[Iabs-talk] Security Concerns Hurt Blind Venders
AZNOR99 at aol.com
AZNOR99 at aol.com
Wed Oct 24 21:44:10 CDT 2007
AT FEDERAL BUILDINGS NATIONWIDE
Security Concerns Hurt Blind Vendors
By _Kari Lydersen_
(http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/kari+lydersen/)
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 24, 2007; Page A17
CHICAGO -- For more than 70 years, U.S. law has required that federal
buildings throughout the nation give blind people priority in running vending
operations, gift shops and cafeterias. There is federal funding for training and
start-up costs for blind entrepreneurs.
But increased building security since the 1995 _Oklahoma City_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Oklahoma+City?tid=informline) bombing
and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as well as staff cuts at federal buildings have
meant business is down drastically, forcing many blind vendors to call it
quits. About 1,000 vendors -- almost a third of participants -- have left the
federal program in the past 15 years.
(javascript:v
oid(popitup('http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-10-24/index.html?imgId=PH2007102302175&imgUrl=/photo/2007
/10/23/PH2007102302175.html',650,850)))
_Buy This Photo_
(http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp?provider_id=25&ptp_photo_id=xt-mt-25-title_10096640)
(javascript:void(popitup('http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-10-24/index.html?imgId=PH2007102302175&imgUrl=/photo/2007
/10/23/PH2007102302175.html',650,850)))
Chicagoan Giovanni Francese dropped out of a struggling federal program that
helps blind people run cafeterias in federal buildings. (By Kari Lydersen
-- The Washington Post)
"People used to come for the outdoor patio, but after 9/11 all those doors
were sealed," said Giovanni Francese, 31, who ran cafeterias in two downtown
_Chicago_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Chicago?tid=informline) federal buildings. "The numbers of customers kept dropping. It wasn't
that the food wasn't good, but people didn't want to go through security."
In 1991, there were 3,513 blind vendors running 3,337 locations. In the last
fiscal year, there were 2,575 vendors at 3,040 locations, according to the
Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services, which oversees the program. A third of the locations are federal
buildings; the federal program also funds training and setup for blind vendors in
some private and state and county buildings.
Blind merchants groups are angry, saying the government should do more to
recruit and train blind vendors and find new sites for them, or contract the
program to private agencies to help.
Various facets of the program are already contracted out to private agencies
in _Georgia_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Georgia?tid=informline) , _Idaho_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Idaho?tid=informline) , _Virginia_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Virginia?tid=informline) , _West Virginia_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/West+Virginia?tid=informline) and _Wisconsin_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Wisconsin?tid=informline) , said Ray Hopkins,
who oversees the program for the Education Department.
Here, the Chicago Lighthouse, a century-old social service organization for
the blind, is asking the state government to let them administer the blind
vendors program for all of _Illinois_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Illinois?tid=informline) .
Charles Glaser, president of a vendors trade association, said that if the
Chicago Lighthouse gets its way, it would be the first time a large, existing
private organization administered the program.
"If this works, we could start a landslide nationwide," said James
Kesteloot, president of the Chicago Lighthouse, where Francese now manages the
cafeteria. The Lighthouse is also well known for its clock factory, where blind
people make custom clocks for government agencies including the military and the
_Central Intelligence Agency_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Central+Intelligence+Agency?tid=informline) .
Bettye Odem-Davis, chief of the Illinois Bureau of Blind Services, said she
cannot comment on the Lighthouse's specific proposal but said the agency is
open to working with private groups.
"I'd be amiss if I said everything runs as smoothly as I would like it to
run," she said. "Anything we can do in regards to marketing and facility
expansion is always warranted."
At a conference in _San Diego_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/San+Diego?tid=informline) this month, blind vendors discussed
contracting the program to a private agency.
"Once we're aware of what the vendors are thinking, we'd see if contracting
out makes sense in the business environment in California," said Tony
Candela, deputy director of the state agency that runs the program. Meanwhile,
government officials say that though increased security is a big reason for the
drop in federal vending facilities for blind merchants, another major reason is
a positive development -- more and better opportunities available to blind
people in the private market.
"It's not like the old days when it was more permissible for a blind vendor
to work in a small facility and make a meager living," Candela said. "In this
modern era, people with disabilities are much more empowered."
Kesteloot said that if the Chicago Lighthouse is contracted to run the
program, it will look for opportunities in potentially more profitable private
buildings along with maintaining the federal sites.
"I think businesses will respond well to a group like the Chicago
Lighthouse," Francese said. "Whereas, if you go to a private business owner and say
you're from the federal government, they're probably going to have a negative
view no matter what you do."
