The
Veterans Workshop announces that training of blind veteran relay operators
begins March 4th, with six Blind Oklahoma Veterans training on a Google+
platform to make phone calls for Deaf Veterans.
Washington,
DC, February 27, 2013
Imagine
for one minute you are deaf and you are a veteran of the United States Armed
Forces. You can't hear anything because an IED has left you deaf. You want to
call your mom at home and wish her a "Happy Birthday", but that task
is next to impossible. Maybe you want to call your daughter at college and wish
her well on her exams, but again, that task is too difficult. But now, with the
help of the Veterans Workshop, all of that is about to change. A core group of
Blind veterans from the state of Oklahoma are in training starting on March 4th
with a mission. They are learning how to be "relay operators", where
they can actually make relay phone calls for the veteran who has lost their
hearing. http://www.VeteransRelay.com
With
funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Vocational Rehabilitation and
Employment Program (VR&E) of Oklahoma City and the State of Oklahoma,
Department of Rehabilitation Services, six Blind veterans are embarking on a
training that will change the way that deaf veterans communicate.
Ken
Coppinger, lead instructor for the training says "These veterans are my
brothers, and teaching them how to use Google plus hangout technology to assist
deaf veterans in communication is not a job to me, it's a mission".
One
Blind Veteran is 90 Year Old, WWII Veteran Emory Finefrock - a Navy veteran who
served in the Pacific. When asked why he has requested to join this training,
Emory said, "These are fellow veterans, and if I can help just one, then I
will have done my job."
The
Veterans Workshop, a national veteran’s charity that has programs to teach
Blind, Deaf and Paralyzed veterans, has developed a unique and challenging work
assignment for the tens of thousands of Blind American veterans who have an
unemployment in the low 90% range. This initial group of blind veterans is
excited about the training and the opportunities it will bring to them.
About
the Veterans Workshop: With offices in Rhode Island and Washington, DC, the
Veterans Workshop has developed unique training programs for a subset of the
disabled veterans community to include blind, deaf and paralyzed veterans.
Training for Blind veterans is underway, with training for Deaf and Paralyzed
veterans expected in early fall.
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