Center for the Visually Impaired InfoLink

            The announcement of information about organizations, products and services in InfoLink is not to be interpreted as an endorsement by the Center for the Visually Impaired.

             Click here to have the InfoLink delivered to your email address each week. To have your event or information included in InfoLink, please contact Empish Thomas at 404-875-9011 ext. 4277 or email at infolink@cviga.org with InfoLink in the subject line. Information must be received the Tuesday prior to publication.

Here are the announcements as of Thursday, September 2, 2010:

1. CVI Events and Information:

*New information: The American Diabetes Association sponsors the Step Out Walk to help fight diabetes. The walk will take place in Grant Park on September 25th beginning with registration opening at 7:00 a.m. and the 3.1 mile walk starting at 8:00 a.m. The CVI team, consisting of diabetes support group members, sighted guides and staff will be raising funds to help the ADA provide community based education programs, protect the rights of people with diabetes and fund critical research for a cure. You may register to become a CVI team member or donate online at www.diabetes.org/stepout. You may also register and turn in your contributions at the event. Contact Lynn Miller at 404-875-9011 if you require sighted guide assistance.

*CVI hosts iPhone and iTouch users meeting. If you are a new iPhone/iTouch user and you are like most of us, you no doubt often get frustrated when trying to do the simplest tasks, such as placing and receiving calls, reading a text message or downloading a new application from the App store. If you want to learn more about this extraordinary device and/or if you want to share your tips and tricks with other fellow users, please join us on Thursday, September 9, 2010, at CVI from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

No doubt each of us will have something to share; whether it is a new app we discovered or perhaps an easier way to accomplish a specific task. At this meeting we will also discuss the possibility of turning this meeting into a regular users group if the interest is there for it. We hope to see many of you fellow iPhone and iTouch fellow users. For more information or questions, call Melissa Imtiaz or Anisio Correia at 404-875-9011.

*CVI has volunteers available. Every Monday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at CVI, clients can take advantage of the services of a volunteer. On a first-come, first-served basis, a volunteer will be on-hand to assist in general reading tasks such as paperwork assistance, opening mail, bill pay or other small general tasks. This will take place in the STARS library on the lower level. Each person will be allotted 15 minutes in order to serve as many people as possible. Please note: If the first Monday falls on a holiday, CVI will be closed. For more information, contact Lara Tillery, volunteer services coordinator, at 404-875-9011, ext. 4369.

2. General Events and Information:

*New information: The Foundation Fighting Blindness, Atlanta Chapter Support Group is for individuals affected by vision loss and their family and friends. Most of our members are affected by retinal degenerative eye diseases like Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), Age Macular Degeneration (AMD), Usher's Syndrome, Stargardt and other retinal dystrophies. We come together to learn how to cope by discussing solutions to our common challenges.

We will meet Saturday, September 4th from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. in the downstairs classrooms at St. Joseph's Hospital located just south of I-285 at 5665 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd. NE. (near the MARTA train station). Go into the main lobby of the hospital; take the elevators down one floor. Follow the signs to the cafeteria and continue on past the cafeteria to the classrooms.

This month's discussion topic will be a continuation from last month's discussion about self-advocacy and getting what you need. Our guest speaker and returning support group member will be Nancy W. Duncan, director of the Ga. ADA Exchange, Inc. Disability Resource Group. Her non-profit statewide organization is dedicated to including Georgians with disabilities into all aspects of community life through education and consultation.

Our meetings are free and open to the public. We welcome new visitors. For more information contact Jim Vacheenas, support group leader and board member by e-mail at jvacheenas@comcast.netor call 770-491-1629.

*New information: Beyond Sight Communicators Toastmasters Club now meets twice a month on the first Thursday at noon AND on the 4^th Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Join us for either or BOTH! Meetings are held in the Bellsouth room at CVI. Come grow with us. The next meeting is Thursday September 2, 2010 at noon. For more information contact Beverley Foster at bfoster7712@comcast.met.

*New information: The Atlanta Metropolitan Chapter of NFB will be holding its monthly chapter meeting on Saturday, September 11, 2010 at the Fulton County Library located at 1 Margaret Mitchell Square, Atlanta, GA from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. If you have any questions, please call President Joanne Collins on 404-371-1000 ext. 38.

*New information: Georgia Council of the Blind, Atlanta-West chapter, will hold our monthly meeting on Saturday September 11, at the Carrollton Library on Rome Street This will be at 11 a.m. Welcome to all friends, family and anyone wishing to help our chapter grow in west Georgia.

*New information: A Celebration of Community and a discussion of disability issues in DeKalb. You are invited to join your fellow Georgia voters for a non-partisan forum. Participate in a discussion to help foster collaboration between legislators, self advocates, family members, and professionals on issues that are important in the disability community. All DeKalb County candidates running for election are invited to attend.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010
6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
Reception begins at 6:30 p.m.
Program begins at 7:00 p.m.

The Solarium
Oakhurst Community
321 West Hill Street
Decatur, GA 30030

Food will be provided. Kindly RSVP to Emily Severtson at emily@aadd.org or 404-881-9777 ext. 205 by September 26.

