The Accessibility Corner show with members of Blind United

Blind United is a nonprofit organization that aims to provide resources and support for the blind and visually impaired community. They offer various interest groups, such as job training, support groups, arts and crafts, and more. They also plan to open a training center in the future to teach skills like orientation and mobility, braille, and assistive technologies. Membership is open to anyone, and all services are currently free. The goal of Blind United is to unite the blind community and overcome obstacles by creating a collective voice. The organization believes in the importance of providing resources and independence to blind individuals from an early age. And everyone, we are live, live, live, live, and I hope everyone's having a great day. Today is Wednesday, March the 29th, and today we'll be talking to Ms. Cheryl, Ms. Brittany, and Mr. Ed. How are you doing today? Doing fine. We're doing great today. That's good. So we're going to start with Ms. Cheryl and then go to Ms. Brittany and Mr. Ed. And just give everyone a little quick background about yourselves, please. Okay, I'm Cheryl Thurston. I'm totally blind. It's been 23 years for me. I lost my sight due to an accident, which was I was robbed, and had a couple of surgeries that didn't work, and I was declared legally blind. And what part of California are you in now? I'm in Fontana. Fontana. Is that a fun town? Fontana, get it? I think so. Ms. Brittany? My name is Brittany Mejico. I was born visually impaired, well, legally blind, I guess you could say. I feel like I'm more closer to the totally blind part of the spectrum. I currently live in Victorville, California, and I don't really know what else to say about myself. That's okay. We'll kind of go into that a little bit more. And Mr. Davis? Mr. Ed Davis? How are you guys doing? My name is Ed Davis, and I became legally blind in 1984 due to a motorcycle accident. Wonderful doctors restored some of my vision. At least I was able to drive again for a while, and then I became totally in 08. What year was your accident, sir? 1984. Wow. I wasn't even born yet. Yes, you're right. Anyways, folks, I came across this Blind United a few weeks ago, and I'll tell you what. They have a lot of potential, a lot of things that's going on. We'll be talking about what's called interest groups, which they do via Zoom. And look for them on Facebook. It's Blind United Interest Groups, and, I mean, they have a lot of good content. So let's go into that. So the interest groups, how did that start, and how many topics are covered in those groups? Well, the interest groups started July of 2022, and the purpose of it was to allow those that are blind and visually impaired to participate in some of our various groups, such as basic jobs, training, support groups. We have arts and crafts, knitting, and jury baking. We have a book club, gay night, sports talk, business building. Trying to think of some of the other things that we do have. Right now we do have a legal system in youth. We have travel and culture, and we just added on a travel agent that's going to be coming on and talk about specials that are going on for us, booking concerts to hotels, airfares, and just different types of excursions that they have out there that's going on. So it's very popular. More people are getting involved. Our braille reading and writing class, the instructor, she's out of Kentucky. For business builder, we have a lady that's out of Michigan. So we're excited about that, and it is steady growing. So what is the concept or the idea for Blind United? The church I belong to out here, Abundant Living Church out here, they had interest groups there. And, you know, I mean, the various, you know, church members and stuff, they would, you know, like maybe bowling or roller skating or, you know, just different things. It was about keeping the church family involved with each other. And, you know, I mean, the way I look at it, we're all part of this blind family. And I said, well, if it worked for them, it should work for us. So, you know, I got together with my sister Cheryl and gave her the concept, and we've been rolling with it ever since. Yep. Now you sure have. That's for sure. And Ms. Brimi, from what I understand, this is a nonprofit, right? Yes, that's correct. It's a nonprofit. And what's the overall objective when it comes to the nonprofit status? What do you hope to get to in the future? We hope to one day open up a training center in the Inland Empire. At this training center, we plan to be a vendor for Department of Rehabilitation, and we plan to teach orientation and mobility, which is traveling with a cane or a guide dog. We plan on teaching braille. We plan on teaching, like, ILS, independent living, so