Join the Blinded Veterans Association’s VetTech Team for its Weekly Wednesday Webinar on June 19 at 2:00pm. The Team will welcome Envision and the products that enable the unprecedented experience of unobtrusive access to the visual world and a new life of independence. Envision empowers people who are blind or who have low vision to access everyday visual information for themselves.  Not a BVA member? Not a problem! All VetTech sessions are open to everyone—blind […]

Marisa Gerlach-Blanco, Service Dog Program Manager at Dogs, Inc. (formerly known as Southeastern Guide Dogs), will address the topic of anxiety and depression in service animals after the loss of a handler, or the handler’s retirement from work, and how to medically treat the animal.  All past, present, and prospective dog handlers among BVA’s blind and low vision veterans are invited to attend this Tuesday’s virtual meeting of the Dog Handlers Group, scheduled for 4:00pm […]

Juneteenth National Independence Day, to be celebrated in 2024 next Wednesday, June 19, became the newest federal holiday in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. The holiday commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.  A combination of the words June and nineteenth, Juneteeth recalls the events of a day more than two months after the end of the Civil War and more than two years after Abraham […]

This week, June 10-16, is Vision Rehabilitation Week. Three weeks from now the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Blind Rehabilitation Service (BRS) will commemorate 76 years of residential programs beginning with the original dedication of the Hines Blind Rehabilitation Center (BRC) on July 4, 1948.  Unfortunately, fewer than 5 percent of Americans who could benefit from vision rehabilitation programs currently take advantage of them. For the more than a million veterans with blindness or low […]

Requirements for Regional Group Delegates to be Seated at 79th National Convention   The following minimum requirements must be met no later than June 20, 2024 (5:00pm Eastern Time) for regional group delegates to be recognized and/or seated at convention: Submission of two (2) sets of regional group meeting minutes for the current Fiscal Year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024) denoting business transacted to include: election and/or naming of officers, election and naming […]

The pre-convention Proposed Bylaw Amendments and Resolutions Overview will be held next Thursday, June 20, at 2:00pm Eastern Time as the second of three business Town Hall sessions to be held virtually before the in-person convention.  All BVA members are invited to attend next week’s meeting via Zoom regardless of plans for attending the convention in person. The discussion will cover the bylaws and resolutions that have been proposed as the 79th National Convention approaches. […]

Left to right, Robert Sanchas, Teresa Galgano, and Sheldon McKinney with respective guide dogs Kent, Donald, and Nora brace for Waymo autonomous vehicle ride. Wow, what a week we had with Waymo! My dad Sheldon and I, along with two other BVA Ambassadog teams, Donald (Teresa Galgano), and Kent (Robert Sanchas), BVA National Executive Director Donald Overton, and National Development Director Meredith Buono-Dagrossa were hosted by Waymo and their video production team in Phoenix, Arizona, […]

Join the Blinded Veterans Association’s VetTech Team this Wednesday, June 12, at 2:00pm Eastern Time as we welcome back Vispero’s Elizabeth “Liz” Whitaker to the Weekly Wednesday Webinar. Liz is the company’s Product Manager for Education and Outreach. During the webinar she will discuss the new features and enhancements in the May software updates of JAWS, ZoomText, and Fusion.  Vispero is the world’s largest assistive technology provider for the visually impaired. Although officially formed in […]

All BVA members new to the Association’s community are encouraged to join the New Member Series, the next of which occurs this coming Monday, June 10, at 1:00pm Eastern Time. The meeting presents an excellent opportunity to learn more about BVA, discover how one can contribute to the organization’s work, and explore the support available to its membership. The BVA staff and leadership are intent on new members gaining the maximum benefit from their membership.  […]

Reflecting a national mental health crisis nationwide, VA announced last week that veterans would no longer be required to make copayments for their first three outpatient mental health care and substance use disorder visits during a given year. The copayment exception benefits dates back retroactively to June 27, 2023, and, by law, will end December 29, 2027.  Eligibility for this benefit is contingent on whether the outpatient visit is with a qualified mental health professional […]