*New information: For Sale: My Mom's Low Vision Acrobat LCD-AV device. Acrobat Model LA-15M by Enhanced Vision. Includes XY table, port, arm + head + connectors plus TV. Adjustable colors and reverse b/w. Paid $1,300 in 2007 and used only a few weeks before it went back into its nice box. (Mom's macular degeneration progressed too quickly.) Make an offer so this excellent equipment can be of significant use to someone. Contact Paula: paulapeace@bellsouth.net or 404-872-4952.

*Just Us Blind Girls 10^th annual blind women’s conference. Theme: “See What We Mean. Blindness in the Community, Work place, and Family.” Information, fun, networking, presentations and in a great location. Guest speakers will present talks on relationships, adjustments and interactions, intimac y and helping others (family members and friends) to adjust as well.

Date is Saturday September 25, 2010. Location is Executive Park Courtyard by Marriott,

1236 Executive Park Dr. N.E., Atlanta, GA, 30329.

Register now. Conference fee is $40 (all women planning to stay overnight must call the hotel at (800) 321-2211 and ask for the Just Us Blind Girls rate. Cut off date is September 3rd to register for the hotel room rate of $69 per room (up to 4 women per room). Hurry, as rooms at this low rate will go fast.

Friday night Chairman of the Board’s welcome party/early registration by RSVP only. Time 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. The location will be given upon your call to RSVP. Sorry, only girls staying overnight are invited.

For more information about the conference or to RSVP call Virginia Gray 404 755-5190 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday – Friday, or send your registration forms and check to: Just Us Blind Girls, P. O. Box 56691, Atlanta, GA, 30343. We hope you will join us!

*The National Federation of the Blind of Georgia would like to invite you to our thirty-seventh annual state convention. Our theme is: “Touching the Future Toward Braille Literacy.” This year, our state convention will be held on Friday, October 8 thru Sunday, October 10. Registration is $35.00 (including lunch on Saturday), and the banquet cost is $35.00. The convention will be held in downtown Decatur, Georgia at the Holiday Inn. Room rates are $89.00. Early registration and a banquet ticket can be purchased at a discount before September 30^th for $30.00 each. Room reservations can be made by calling 800-465-4329. Don’t forget to mention that you will be staying at the Holiday Inn in Decatur, Georgia, and make mention of the NFB convention to receive the special room rate.

The state convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Georgia is the largest gathering of the blind in the state. Approximately 200 blind people, family members, friends, and blindness service providers come together for a weekend of seminars, presentations, workshops, and general discussions on training, technology, and strategies for improving the quality of life of blind people. The following is just a sample of the topics activities:

* NFB-NEWSLINE® New Features and Enhancements

* Braille Literacy Initiatives

* Georgians Empowered Through Mentoring Success

* Braille Enrichment through Literacy and Nonvisual Learning

* NFB Youth Slam

* Parents of Blind Children Seminar

* Blind Students Luncheon

* Updates on State Education and Rehabilitation Programs

For more information, or to register for the event, visit WWW.NFBGA.ORG, or call the office at 866-316-3242. It promises to be an exciting and educational weekend.

*Bus trip to Harrah’s Resort & Casinos in Tunica, Mississippi.

Date: October 10-11, 2010

Cost: Only $99.99 per person; no refunds

Trip Includes:

- Round trip charter coach bus from Atlanta to Tunica

- 1 night hotel stay

- Free breakfast buffet

- $5 gaming cash

Bus departs on Sunday, October 10 at 7:00 a.m. (Kensington Marta station back parking lot). Bus returns on Monday, October 11 leaving Tunica 12 noon, back in Atlanta 8 p.m.

Contact: Kevin @ (404) 454-6667 or go to: www.urbanpropertiesinternational.comCLICK Tunica.

*Would you like to participate in an experiment on communication and earn $30? The Georgia State University Psychology Department is seeking English speakers with visual impairment for a study examining differences in communication styles of blind and sighted individuals.

To participate in this study, you must meet the following requirements:

- be at least 19 years old

- use English as your native language

- be blind from birth or lost your sight before age 5

- have no existing cognitive or language disabilities

If you meet the above criteria, please call 404-413-6257 or email LanguageLab@gsu.edufor more information or to participate.

*Mailsurity, in collaboration with Even Grounds, is planning to start a service which will allow blind and visually impaired people to receive their mail electronically. Through this service, paper mail will be scanned and processed electronically, so the users will be able to read their mail online. Users would also be able to receive their original mail, together with Braille and large print copies if required.

We would like to ask you to fill in a short survey to help us shape this service according to the needs of future users. Before the service will be offered, we will meet federal guidelines on privacy and security issues. Please note that this service will initially only be available in the United States.

You can find the survey at: http://evengrounds.com/mail-survey.

* Are you interested in being the first to know about upcoming savings and specials at CVI’s VisAbility store? Send your name and email address to visability@cviga.org and we’ll be sure to send you email promotions and special announcements.

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