[nfb-talk] Hi, I'm Kandi

Fri Sep 22 16:21:21 CDT 2006

Dear Dar,

I have been legally blind since I was 16, but I learned how to cheat and get 
around the eye test, so I drove for 20 years until I loss so much vision I 
could not tell what color a light was any more.
When this happened, I found that I could not get to work any more and after 
a while, I was forced on to disability and retired.
I was very depressed for a long time.  I felt that I could still work and do 
my job, but I could not get there.
It was about this time that I found the NFB, although it took me some time 
to learn what it was all about.
One thing the people in it taught me was that all of life is a challenge and 
that we can either lay down and let it crush us or we can view society's 
barriers as obstacles to be over come.
I decided that if I had this problem of lack of transportation, then I bet 
others did too.
I found out who controlled the funding and where they met and when.
I began attending my County Commission meeting where the Public was allowed 
to speak.
These trips took 3.5 hours, one way, once a month for a chance to speak for 
3 minutes.
I began doing this every month and before long, because the meetings were 
televised to the county, other people began joining me.
I also became aware of other meetings where transportation issues were 
discussed and decisions made.
I began getting other NFB chapter members involved in attending the meetings 
and speaking up.  It became a chapter project.
We kept up our pressure on our commissioners and did our home work, which 
was to educate ourselves on how transit works, gets funded and operates.
In 1993, all of the counties in Florida were given the chance of passing a 6 
cent option gas tax without a referendum.  We lobbied our commissioners to 
devote part of this to our Public transportation instead of just roads and 
it was passed.
They agreed and this helped to begin funding our fixed bus route system, 
begin a new Para-transit program and to help fund a regional commuter rail 
system.
I was appointed to my first transit board that same year and helped in 
making and shaping the service we all enjoy here today.
I have and still serve on 3 boards that oversee the services.
Last year, after 20 years of unemployment, I was hired by one of our 
Para-transit carrier companies to act as the Consumer Advocate for the 
company.
I ride both fixed route,  Para-transit and the commuter rail services and 
talk to people about the service and what problems they are having with it.
I conduct both formal and informal surveys of the passengers and drivers and 
work to solve consumer complaints, and service problems .
I actively promote the service to seniors and the disabled by attending 
meetings and speaking one on one with riders.
My hours are flexible and I can even work from home or the office.
I am there to help promote a positive image of the service and to explain to 
riders how to get the most from the service.
Really, I am just now getting paid for doing something I have been doing 
here for years for free.
My Company is MV Transit and runs all kinds of transit programs all over the 
Country.  At present, there are only two people in the company with this job 
title and we are both blind.
I live in Palm Beach County Florida and the other person, also an NFB 
member, named Dwight Sayers, who lives in Orlando Florida and is the 
Corporate consumer Advocate for MV.

I am very proud in that recently, Palm Beach County received both the Best 
Urban Transit System award from the State of Florida and the same award, on 
the National level from the (CTAA) Community Transit Association of America 
at their National Conference held in Orlando Florida in June 2006.
As for the job, I guess I carved it out myself by showing that I had the 
knowledge and showing how I could contribute to the success of the service.
Here in Florida, the NFB has started organizing a annual Tallahassee Bus 
Trip to advocate and educate the members of the Florida House and Senate on 
both Transit issues and issues that concern the Blind.
I started doing this some 8 years ago by taking NFB members and other People 
With Disabilities up to Tallahassee and now it is something our State 
Affiliate does each year.
My County even does it's own trip just for transportation each year.
We have been very effective and have helped to expand attention to the role 
that transportation has in everything we do and need to do .
Transportation is the hinge upon which everything else we do swings. 
Without the ride, we can not work, shop, go to the doctor, attend school, 
worship or just get out of our home for our own social and mental well 
being.
It is a factor that every blind person needs to consider when they pick a 
place to live and work.

