Disabled
American Veterans
Blind
Veterans National Chapter
Commander
Eddie Humphrey
Senior Vice
Commander Floyd Britting
1st Junior
Vice Commander Dan Holden
2nd Junior
Vice Commander Dennis O’Connell
3rd Junior
Vice Commander Paul Kaminsky
4th Junior
Vice Commander Dave May
Judge
Advocate Gerard Boucher
Chaplain
Tony Martino
Adjutant/Treasurer Steve Moffitt
COMMANDER’S
MESSAGE:
Dear
Comrades,
A few words
to all of you, wishing all Happy Holiday Season, and hope that this year is Healthy and
Prosperous.
I hope to
hear from anyone that has a question, please feel free to call or email me. My cell phone
number is; 1-405-313-6679, and my email address is USMC1054@COX.NET
Our new
Adjutant/Treasurer Steve Moffitt is doing well but needs all the help that he can get from
all of us.
Again,
wishing all of you and your families a Happy & Healthy Holiday Season,
Harold E.
Humphrey (Eddie)
Commander
Blind Chapter of the DAV
In loving
memory of Jim Fox’s Mother, Carolyn.
Please let
the Blind Chapter Chaplain know if you are sick, hospitalized or you know of one of our
members who is.
Contact
Reverend Anthony Martino, 25016 87th Street, Unit 2,
Salem
Wisconsin 53168 phone 847 736-2111
TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT
Eligible veterans should have seen an
increase in the mileage reimbursement they receive for travel to VA facilities for medical
care. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake announced on November 17th
that he will use his authority to raise the Mileage reimbursement from the 28.5
cents per mile to 41.5 cents per mile for all eligible veterans. "We owe it to
our veterans to give them the best care possible," said Peake. "The increase
will once again provide assistance to our veterans, especially in these difficult economic
times, to help offset gasoline costs and to assist veterans with access to the VA's
world-class
health
system."
Congress,
which mandates such increases, recently provided funding to VA to increase the
reimbursement rate, which goes into effect on November 17, 2008. Service connected
veterans,
veterans
receiving VA pensions, and veterans with low incomes are eligible for the
reimbursement.
While
increasing the payment, the current deductible amounts applied to certain mileage
reimbursements will remain frozen at $7.77 for a one way trip, $15.54 for a round trip,
and capped at a maximum of $46.62 per calendar month.
On January
9, 2009, these deductibles will decrease to $3 for a one way trip, $6 for a round trip,
with a maximum of $16 per calendar month. Deductibles can be waived if they cause a
financial hardship to the veteran.
The
VA is still arranging for no down payment home loans.
In fact, with the economy tanking, the VA has increased loans by 31%. VA no-down payment loans are available for as
much as $729,000 and larger VA loans may be obtained with relatively small down payments. Veterans no longer need to obtain a VA Certificate
of Eligibility prior to contacting a lender.
Veterans
like many other Americans are experiencing financial problems and some are facing
foreclosure. Veterans facing a mortgage
crisis whether they have a VA or private home loan should call the VA Loan Guarantee
Program and talk to a mortgage specialist who may be able to restructure your loan at
1-877-827-3702
During one
of the National Blind Chapter meetings at the last DAV National Convention Dave May
volunteered to do an outreach to the members in our chapter. I hope you all enjoy what
Dave sent for our reading enjoyment.
DAV
BVNC Outreach Call:
December 3rd Dave May talked with Kenneth Davis. Kenneth is a chapter member from Malvern, Arkansas and has been a member since 1947. The big news is, Kenneth celebrated his 100 birthday last week. He has been married for 66 years and him and his wife were blessed with three children. Ken was drafted into the Army. He was assigned to the 150th Artillery. While in the Army he held many positions. A Bugler, mailman and trained many new draftees at Camp Wheeler in Georgia. Before Ken became totally blind in 1992, he worked many years as a barber and he said he retired at the age of 92. Now, Ken enjoys listening to news and church services on TV. At 100 Kenneth may take a few extra naps but he is still able to dress himself every morning.
For his 100th
birthday on November 25th about 34 of his family members had a party in his
honor at a hotel. According to Ken he has 4 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren and
with one of his great grandchildren at the age of 21 can a great-great grandchild be that
far off?
From all of
us at the National Blind Chapter we would like to wish Kenneth HAPPY 100th
BIRTHDAY
WASHINGTON
(Oct. 30, 2008) -- Veterans and active-duty military not in uniform can now render the
military-style hand salute during the playing of the national anthem, thanks to changes in
federal law that took effect this month. http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1609
The earlier provision authorizing hand-salutes for veterans and out-of-uniform military
personnel during the raising, lowering or passing of the flag, was contained in the
National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, which took effect Jan. 28, 2008.
Thanks to
Dave May, with suggestions from the officers, for updating the application to join the
Blind Chapter of the DAV. I’m sure by the time you read this Paul Kaminsky will have
it on our web site.
Why not
download it or ask for a copy from one of the officers and try to recruit a new member.
