 – HB 320 An act relating to the use of electronic balloting equipment. The first state to enact standards for electronic voting machines through Alaska Independent Blind’s efforts through Frank Haas and passed March 7, 2002.

2007 – SB 94 An act establishing a Division of Blind Services within the Department of Health and Social Services; and relating to the administration of the vocational rehabilitation program. Helped to write a bill for a separate agency which never was passed and had one hearing.

2008 SB 64 An act relating to the operation of bending facilities on public property. Wrote a bill to fix the regulations concerning the Randolph-Sheppard Act which is ongoing.