Legislative Hotlines, Current Issues for Blind Persons
CALIFORNIA CONNECTION:
800-221-6359, after 5 PM and weekends
WASHINGTON CONNECTION:
800-424-8666, 3-9 PM and weekends
DISCLAIMER: This publication contains announcements from the Silicon Valley Council of the Blind and is also a forum for opinions relating to blindness issues. Signed articles reflect the views, and research, of their authors.
STATUS: SVCB is a 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt organization under the California Council of the Blind.
Monthly in-person meetings are held at the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center (Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired San Jose). Meetings run from 9:30 AM to 1 PM, the third Saturday of the month and are open to all.
In August, Rob and I took our much-anticipated vacation to the East Coast, including a few days in Boston, Massachusetts, and a week at a beach house in Narragansett, Rhode Island, my home state. We traveled with Rob's brother, Doug, from the Folsom area, and met my college friend, Phyllis, who lives outside of Boston.
For those who have not had the opportunity to visit the greater Boston area, it is filled with history dating back to the American Revolution. We had the opportunity to be true tourists in Boston, visiting many treasured landmarks, and the weather cooperated beautifully.
Our last week was spent near the Narrow River in Narragansett, and the beach house was near a bird sanctuary. Rhode Island in the summer is beautiful, and the Atlantic Ocean was a warm 72 degrees. Lobster rolls, a visit to Newport, Rhode Island, and time at one of my favorite beaches of all time, Narragansett Beach, were highlights.
Both Rob and I wanted peace and quiet, along with the opportunity to swim and tour as needed, and we could not have asked for a more perfect location.
In our August meeting, we had a brief program where members shared highlights from the American Council of the Blind Conference and Convention. As an affiliate of the American Council of the Blind, the California Council of the Blind has many opportunities for members to participate in the national convention. The 2026 convention included both virtual programming, and an in-person portion in St. Louis, Missouri.
We agreed that, because of the time difference, many of us will be listening to recordings of the sessions when they become available.
The picnic is upon us, and many notices have been sent out to members. We will recognize the Picnic Committee at the event and in the October newsletter.
Remember, national elections for the mid-term will be upon us in November, and we will learn more about the important voting opportunities on the ballot in our October meeting.
You did! Well, that's a switch. Used to be you'd just come and assumed everyone would feed you.
"Well, I gave that up because I'm getting ready for another stint as a service dog. Gotta behave now or else I won't get paired with a nice person."
Now, that's really interesting. What service are you hoping for.
"A guide for a blind person using a rollator. That's a walker with wheels."
My, my, that kind of thing hasn't been tried yet as far as I know.
"Yes, that's true, but I'll just wait a few years for it to happen."
That's admirable, King. Power to ya.
"Thank you, I'll need it!"
Happy September birthdays to Mike Kiethley, Lisa Quan, and Diane Wetzel
And welcome Kathy Smith from San Jose. She joined SVCB at our August meeting. And she's going to the picnic, too!
And you're going, right? You'd better hurry up and register! For the last time, details below:
From Rob Turner: The 2026 SVCB picnic will take place on Saturday, September 19, at the Edith Lester picnic site in Martial Cottle Park. Maps and driving directions will be available as we get closer to the event.
Options to sign up and pay are listed below.
We are doing things a little differently this year in an effort to make the event run more smoothly, and to make sure both guests and volunteers can enjoy the day. The cost of the event is $20 for SVCB members and $25 for nonmembers.
As usual, if non-members join SVCB when signing up for the picnic by paying their dues of twenty dollars, their membership is valid through 2027 and they have paid for the picnic.
The cost of the picnic includes the choices of 2 proteins: hamburgers, hot dogs, or veggie burgers. If anyone wants more than 2 of these, they can pay an extra $5 for two additional proteins, and have the choice of taking the extra home.
After you sign up and pay, someone from the Picnic committee will contact you to get your choice of proteins, condiments, and side dishes.
We are offering the following condiments: sliced American cheese, mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, and chopped onions.
Your choice of side dishes will be any or all of the following: potato salad, coleslaw, and fruit salad.