Well, I am sorry for being so long winded, but transportation is a very 
important issue for me.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

David Evans, NFBF

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "dmgina" <dmgina at qwest.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 2:42 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Hi, I'm Kandi

> How did you get started working with the transit?
> I have asked out here if they need any help, but of course they don't.
> That is grate.
>
> I know that if someone did that out here I think there would be some 
> changes
> needed.
>
> What all do you use to make your job easy for you.
> Besides the computer?
>
>
> --Dar
> Every Saint has a future,
> Every Sinner has a past
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "David Evans" <drevans at bellsouth.net>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>; <mabullis at hotmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 11:54 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Hi, I'm Kandi
>
>
>>
>> Dear Kandi,
>>
>> Welcome to the list,
>> What a sweet name.
>> Now that I have that awful pun out of the way,  let's get to know each
>> other.
>> I once lived in Wheeler Texas.
>> It was hot and dusty back then.
>> Today I live in Florida where the hurricanes rome.  Not the football 
>> team,
>> the storms.
>> I am married, with 2 grown kids just out of college.
>> I have worked mostly as a engineer, but I am now working for a transit
>> company, promoting transportation services for seniors and the Disabled.
>> I hope that you like the list and the NFB.
>> The NFB changed my life and has provided me with the best circle of
>> friends
>> I could ever have had.
>> talk to you again later.
>>
>> David Evans, NFBF
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "kandi" <rose.patton at sbcglobal.net>
>> To: <mabullis at hotmail.com>; "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 9:37 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Hi, I'm Kandi
>>
>>
>>> Oh, I knew it was just a fluke when I had the handle.  I only had
>>> it for about an hour, though.
>>> I'm from Texas, and I spend most of my time reading horror books
>>> and messing around on the internet.  That's how I found the NFB
>>> website, actually.
>>> Kandi (spelled with a K and an i)
>>> Email: rose.patton at sbcglobal.net
>>> I used to have a handle on life, then it broke.
>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>From: "Michael Bullis" <mabullis at hotmail.com
>>>>To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>>Date sent: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:14:09 -0400
>>>>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Hi, I'm Kandi
>>>
>>>>Hello Kandi:
>>>>Tell us a little bit about yourself.  Answer questions like:
>>>>1.  What did the handle on life look like?
>>>>2.  How long did you have it?  We are looking for those who
>>> actually had a
>>>>handle on life for more than one sleep cycle, or perhaps dream
>>> cycle.
>>>>3.   Where did you find the handle?  Was it an accident for which
>>> you took
>>>>credit or did you recognize while you had it that it really was
>>> just a
>>>>fluke?
>>>>4.  Finally, and of a more mundane nature, can you tell us where
>>> you're
>>>>from, what you do with most of your time, what you are interested
>>> in, and
>>>>how you got hooked up with NFB?
>>>>I'll bore you with my short bio after I hear back.
>>>>Mike Bullis
>>>>Baltimore Maryland
>>>
>>>
>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
>>> [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>>Behalf Of kandi
>>>>Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 8:38 PM
>>>>To: Acb-chat List; Acb-l List; Blindmath List; Blindtlk List;
>>> Blindx List;
>>>>Bookmonth List; Booktalk List; Deankoontzchat List; Horrorlit
>>> List; Nabs-l
>>>>List; Nfb-talk List; Skemers List; Stephenkinginsomniacs List;
>>> Stephen-king
>>>>List; Stephen The King List; Tales from the Crypt List;
>>> Thedarktower2 List
>>>>Subject: [nfb-talk] Hi, I'm Kandi
>>>
>>>>Hi, I just signed up to the list and wanted to introduce myself
>>> Kandi Patton
>>>>(spelled with a K and an i)
>>>>Email: rose.patton at sbcglobal.net
>>>>I used to have a handle on life, then it broke.
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>nfb-talk mailing list
>>>>nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>>>
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>nfb-talk mailing list
>>>>nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nfb-talk mailing list
>>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>>
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>>
>>
>> -- 
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>>
>
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