Helping Hand airs on HPR1 stations and appears here. Each Friday afternoon on All Things Considered, Helping Hand puts the spotlight on an organization or event in the community that offers assistance to the disabled and other folks in need with HPR All Things Considered Host Dave Lawrence. This week we’re learning about the Hawai‘i Association of the Blind, the state affiliate of the American Council of the Blind. Their HAB 2015 Annual Convention is Saturday March 14th at the Pagoda Hotel in Honolulu. It is a privilege to learn more today with our guest, Landa Phelan, a member of the board of directors for the Hawai‘i Association of the Blind.
Landa is also on the Advisory Board and has served two terms as Chair on the Ho’opono State Rehabilitation Center for the Blind Advisory Board; she’s on Senator Suzanne Chung Oakland’s Deaf/Blind Task Force Council; is on the O’ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation committee; is a member of the Hawai’i Association of Parents of the Visually Impaired; and was appointed by Governor Neal Abercrombie to the Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB), and is certified to give emergency preparedness training our most vulnerable community including seniors, not only around Honolulu but islands across the state.
As their website states, the Hawai'i Association of the Blind was organized on the following philosophical foundation:
-- Blind people ought to be equal participants with their sighted peers in the productive pursuits of society. In order to achieve complete integration into society, blind people must be educated to believe that they can, and indeed should, share in the rights and responsibilities of the sighted.
-- Blind people must be perceived by all other citizens as being equal. Diligent efforts must be made to educate the sighted population in order for blind people to equally participate in the activities of the community.
-- Blind people themselves need to act to eliminate major obstacles by seeking necessary statutory changes and by insisting upon positive public policies from governmental agencies, including the judiciary.
Contact the Hawai'i Association of the Blind:
Website: acb.org/hawaii
Phone: To attend the convention, contact Amelia Certrone 808-923-8765, or for questions about the organization or to offer them assistance, contact Landa Phelan 808-341-3187
Email: habinfo@hawaii.rr.com
Find all the Helping Hand segments here.
