Dear Chip,Why do you insist on bashing the Lighthouse; I guess Barbara knows the legalities of their getting involved with something like this, and through this past five years, especially, the Lighthouse has supported us in every way it can--publicity; assistance with writing letters and knowing to whom to address them; attending our consumer group meetings; making Saturday tech training possible and many more activities.
Darla----- Original Message ----- From: "Allison and Chip Orange" <acorange@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, November 21, 2009 11:32 PM Subject: [tabi] Re: I have an idea for TCB, NFB, and the Lighthouse
Thanks Victoria.Well, I hope nfb and TCB will talk about it; I'm sorry to see the Lighthouseisn't really interested in participating, and I disagree about thecomplexity of record keeping; that is, since we would not be accountible tosome funding source for every dollar, we would not have to do a lot ofaccounting tasks that the charities to hand out money would normally have todo. we'd really only have to track who made what payments, and deposit the money. the other admin tasks would be a committee who would have to evaluate applications. I think the no interest, and no financial qualifications part of this idea are important ones. Chip -----Original Message-----From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On BehalfOf Yvonne Britton Sent: Saturday, November 21, 2009 6:41 PM To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tabi] Re: I have an idea for TCB, NFB, and the Lighthouse I think this would be a good idea Chip. I am saying this from my ownexperience with FAAST. I went to them and ask for a loan so I could purchase a new computer and they said that I should not want to get myself in debt. I feel like if I want to borrow money for something I need to better myself I should be the one who can decide if I can afford it or not. . Things that wehow are in the blind community need things that are too expensive and if we can not get a loan to buy something I think is very wrong. You shouldhave the mind to decide if you can afford what ever you might need. We havethis organization and we deserve a chance.There some of us who don't have jobs but we do have a income so therefore we should have a chance to getwhat we need. I myself am tried of putting my money in a refurbish computerand there are other things I need. So people give us a chance. Victoria LOVES YOU AND SO DO I!!!----- Original Message ----- From: Chip Orange <mailto:Corange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 2:57 PM Subject: [tabi] I have an idea for TCB, NFB, and the Lighthouse hi all, I had an idea I hoped the leaders of our 3 big non-profits here intown would take up; I think it's worth doing, and it would give us somethingelse to focus on besides the bus system, which is more than a little divisive. What I've noticed is that when I'm speaking with many blind people, and I mention a possible technical solution to a problem they're having, their response is often something like "that would be great, but I can't afford it." understandable of course; we all know assistive technology is expensive, and we need a lot of it. so, what if for this area of Florida served by the Lighthouse, webegan a fund to which we all contributed, which was then used to provide nointerest loans for the purchase of assistive technology? I was hoping one group would take on the administration of the fund, and all 3 groups would contribute to it, or fund raise for it, as a joint project. I'll offer to start it off with $100 if someone will take it on. I also hoped the fund could be run in such a way that a person's need for the technology, or their ability to pay, would not be a factor in receiving the loan. I'd like this to be as free from value judgments as possible. Perhaps just as the person what payment schedule they thought that they could afford. a lot of microbanks in very poor areas of the world are quite successful, with nearly 100% payback rates, when being run like this, by simply requiring a family member or friend to cosign the loan application,guaranteeing payback if the primary applicant fails to do so. this seems toserve as a screening tool (if you can't produce one person who will vouchthat you will pay back a loan, then it's likely that you won't), and also asa real incentive for the applicant to pay-back the loan (not wanting their friend or family to have to do so). I'd also suggest, to help those taking on the administration of the fund, that they do nothing if payments are missed. we'll make up lossesthrough fund raising. when you're freed of the effort of collections, thenthe administration should be a very minor task. so, what do people think? will the leaders of these groups be willing to discuss it amongst themselves? Chip ------------------------------ Chip Orange Database Administrator Florida Public Service Commission Chip.Orange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (850) 413-6314 (Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Florida Public Service Commission.)Check out the TABI resource web page at http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABIand please make suggestions for new material.if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org web interface, or by sending an email to the address tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.
Check out the TABI resource web page at http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABI and please make suggestions for new material. if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org web interface, or by sending an email to the address tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.