that will be, like, home management, basically. And we also plan on teaching assistive technologies, such as JAWS and the iPhone for voiceover, so that people can get back to work and, you know, be productive members of society. So let me ask you this. For membership, can anyone join, or is there, like, prerequisites? No, anybody can join. It's all free right now, so the braille training, the JAWS training, all of it's free right now. You don't have to be a member of NFB, ACB, CCB, whatever B. You can just click on the link, and we'll let you join. You know, we just want as many blind people to join as humanly possible. Yes, that's true. So why is it important, and there's a philosophy behind this, Blind United. Why is it important to unite us as a blind community? What's the emphasis for that? Because there is something behind that, right? Well, my opinion is, George, that, you know, we have several different major organizations throughout the country and so on and so forth, and I've just paid attention, you know, to the disabled community since I've become a member of the disabled community that, you know, there are certain sectors of the disabled community that get things done, and the reason they get things done is because they are of one voice. So if we can create this Blind United and create that one voice, then maybe we can overcome some of the obstacles that's in our way that, you know, we just can't, you know, necessarily. I mean, bottom line, we all agree on certain things, so let's work on the things that we agree on, and, you know, we'll worry about the rest of it later. Exactly. And that's the biggest thing that you're right, Mr. Davis, is that a lot of things have occurred, you know, with technology, and employment, and independent living, and when it comes to people that are blind, because to me it's kind of difficult when it comes to technology, and I'll tell you why. The people on the podcast know exactly what I'm talking about, the individuals. You can have technology, and you can have, let's say, a work-at-home job, right, but guess what? Sometimes the technology doesn't incorporate into that, either application or portal, and there you go, we have an issue. Or the person's not fully trained on how to use JAWS or doesn't have the independent skills how to use a bus or how to get dressed and whatnot. But with Blind United, I feel, as you can see, folks, here in El Paso we're doing this, they're doing that now in California, so you see the need. It's not only here, it's everywhere. I talked to someone in Tennessee, same thing. It's just that gap in services that is needed. But I want to go back to the interest groups. When do those occur, and how can someone join? Well, within the group, we are on our Facebook group, and we're also on Instagram now. But on the Facebook group, Blind United Interest Groups, you'll find at the top, pinned to the top, our monthly schedule, and that changes every month. I put up a current schedule there. And then if you would like to be on the mailing list where you get daily reminders as well as the monthly schedules when they come out, I got those contacted, and we'll make sure you're on the list. Okay. And Ms. Cheryl, for you, and I'm going to ask everyone on this podcast, why is this Blind United important to you, Ms. Cheryl? Well, because when I first lost my sight, I didn't have no idea where to go or what to do, and nobody told me anything. So one day I went to the doctor, and it happened to be a lady there, and she happened to talk to my mom because, you know, she knew I was kind of new to something. I was sitting there crying because all I wanted to do was see, and she happened to ask my mom, did I know anything about Department of Rehab or Social Security? And my mom said, no, because we didn't know what to do, and the doctor didn't tell us anything. So from that, I got plugged in with Social Security, a DOR, and I was able to attend one of the blind schools, the Davidson Program for the Independent in Los Angeles, and I stayed there nine months. And I was trained in, you know, braille computers and independent living skills. And I said when I left there, I wanted to find a way to share that information with others so they wouldn't have to be wandering around lost and not knowing the next step to take, as well as figuring out how we can open up a center out here. You know, I'm married. You leave my home and go away for nine months, that put a strain on everything, but, you know, we made it through. And I would just like to see something on this end that people don't have to go as far to get the training that they need. Yes, ma'am, that's for sure. And, Ms. Brinney, why is Blind United important to you, ma'am? Blind United is important to me because I understand how important it is to learn