Membership is the life blood of our chapter.
From
the American Council of the Blind National office:
Dear ACB
Members and Friends,
As part of
the historic agreement negotiated by ACB, The California Council of the Blind (CCB) and
several blind individuals, free annual credit reports available through www.annualcreditreport.com are now designed
to be accessible to blind consumers. Each
person is entitled to one free report each year from each of three different companies. By the end of this coming December, these
companies will also be providing the free reports in Braille, Large Print, and Audio
formats. ACB and CCB
used
Structured Negotiations to reach the landmark agreement with the Equifax, Experian and
TransUnion.
To access
your free on-line credit report, go to www.annualcreditreport.com. After selecting your state and requesting your
report, you will be taken to a form that must be filled out. At the end of the form there is a security feature
(known as a Captcha) as well as an
alternative request page for blind and visually impaired consumers who cannot see the
characters that need to be entered into the box. Unlike
some on-line audio Captchas that are difficult to understand, the security feature on the
credit report site includes a phone number to call that will clearly provide you with the
code you need to enter into the site. These
security features are designed to help companies make sure that you are a real person, and
not a computer. The credit reporting
companies have worked hard over the past several months to make the Captcha on this site
an accessible one. When you have completed the form and the security feature, you will be
asked to select which of the three companies you want to receive your report from.
There will
be a small number of people who will be unable to obtain their report on-line because of
the need for additional authentication. This
happens with sighted people also and has nothing to do with visual impairment. If this happens to you, and you are unable to get
your report, please contact our lawyers using the information below. If you have any difficulties obtaining your
report, please contact them as well. The
companies are working closely with ACB and its lawyers to make sure the reports are
accessible and the process is as usable as possible.
If problems occur we will try to resolve them as soon as possible. Feedback can be sent to our lawyers, Lainey
Feingold and Linda Dardarian, by emailing LF@LFLegal.com
, or calling (510) 548-5062.
Please keep
this information for future reference and share it with other blind or visually impaired
people you know.
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/templateimages/blank.gif
October 2008
- Notice of Class Action
This notice
contains important information for you:
IF you apply
for or receive retirement, survivors, or disability insurance benefits or Supplemental
Social Security Income (SSI) payments from Social Security; OR IF You are the representative payee for an
individual who receives Social Security benefits or SSI; and you have a visual impairment
that substantially limits your ability to see, so that you require materials to be in an
accessible format in order to participate in these programs.
A federal
court has authorized a class action lawsuit against the Social Security Administration
(SSA) on behalf of people with visual impairments who require communications from SSA to
be in an accessible format in order to participate in the Social Security or SSI programs. The court has authorized two classes: If you have a visual impairment that substantially
limits the major life activity of seeing and you (1) apply for or are receiving Social
Security or SSI benefits, or (2) are the representative payee for a Social Security
beneficiary or SSI recipient, then you are a member of at least one of the two classes. This means that the court’s decision in this
case may affect your rights. The case, called
American Council of the Blind v. Astrue, No. C05-04696, is pending in the Federal district
court in San Francisco, California.
The
plaintiffs are asking the court to find that SSA has violated a federal law called the
Rehabilitation Act. The Rehabilitation Act
says disabled individuals cannot be denied meaningful access to Federal programs and
benefits. Plaintiffs, who include the
American Council of the Blind, are asking the court to order SSA to provide communications
in alternative formats such as Braille, large print, electronic mail, computer disk, and
audio recording to make sure that people with visual impairments have meaningful access to
SSA’s programs. This case does not
include any claims for money damages.
This notice tells you about your right
to intervene in this case, submit comments, and how to contact plaintiffs’ class
counsel. You do not have to intervene or take
any action in response to this notice in order to be included in the class or affected by
the outcome of the case. If you want to
intervene
or have
questions about this case, you should contact class counsel listed below at either the
toll-free 800 number or the email provided at the end of this notice by December 31, 2008.
The court
would like maximum input from the class members. The
same number and email may be used to provide class counsel with suggestions about how SSA
can effectively communicate with people who have visual impairments. You should give class counsel your comments by
December 31, 2008.
Please do
not telephone the court, the court clerk's office, or SSA for information about this case. If you require this notice in an alternative
format such as Braille, large font print, audio recording or computer disk, please leave
your name, request and delivery address at the number or email listed below.
ARLENE B.
MAYERSON
SILVIA YEE
DISABILITY
RIGHTS EDUCATION
AND DEFENSE
FUND, INC. (DREDF)
Telephone: 1-800-348-4232
E-Mail: ssaclassaction@dredf.org
As Jim Fox
said in the last newsletter, I am the new editor of the BVNC newsletter. Please send all
articles for this newsletter the following two ways:
1. The
preferred way is via email to navy1vet@verizon.net & in the subject line write DAV article
2. via snail
mail to:
Dennis
O’Connell, BVNC newsletter,
303
Carnation Avenue, Floral Park, NY 11001-3435