For snacks, we will provide the usual individual containers of things like Pringles.
For beverages, we will provide the usual regular and diet soda, bottled water, unsweetened iced tea, and if you have a particular beverage you like, you are encouraged to bring it with you.
Deadline for signing up will be Friday, September 11. Payment can be made as follows, and please, if at all possible, do not wait until the last minute to register. We know life gets busy and we will be as flexible as possible.
You can mail your check to our P.O. Box. Be sure to write in the memo line of the check that it is for the 2026 SVCB picnic, and make check payable to SVCB. It is also very important to address the envelope to Silicon Valley Council of the Blind, so the check reaches our P.O. Box.
Our mailing address is:
Silicon Valley Council of the Blind
P.O. Box 4116
San Jose, CA 95125
Payment through PayPal can be made to the following address:
SVCB@SVCB.CC.
Please make sure you enter this correctly in PayPal, as money sent to incorrect recipients cannot be retrieved in most cases.
If for some reason you need to pay with check or cash in person at the picnic, please call David Hoffman beforehand to find out if it's okay to do so.
- Updated Board of Directors, BOP, Constitution and Bylaws, and Resolutions
The updated 2026 Constitution and Bylaws, Resolutions, Board of Directors, and Board of Publication pages are now available for your viewing pleasure! You can find links for each of the pages under the "About Us" tab, then under "Organizational Documents" on
www.acb.org.
- Last Chance to Support the Brenda Dillon Memorial Walk
This is your last chance to support the Brenda Dillon Memorial Walk, and make a difference for the ACB affiliate you care about most. Your donation helps strengthen your favorite affiliate, while also supporting ACB's national work in advocacy, accessibility, community, and the health of our organization.
Every gift brings us closer to our $65,000 goal. Don't miss your opportunity to make your contribution count: donate today! For assistance with making a donation, please reach out to our office at
(612) 332-3242,
or toll-free at
(800) 866-3242.
- ACB Seeks Video Demonstrations of Meta Smart Glasses
Are you an experienced Meta AI Glasses user who is blind or has low vision? ACB would love to hear from you—and pay you to share what you know as part of an upcoming Meta project!
We're not looking for highly produced videos or professional content. We want real people showing real uses, something practical you already do with your glasses that might help another blind or low-vision person discover what's possible: reading print, shopping, cooking, identifying things around you, enjoying a hobby, traveling, using Be My Eyes or AIRA, connecting through Messenger or WhatsApp, or something we haven't even thought of.
Videos should be 5-10 minutes long, with clear spoken narration so the demonstration also makes sense to someone who is listening without watching. You may submit more than one video, with the understanding that selections will be made based on quality of video, topic represented, willingness for ACB to use it on our website and in social media, and the ability to present this demonstration at an upcoming ACB Community event. Payment is made only for videos selected by ACB, and requires your live participation in the corresponding ACB Community event.
You can submit a viewable YouTube, Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar link; unlisted YouTube videos are fine.
Questions or need help sharing your video link? Email
community@acb.org
- New Speak4 Campaign for the Latonya Reeves Freedom Act
As many of our members know from our frequent posts about the Texas v. Kennedy case, the rights of people with disabilities to receive care in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs is currently getting a lot of attention. Although the Supreme Court has determined that these rights are found in the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, some are questioning this determination. In response, the Latonya Reeves Freedom Act was reintroduced in both the House and the Senate this summer. We are pleased to support that reintroduction with a Speak4 campaign, linked below. The Latonya Reeves Freedom Act would clarify and strengthen the integration mandate, and affirm that people with disabilities have a right to receive care in the most integrated setting appropriate.
Recipes shared through ACB Community's recipe swap are now available as a collection in Cookie Voice Recipes. Using ACB's special link gives you the Recipe Swap collection automatically when you sign in, along with a year of Cookie Premium for $29.99.
Cookie Voice Recipes offers a voice-first way to cook, letting you move through recipe steps hands-free, ask cooking questions, scale recipes, import recipes from other sources, and more.
