November 12, 2020
“I take that as a challenge every day.”
These words, by Terry Strader in describing his role at our Braille Printing House, exemplify the spirit of every employee and volunteer at Clovernook Center. These challenges are made possible by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in July.
The ADA visited Clovernook in a special way this summer, when The New York Times asked if the Braille Printing House team could transcribe to braille a special edition commemorating the ADA – in less than a week. Challenge met: They did it in days.
These rise-to-the-challenge workers include Cissy Lincoln, who for 18 years has been correcting misspellings and grammatical errors in the content at our Braille Printing House with her proofreading wizardry. In our featured Q&A, she shares her advice to writers.
There’s no better proof of the importance of our worker’s talent than the end users, such as Marianne Denning, a teacher of the visually impaired. Marianne has volunteered with Clovernook Center for decades and took part in the Ohio Regional Braille Challenge for three years. She shares her lessons from those challenges.
I hope these stories reveal in greater detail the degree to which our workers, volunteers and supporters like you make for a more productive, healthier community. The inclusion made possible by the ADA, one of the most important pieces of social rights law ever written, elevates us all every day.
We still have a way to go – only 19% of people with disabilities are in the workforce today. But at Clovernook Center, we are proud that 35% of our total staff are blind or visually impaired. So let’s rise to the challenge.
Wishing you the all the best,
Christopher Faust, President and CEO
Read more from this edition of The Perspective:
The Perspective: 3 Lessons Imprinted from Teaching Braille
The Perspective: Clovernook Employees Make a National Impression
The Perspective: ‘Grammar Maven’ Cissy Lincoln Proves Every Word Counts
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