braille, to learn JAWS, to have independent living skills. And I understand that even if a person is born blind, sometimes their parents don't know where to go to get their child's resources. And I think the sooner you have the resources to be independent, the better off you'll be. And I just want the best for other blind people. And that's why I just think what we're doing is so powerful right now. Yeah, absolutely. Yes, ma'am. And, Mr. Davis, why is Blind United important for you, sir? Well, it's almost the same as Cheryl. I attended the same school she did. You know, there was a program for independence in Los Angeles through the Wayfinder Foundation. And, I mean, I got my independence back. I had never been another blind person before I went blind, you know. I mean, even after I became legally blind, you know, doctors are working on me and they're doing this, they're doing that. They're maintaining my vision. You know, I give them all the credit in the world. I had my vision for another, I don't know, 84 to 03, you know, before I quit driving, you know. So it was a beautiful thing. But once it was gone, now it's, okay, well, there's nothing else we can do to help you with your eyes, you know, have a nice life. And that's not cool, you know, because, okay, we've got to figure out how to move on to the next step. So as Cheryl was saying, you know, that's not really good. So that's one of our goals. It's actually part of our little tagline, building bridges, closing gaps, and making connections. Exactly. You know, we want to close those gaps. One thing I noticed that all three of you said, which I did on purpose, is we need to focus on, especially for those who are, quote, unquote, have transitioned from, let's say, sighted to blindness or even any kind of disability really, but we're focusing here on blindness and visual impairment, is make sure you understand there are resources out there. I know it's scary. I've been there. We've all been there. It's scary. Look out for resources. And most importantly, I know people are not going to like to hear this, but you have to be independent because something's going to happen to your support system, either your wife, your mom, your dad, your sister, your brother, where one day, unfortunately, you're going to be on your own. And you're going to have to learn, oh, wow, I have to cook. I have to iron. I have to go to the nearest bus stop. I have to do this. If you don't have those skills, you're going to be lost. I've seen people that are visually impaired and blind put in nursing homes just for that. Isn't that kind of sad? It is. Very sad. Very sad. And when we could do it for ourselves, but yet they think, well, you can't cook, you can't do this, just put them in a nursing home. Is that their life? Let me ask you all, is that the life we want? No. No. Not at all. Well, you know, George, my whole thing is to change that concept. I had someone tell me when I first lost my sight that they were told all their life that they wouldn't be worth anything. All they was good for was weaving baskets and making blankets. And I was like, well, who told you that? They said, well, that's what people think. I said, well, you can do anything you want to do. It's just amazing to see so many people out there that are doctors and lawyers, and they're all blind, and they are doing things. And that is our whole purpose is to show you can do some things, you know? Yes, ma'am. And that's why you have to mention that show because at least some state agencies are compliant with that or complacent or what's that word? They contribute to that idea because you go to a state agency, okay, the call center or there is a, for example, here in El Paso called Ready One where you make uniforms, which is very minimum jobs, low pay. I'm like, wait a minute. This person has a bachelor's. You want them to go to a call center or make clothing, which is fine if that's what they want, but don't limit their options, you know? And let me ask you this, Ms. Brittany, because you sound like you're one of the younger ones. How is it because it's different when it comes to the different generations. What I mean by that is when we're older, we understand that, you know, okay, now we have to get skills. We have to do this. When we're younger, when I was younger, I was visually impaired. I'm like, nah, I don't need it. You know, they told me, use Braille. Use Braille. I still have sight. And now that I'm where I'm at now, I'm like, hmm, maybe I should have thought about that, right? But what do you think, Ms. Brittany, when I say that? Well, okay, for me, I learned Braille. I flirted with the idea of Braille pretty much all of my life. I started using Braille when I was in high school. I went from being, like, a D and F student to a straight A student