When you subscribe using ACB's link, a portion of your subscription also goes back to support the American Council of the Blind.
ICEVI and WBU are delighted to announce that the Global Braille Survey is now open!
As part of the ICEVI-WBU Global Braille Literacy Campaign—More Braille: More Empowerment—the survey provides an important opportunity for people around the world to share their experiences and perspectives on braille literacy.
Led by the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI), the World Blind Union (WBU), and collaborating organizations and individuals, this global research initiative aims to strengthen our understanding of how braille is learned, taught, accessed, and used—and of the factors that enable or create barriers to braille literacy.
Who Can Participate?
We warmly invite responses from:
Adults aged 18 years and over who are blind, have low vision, or are deaf blind;
Parents and guardians of children of any age who are blind, have low vision, or are deaf blind;
Teachers and other professionals involved in braille education; and
When you follow the above link, you will first be invited to select your preferred language, then review the informed consent information, and then complete a short set of questions to determine which survey or surveys are relevant to you.
If you are eligible for more than one survey–for example, if you are both an adult braille user and a braille transcriber–you are welcome to contribute from each perspective. Simply complete one survey and then return to the link when you are ready to complete another.
Please, everyone, join our campaign, share this with everyone you know, and ask them to sign. Remember, our sighted friends, colleagues, and family members are our allies. We need everyone at this time to help with all of our efforts.
As everyone knows, DOR (Department of Rehabilitation) will not be providing services to new clients for at least one to two years according to Kim Rutledge, Director of DOR. For the blind, these are very grim days: little OIB money, and no services for anyone new to DOR. It doesn't matter if it is someone new to sight loss needing adjustment services to stay employed, or someone wanting to go to work. I am experiencing counselors trying to close cases with the clients I am currently working with. Their counselors are being asked to close as many cases as possible. It doesn't matter if the client's goal has been reached or not: cases are being closed.
Let's band together to move this forward. This is a time for all people who are blind, low vision, or deaf blind to band together and fight for our services. In the history of DOR, category 1, which is the category we are served under, is closed for the first time in history.
Thanks in advance for all your help,
Margie Donovan
The California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) is facing severe operational breakdowns that directly impact the safety, economic independence, and civil rights of blind, low-vision, and deaf blind Californians. Under a newly implemented Order of Selection, all new applicants who are blind, low-vision, and deaf blind face an indefinite waitlist for services, even those who have a job to retain. See the link below with embedded letter for more details.
Join the Campaign
We must rise up to request emergency funding and legislative oversight before irreversible harm occurs.
Taking action sends your letter directly to your local State Assembly Member, State Senator, and Governor Gavin Newsom, since he oversees Health and Human Services.
Your message urges your legislators to ask Assembly Member Alex Lee and Senator Jesse Arreguín, Chairs of the Assembly and Senate Human Services Committees, to hold an urgent joint legislative interim hearing on the DOR breakdown.
Keyboard users: Tab to the form fields and type your contact details (Name, Street Address, City, Zip Code, and Email).
Select or press Enter on "Start Writing."
The system automatically identifies your local legislators and the Governor.
A standard letter will populate. You may send it as is, or customize it with your own story. Sharing your personal experience carries great weight with elected officials.
Select or press Enter on "Send" to deliver your letters.
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Privacy Notice
Your privacy is fully protected. This action is administered independently through the Action Network platform. Your information is strictly used to route your letters to your designated elected officials, and will never be sold or shared. If you wish to opt out after participating, use the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of your confirmation email.
From Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications: Simple Perfect Italian—100 Family Favorites, from Start to Finish in 30 Minutes
Bow Ties with Sausage and Sweet Peppers
Ingredients
8 ounces dry large bowties
3/4 pound spicy Italian sausage links
2 medium red sweet peppers, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup vegetable or beef broth
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup snapped fresh Italian parsley
Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, and return pasta to saucepan.
Meanwhile, cut the sausage into 1-inch pieces.
Cook sausage and sweet peppers in a large skillet over medium high heat until sausage is brown. Drain off fat.