************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
-------------- next part --------------
AT FEDERAL BUILDINGS NATIONWIDE
Security Concerns Hurt Blind Vendors
By
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/kari+lydersen/
Kari Lydersen
Washington
Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 24, 2007; Page A17
CHICAGO -- For more than 70 years, U.S. law has required that federal buildings throughout the nation give blind people priority in running vending operations, gift shops and cafeterias. There is federal funding for training and start-up costs for blind entrepreneurs.
But increased building security since the 1995
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Oklahoma+City?tid=informline
Oklahoma City
bombing and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as well as staff cuts at federal buildings have meant business is down drastically, forcing many blind vendors to call it quits. About 1,000 vendors -- almost a third of participants -- have left the federal program in the past 15 years.
javascript:void(popitup('http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-10-24/index.html?imgId=PH2007102302175&imgUrl=/photo/2007/10/23/PH2007102302175.html',650,850))
http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/images/pictopia1.jpg
http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp?provider_id=25&ptp_photo_id=xt-mt-25-title_10096640
Buy This Photo
javascript:void(popitup('http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-10-24/index.html?imgId=PH2007102302175&imgUrl=/photo/2007/10/23/PH2007102302175.html',650,850))
http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/10/23/PH2007102302173.jpg
Chicagoan Giovanni Francese dropped out of a struggling federal program that helps blind people run cafeterias in federal buildings.
(By Kari Lydersen -- The
Washington
Post)
"People used to come for the outdoor patio, but after 9/11 all those doors were sealed," said Giovanni Francese, 31, who ran cafeterias in two downtown
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Chicago?tid=informline
Chicago
federal buildings. "The numbers of customers kept dropping. It wasn't that the food wasn't good, but people didn't want to go through security."
In 1991, there were 3,513 blind vendors running 3,337 locations. In the last fiscal year, there were 2,575 vendors at 3,040 locations, according to the Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which oversees the program. A third of the locations are federal buildings; the federal program also funds training and setup for blind vendors in some private and state and county buildings.
Blind merchants groups are angry, saying the government should do more to recruit and train blind vendors and find new sites for them, or contract the program to private agencies to help.
Various facets of the program are already contracted out to private agencies in
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Georgia?tid=informline
Georgia
,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Idaho?tid=informline
Idaho
,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Virginia?tid=informline
Virginia
,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/West+Virginia?tid=informline
West Virginia
and
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Wisconsin?tid=informline
Wisconsin
, said Ray Hopkins, who oversees the program for the Education Department.
Here, the
Chicago
Lighthouse, a century-old social service organization for the blind, is asking the state government to let them administer the blind vendors program for all of
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Illinois?tid=informline
Illinois
.
Charles Glaser, president of a vendors trade association, said that if the Chicago Lighthouse gets its way, it would be the first time a large, existing private organization administered the program.
"If this works, we could start a landslide nationwide," said James Kesteloot, president of the
Chicago
Lighthouse, where Francese now manages the cafeteria. The Lighthouse is also well known for its clock factory, where blind people make custom clocks for government agencies including the military and the
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Central+Intelligence+Agency?tid=informline
Central Intelligence Agency
.
Bettye Odem-Davis, chief of the Illinois Bureau of Blind Services, said she cannot comment on the Lighthouse's specific proposal but said the agency is open to working with private groups.
"I'd be amiss if I said everything runs as smoothly as I would like it to run," she said. "Anything we can do in regards to marketing and facility expansion is always warranted."
At a conference in
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/San+Diego?tid=informline
San Diego
this month, blind vendors discussed contracting the program to a private agency.
"Once we're aware of what the vendors are thinking, we'd see if contracting out makes sense in the business environment in California," said Tony Candela, deputy director of the state agency that runs the program. Meanwhile, government officials say that though increased security is a big reason for the drop in federal vending facilities for blind merchants, another major reason is a positive development -- more and better opportunities available to blind people in the private market.
"It's not like the old days when it was more permissible for a blind vendor to work in a small facility and make a meager living," Candela said. "In this modern era, people with disabilities are much more empowered."
Kesteloot said that if the Chicago Lighthouse is contracted to run the program, it will look for opportunities in potentially more profitable private buildings along with maintaining the federal sites.
"I think businesses will respond well to a group like the
Chicago
Lighthouse," Francese said. "Whereas, if you go to a private business owner and say you're from the federal government, they're probably going to have a negative view no matter what you do."
See what's new at http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170 AOL.com
and http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169 Make AOL Your Homepage
.
More information about the Iabs-talk
mailing list