because I couldn't read. Like, I was using the CCTV, and my nose was on the screen, and my TBI at the time came over to me, and she was like, you can't read. And a light bulb went off in my head, and I was like, oh, I can't read. And that's when I started learning Braille, and I realized, wow, it was life-changing for me. And just, like, learning JAWS, that was life-changing because it was no more putting my head on the screen, smelling the screen, none of that anymore. No more smelling the paper. Or feeling the heat from the screen. I'm feeling the heat from the screen. Just none of that anymore. And then when I started doing O&M in high school, you know, because at first I was just too cool. I wanted to be cute. I wanted to be like everybody else. And then I realized, oh, my gosh, you know what? I'm not running into stuff. I'm not tripping over stuff. I'm not hurting myself anymore. I need to use this cane. Yep. Exactly. Let me ask you, Mr. O, what independent living skills tip have you found that's useful for you? For example, for me, I learned that, and this is simple stuff, folks, but it makes a big difference. Like, for me, I learned, like, when I put jelly on the bread, I put a scoop on each corner and I spread it. Otherwise, it would be a mess. But what kind of tip do you, like, what's your favorite tip? I'm trying to think of a favorite tip. Well, I mean, a favorite one? I don't know if I have a favorite one. I mean, I'll just go here. I know I had a bunch of, you know, the little aids, you know, once you finally connect with, well, out here anyway, you know, when you finally connect with rehab or whatever. They give you all these, a whole bag full of devices, you know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah, the cane and the little talking box. Yeah, all of that. The little identifier, all the little trinkets. So, yeah, so they gave me this thing that was a, you know, what, a liquid monitor or register or whatever? Liquid indicator. Yeah, it's got a little nine-volt battery and it's got a couple little, you know, leads, and you hang it in your cup and you pour liquid in it. And, you know, when the liquid gets to the leads, it sounds off a little buzzer. Really? So, I kept losing, well, I shouldn't say losing, but moving my liquid indicator. So, I just learned to just hang my finger, tip of my finger in the cup. I just put my finger in there, okay, to the tip and there you go. Yes, sir. Tip of my finger, I'm ready to roll. And like for me, George, I like my stuff by the clock. So, when I put stuff on my plate, you know, I do it 6, 9, 12, 3. So, I pretty much know where everything is on my plate and I like stuff sitting a certain way. So, I know, okay, my cup, I always put it to the left, you know, my plate here in the center and I start feeling where stuff is. So, I like mine by the clock. So, I use that and then, you know, I'll label different things. So, I can go back and find it. But, you know, when you're around sighted people, they tend to move stuff that makes it hard. But you try to label and have some type of organization for you. I want to emphasize to those who are sighted who are watching this or hearing this, don't move our stuff, please. I mean, we have stuff and we put it there for a reason and it comes back and disappears. I'm like, did I move it or did it move by itself? Oh, it does, yeah. You know, my wife, when we first met, she would do that, but now she knows, just leave it there and I'll find it. But, I don't know, it's just, you know, it's a thing that we just need to be more aware of. I guess more awareness, I guess, that's the word, regarding... George, I'll tell you something funny. My little niece was about four years old. So, she came to the house one day and you know how you can take the little braille dot, you know, I would do like one dot. So, I would put like one on the heel of that shoe in a certain place. So, I'd put it on the left and the right. So, and I had them on all my shoes and she decided, I'm going to walk in my shoes and play. And she took them all off and she said, I said, what is this? I'm stepping on. She said, well, I don't know why those was on your shoes. And I'm like, oh my God, it was for me to determine. This is a black shoe. You know, I did it a certain way to find it, but she peeled them all off. Just like I was putting on the microwave. Well, we just thought something fell in. I put it there for a reason. It's not for toys. But I'm glad we're all talking about this because those who are watching, and I'm going to share this podcast to many groups I've seen where the simplest things people struggle with because they think they can't do it. But if you've heard Cheryl, Brittany, Mr. Ed, is that there are ways you could do it at your own pace, at your own technique. But there