Stir the broth and black pepper into the skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Pour sausage mixture over pasta. Add parsley. Toss gently to coat.
Transfer pasta mixture to a warm serving dish.
Makes 4 servings.
Pistachio Lemon Gelato
Ingredients
4 cups whole milk
1-1/3 cups sugar
12 egg yolks, beaten
1 medium lemon
1/2 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1/3 cup chopped toasted pistachios or almonds
Directions
Combine the milk, sugar, and egg yolks in a large saucepan. Use a vegetable peeler to cut long strips of peel from the lemon. Add lemon peel to saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture just coats a metal spoon. Remove from heat. Remove peel, and discard.
Transfer cooked mixture to a large mixing bowl. Cover surface of mixture with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight, until completely chilled. Or place the saucepan in a sink of ice water to chill more quickly.
Stir lemonade concentrate and pistachios or almonds into milk mixture. Freeze mixture in a 4 or 5-quart ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's directions.
When prompted for a participant code, press the Pound key.
Note that the above Zoom call-in information is used for SVCB's virtual link to monthly in-person membership meetings.
2. Shows Described by AudioVision Bay Area
For all productions (Golden Gate, Orpheum Theatres, Broadway San Francisco, and Broadway San Jose), tickets are generally on sale four weeks before the production opens. To charge tickets and reserve receivers, call:
888-746-1799
(SHN Theaters), or fax your order to:
415-581-2121
and ask for AudioVision tickets. If you have any questions, please email:
didisalvo@msn.com
or visit:
www.theaudiovision.org.
3. TheatreWorks, with descriptions by Gravity Access Services.
Pre-register for tickets that include a free "show talk" 30 minutes before the show at the TheatreWorks box office at:
650-436-1960
or email:
boxoffice@theatreworks.org.
Shows are at the Lucie Stern Theatre or the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. A webpage with a listing of audio-described shows is at:
www.theatreworks.org/venues/accessibility.
4. San Francisco LightHouse
To hear weekly events at the San Francisco LightHouse, call:
415-694-7325.
5. Let's Talk Low Vision
The monthly "Let's Talk Low Vision" conferences are held on the third Tuesday of the month at 8:30 PM Eastern. Archives are at the Council of Citizens with Low Vision International (CCLVI) Official website at:
www.cclvi.info/archive-lets-talk-low-vision/.
Zoom information is distributed through the ACB Community Schedule email list, or by emailing:
cclviwebmaster@gmail.com.
6. Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors
Departs every Sunday at noon from Pier 40 in San Francisco. Call:
415-281-0212
for information and reservations, or visit:
www.baads.org.
7. Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP)
BORP believes that everyone should have access to the unique challenges that outdoor recreation provides, and makes every effort to accommodate each person's needs, including providing transportation and volunteer support. For event listings, call Lori Gray at:
510-843-4398
or visit:
www.borp.org.
-Calendar
September
September 8, 5:30 to 7 PM: Breast Cancer Support Group meeting. For questions, call Lori Scharff at:
516-887-1336
or email:
lorischarff@gmail.com.
September 11: Deadline to sign up for the SVCB picnic. Read details in this newsletter.
September 13, 1 PM: Phantom of the Opera, with descriptions by AudioVision, SJCPA.
September 19, 11 AM to 2 PM: SVCB Picnic. Read details in this newsletter.
September 21: Deadline for the October SVCB newsletter.
October: Employment of People with Disabilities Awareness Month.
October 1, 7:30 to 9 PM: SVCB Board meeting. SVCB members are invited; contact Alice Turner.
October 6, 5:30 to 7 PM: Breast Cancer Support Group.
October 15: White Cane Safety Day.
October 17, 9:30 AM to 1 PM: SVCB monthly membership meeting, Vista San Jose. Formally consider Constitution and Bylaws amendments, and appoint Holiday Party Committee Chair.
October 18, 1 PM: Dracula, with descriptions by Gravity; MVCPA; see notes.
October 19: November newsletter deadline. Distribute Constitution and Bylaws if necessary, publish slate of 2027 SVCB nominees, and distribute fall membership list.