Don’t forget next week’s meeting of the BVA Dog Handlers Committee! The 4:00pm Eastern Time session via Zoom on Tuesday, March 21, is open to all veterans with sight loss who are interested in topics and issues related to guide dogs. The Committee meetings are regularly scheduled for the third Tuesday of each month in the same time slot and generally last approximately 90 minutes. Veterans who do not currently have a working guide dog […]

Robert A. “Bob” Bottenberg, BVA’s ninth National President and a dedicated member of the Association both nationally and locally for more than 60 years, passed away March 11 in San Antonio, Texas, at the age of 98.  Bob was blinded by German mortar fire in April 1945 when he was 20 years old and only 2-3 weeks after BVA’s founding. His injuries occurred as he was serving as squad leader with the 25th Infantry Regiment, […]

Prospective attendees of the BVA 78th National Convention may now register with BVA and also secure their hotel reservations for the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel August 14-18, 2023. Read more. Those planning to attend this year’s activities—highlighted by educational sessions, an increasingly popular and busy Exhibit Hall, and the official BVA business sessions—can now register on the BVA website and link to a hotel reservation form that will allow them to reserve a room […]

BVA’s VetTech Team welcomes Brian Moon, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Perigean Technologies, to the March 15 Weekly Wednesday Webinar at 2:00pm Eastern Time. Perigean Technologies spearheads VA research efforts to understand how veterans and caregivers interact with VA websites and mobile applications.  Brian will address the Veteran Usability Project and its implications for BVA and veterans with sight loss. He and the VetTech team will emphasize the following:                                                                        What the Veteran Usability Project […]

BVA has provided written support for two significant pieces of legislation introduced recently in the initial weeks of the 117th Congress, the “Helping Heroes Act of 2023” and the “Air Carrier Access Amendments Act,” that could positively impact many blind and low vision veterans and their families for years to come.  The Helping Heroes Act, introduced on March 3 by Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Patty Murray (D-WA), recognizes the work done by some 2.3 […]

BVA’s Louisiana/Mississippi Regional Group, led by officers Gary Schoelerman and Joe Burns, presented and donated an American Bronze Braille Flag to WRBH-FM (88.3), a New Orleans radio station for the blind and print impaired, on March 8. The regional group chose WRBH as a tribute to the work they do to keep the sight and print impaired informed.  Having opened its doors in 1980, WRBH has been on the air as a service to the […]

Past BVA Executive Director, Director of Government Relations, and National President Tom Miller personally visited the offices of two Congressional leaders this past week on two different days for the presentation of the Association’s newly named Thomas H. Miller Guiding Legislator of the Year Award in honor of his own advocacy work on behalf of blinded veterans and their families for more than three decades.  The first two recipients of the award are Senator Robert […]

With emphasis on safeguarding ocular clinical standards of care, caregiver program clinical standards, compliance with transportation services, protections for guide and service dogs at VA facilities, and improving programs and services for women veterans, BVA National President Joseph D. McNeil, Sr. this week presented BVA’s legislative priorities for the current federal fiscal year at a joint session of the U.S. House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs.  The March 8 in-person hearing, held on the […]

BVA’s Awards Program honors annually the extraordinary professional achievements of a blind or low vision veteran, the outstanding level of service of a BVA member to their regional group, and a volunteer who has served blind and low vision veterans with unusual dedication and enthusiasm. The recognitions are, respectively, the Melvin J. Maas, Irving Diener, and David L. Schnair Awards.  The program also recognizes, through annual Certificates of Appreciation, the professionals who go the extra […]

The National Research and Training Center (NRTC) on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University is committed to enhancing employment outcomes for people with vision loss. Whether a blind or low vision veteran is navigating the vocational rehabilitation process, just beginning to consider careers, or seeking to gain or maintain employment, the series of webinars and podcasts entitled “Employment Insights with the NRTC are designed to provide assistance on that journey.  The most recent […]