are ways to do it. For example, once you get to the point where you can iron by yourself, cook for yourself, you know, those basic stuff. But you could do it. Don't think that, okay, I'm blind now. I've heard this many times. You probably have too, Mr. Ed, Cheryl, Brittany. I can't do nothing now. What am I going to do? No, you can't. You know, one time I met this young man that went blind. He had had a stroke. Came back from Dallas to El Paso. I'm sitting in front of him, and he goes, George, I can't do this anymore. I'm like, what do you mean? He goes, how am I going to shave? I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean? I go, let me ask you a question. Can you move your hands? Can you still move your hands and your arms? He goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I said, why can't you shave? Whoa, whoa, whoa, the blade. I said, trust me, you're going to learn. And I made him touch my face on purpose because I have a goatee. And I shaved myself. Well, not right now, but normally. And he looked, and he's like, oh, wow, you did that? I'm like, yeah, but it took me a bit. I'm not going to lie to you. Sometimes it feels like if I was drunk when I did it, but I did it. Okay? And those who are watching and listening, you could do it too. So before we go, I want to go around the table here. Each of us has something that we could provide for someone that's struggling right now. When I say struggling, it's accepting. Accepting that, you know what, I'm here now. I'm at this point in my life where I'm visually impaired or blind. Now what? And I'm going to say this to start the conversation is don't give up. There's resources like Blind United. Integrate yourself with other people that are blind. That will help. Because you'll start getting tips like with Ms. Cheryl said about her shoes and Mr. Ed and Ms. Brittany. Talk to other people that are blind and visually impaired. Well, myself would be, you know, of course, exactly what you said, you know, find you a group of blind people immediately. I mean, you need that commonality. You need to connect with people that truly understand exactly what you're going through on a daily basis. And then also they can help you. They can teach you their little tips and tricks and so on and so forth. You may not do it exactly the way that they do it. But at least it's a foundation for you to start from. Exactly. Ms. Cheryl? Ms. Brittany? I just think that there are always alternative ways to do something. We can pretty much do anything that a sighted person can do except for maybe brain surgery and drive. There's always different techniques. Trust me, I've seen some people that are sighted drive like they're blind. But anyways, that's another story. I say that because I was in a small car accident last week and that person, he got out of the car and he's like, I didn't see you here. You were on my blind side. I'm like, dude, only if you know what that means. But how about you, Ms. Cheryl? My thing is I just like to see others just don't give up, have faith, trust. And like they say, get with other blind people just to have that support. Because sometimes you can't talk to your family. You have to reach outside that box and be around people that are like you that can understand the things that you are going through. And they will share information with you and show you different techniques on, you know, how to label or just. I've had questions on how do you eat? Well, I eat the same way you do, you know. But it's just, like I said, we just come up with our own little different styles and techniques. And I just believe in sharing and networking and making people feel that it is okay to be blind. Yes, ma'am. When I was younger, talking about what I was saying earlier about generation. And the reason why I was saying that, because when I was younger, my attitude was different. I would get upset when people would ask me, how do you get your ass up? I'm like, what do you mean? I don't know why. But now that I got older, now I'm like, you know what, this is a teaching point. Right? This is a teaching point to show someone. And I'll give you a perfect example. When I was younger, at one point, I was working here in El Paso. We had what was called White Sands. It's a missile range. And I was working there as part of the lighthouse. So I'm standing outside waiting for the van. And the guy, I felt someone next to me talking. So I'm like, okay. I turn around. And the young man is like, hey, can I ask you some questions? I'm like, sure. How do you do this? How do you get dressed? And how do you put your shoes on? And mind you, I was younger, right? And so I turn to him and I'm like, can I tell you something, sir? He goes, yeah. I go, you know I wipe my own butt, right? No, no, no. I didn't mean that. I'm sorry. But see, that was my attitude now. Or back then. Now I tell him, oh, you know what, I do this just like you. I put on my shoes just like you. I put on my shirt just like you. The only difference is I need assistance in helping, you know, what color it is, you know, stuff like that. But like you said, Mr. O, we can do the same thing as anyone else. You said that, Ms. Brittany. We can't drive, obviously. We can't fly an airplane, obviously. But we can do anything else. But if anyone wants to contact the Blind United, is there like a direct number, a phone number, Mr. Ed? You know what, I have it, George, but I don't know it off the top of my head. It's a brand-new number. Do you happen to have it, Eddie, sir? Remember, always look for Blind United interest groups. I like the page. Is that a page or a group? It's a group. It's a group. And on Instagram, it's a page. So if you go on Instagram and you go to the search tab and then you type in Blind United interest groups, it should come up. Okay. And like I said. You might throw people off when you type it into Instagram because it's all like one word, so it sounds weird. It's like Blind United. Oh, does it? Is that one word? Yeah. Okay. I bet you said that. Oh, I bet you a voiceover says that weird, doesn't it? Yes, it does. It says it weird. We are on Instagram. Okay. You know, we're constantly apologizing for our screen readers mispronouncing people's word names, and we just go with what JAWS or voiceover says, and nine times out of ten, we're wrong. Like, for example, Ortiz. It's O-R-T-I-Z, right, which is common, Ortiz. But JAWS says Ortiz. Right, right. So I called while working for child support. I called this JAWS man, and I'm like, I'm looking for Mr. Ortiz. He's like, Ortiz? Who the heck are you looking for, man? And he's like, Ortiz. I'm like, ah, JAWS, dang it, JAWS, you did it again to me. We have e-mails all right now. Yeah, what's your e-mail? Go ahead. Yeah, mine is firstamendmented at gmail.com. Number one, S-T-A-M-E-N-D-M-E-N-T-E-D at gmail.com. We do have a Blind United e-mail. We just haven't signed into it yet, if you will. Okay. But it's always going to the group, right? Right. Everything's going to go to the group. I mean, it will be posted there in the group. Once we start doing, you know, once we get that activated, then we'll actually, everything will be mailed out from that e-mail, from that e-mail. So it will be a time of knowledge at that point. Okay. That's fine. That's great. So before we leave, any last words, Ms. Brittany, Ms. Cheryl, Mr. Ed? I mean, I just, you know, again, George, we appreciate you. For those of you who don't know, George is actually helping us out. He's doing a JAWS training for us. He'll be doing that on Wednesday afternoons at, well, 11 o'clock Pacific Time, 12 o'clock Mountain Time, all the way, work it out, okay? 1 o'clock Eastern Central and 2 o'clock Eastern, yeah. Yeah, all of that. So George will be doing that for us. That's so that we can, you know, more accommodate people on the East Coast because our goal is also on that with the interest group. This is joining people, you know, not only across the country but around the world, you know, and just, again, just unite blind people everywhere and, you know, and I appreciate you, George. I really do, man. You've been a great help. I'm glad that you stumbled into one of our meetings and, like I said, we've connected ever since. I'm not going to lie to you because when I saw the link, somewhere in there I saw something about free donuts. I'm like, hey, wait a minute, I'm going to go back to that. Free donuts, that's hilarious. People that know me know that's my moniker, donuts, but anyway. Okay, George, I have that phone number for Blind United. It is area code 909-846-8825. Okay, can you repeat it one more time now? 909-846-8825. There you go, folks. Now, don't be calling at 2 in the morning now, but there you go. I'm not going to answer. Yeah, because that's going to come to my phone so you'll get me and then, again, I'd love to hear from you. If there's anything we can do to help, that's what we're here for. Don't be afraid to ask for the dumbest questions. Don't think it's not a dumb question. Ask anyone for help or if you need something that you need to be done, just ask. You'll be surprised what you get, right? So, Mr. Ed and Ms. Brittany, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to be here on the Accessibility Corner. And this will be available on the website and anywhere you're subscribed to a podcast or you want to share it with someone that does not have social media. And I guess we'll see everyone the next time. Thank you. Thank you, George. Thank you for having us, George. Thank you, George. Thank you for having us. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.