S.E.E. Summer Camps: The Experience of a Lifetime

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Polaroid photo collage of see students during summer camp 2021

What is S.E.E.?

S.E.E.  stands for Student Enrichment Experience. Our experienced program leaders and camp staff members teach students who are blind or visually impaired life-skills, such as cooking, doing laundry, and making a bed. Students are also provided hands-on learning opportunities and many activities to help them enjoy new experiences. We have afterschool programs during the school year, but each summer, we host camps that are open to students who are blind or visually impaired.

How did it all start?

The first S.E.E. Camp started in 2007 with 8 kids and lasted for one week. Since 2007, our summer camps have grown to offer 11 weeks of fun and serve more than 100 students. We now have camps in Asheville, Winston-Salem, and Charlotte, N.C. Through community donations, we are able to offer this camp experience free of charge for our S.E.E. families.

What do kids do at camp?

During camps, children who are blind or visually impaired are given the opportunity to participate in classic camp activities such as bonfires, ziplining, banana boat rides, and lots of arts and crafts in between.

Summer camp looks a little different for our S.E.E. campers. We have some program leaders who are blind or visually impaired themselves, so our camps are led by people who are just like our campers.

How do our program staff get ready for S.E.E. Camps?

-Making sure that activities are accessible to all campers

-Creating themes that are fun and will allow campers to practice skills as well

-Planning activities that are different from those we did in S.E.E. after school

-Planning out activities throughout the day from seated to mobile and from fine motor to gross motor alternating

-Securing accessible transportation for campers and staff members

Our S.E.E. students love camp because: 

“I have fun!” – Drew

Photo of Drew during a SEE camp field trip

“I like the lunches and it is fun!” – Tanner

Tanner smiling while petting a lizard during SEE camp

“I like seeing other campers!” – Lindy

Lindy petting a turtle during SEE camp

“There is so much to do, and I love field trips!” – Kiyaan

Kiyaan waving to the camera as he checks out a lizard during SEE camp

Our S.E.E. Summer camps are truly a life-changing experience for children who are blind or visually impaired. It is important for our S.E.E. students to experience summer camp just as any other child would.

To learn more about our camps go here.

To donate go here.

IFB Solutions Names Milliken & Company Partner Of The Year

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Milliken & Company has been named Partner of the Year by IFB Solutions. In its 15th year, the prestigious award is given to the partner who has stood out as an organization that has gone beyond the board room to support opportunities for people who are blind. Milliken was selected from more than 400 IFB vendors.

 

Full story from Textile World here.

NC House bill would provide revenue boost to nonprofits employing the blind, visually impaired

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The state House passed by a 106-2 vote Thursday a bipartisan bill that would provide a revenue boost to two Triad nonprofit groups that serve and employ people who are blind and visually impaired.

The two most likely nonprofit groups benefit from the bill are IFB Solutions Inc. of Winston-Salem, which has production facilities in Winston-Salem and Asheville, and Industries of the Blind Inc. of Greensboro.

Read the full article from the Winston-Salem Journal here.

IFB Employee Graduates from Blind Leaders Development Program

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Rebecca Arrowood of Wauwatosa is a part-time clinical interviewer at IFB Solutions. She graduated from the Blind Leaders Development Program at the American Foundation for the Blind’s (AFB) virtual commencement ceremony. The Blind Leaders Development Program was created by AFB to increase upward mobility and create meaningful leadership experiences for individuals who are blind or low vision. Rebecca, along with fourteen other professionals, completed the program. Congratulations, Rebecca!

Read her full story here.

 

 

 

Staying Inspired: Finding Work through Blindness

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Staying Inspired: Finding Work through Blindness

By: Faith Harding, Administrative Assistant for IFB Base Supply Centers

Headshot photo of Faith Harding smiling
Photo of Faith Harding

In the Beginning

Originally from Louisiana, I was born 2lbs 3oz at 26 weeks. Since I made it through the night, doctors felt I would have a list of mental and physical disabilities associated with prematurity. Gratefully, retinopathy of prematurity; easy retinal detachments, was the only diagnosis that held true. At four years old, I went totally blind in my left eye and a few years later I went blind in my right. Thankfully, reattachment surgery restored some usable vision months later. Sometimes in life, the challenges that will boost your growth tenfold are ones you cannot run from.

Walking on Shaky Grounds

Reminiscing, teenage years were a walk in the park. Although with some college, looking for work introduced new challenges. Employers were uninformed of accessible technology and hesitant of my abilities to perform the work duties efficiently. The employers who looked past my limited vision faced challenges with software being incompatible with ZoomText, a magnifying program for Windows PC.

At the age of twenty-five, I lost my vision completely once again. This caused another layer of challenges toward being hired. I needed to learn quickly, improve navigating with a cane, confidently advocate for myself, and on top of that, deal with the emotional roller-coaster blindness took me on. Being blind is equivalent to having an inward mirror constantly facing you, the image does not improve until your mindset does.

IFB Solutions Journey

In 2015, I walked on faith and moved to Winston-Salem, N.C., to work at IFB Solutions as a sewing machine operator. For the first year, I decided to find positive attributes toward working at an industry for the blind facility. I was relieved  IFB encourages upward mobility for blind and low vision workers, holds various support groups, volunteering opportunities, community events, and much more. Stepping out of my comfort zone, I began participating and bringing my skills to the table. Six years later I am thankful to be an administrative assistant for our Base Supply Centers, editor of IFB Insider, president of Visionaries in Public Speaking, and love volunteering where I can.

 

Looking for work has many challenges, but do not give up. Here are some tips that assisted me in my journey:

-Look inside yourself, what skills do you naturally possess: writing, technology, communication, etc. What can you do to improve your knowledge in these areas?

-Look for and participate in various opportunities that remove you from your comfort zone. This will improve your confidence, knowledge, and internal growth.

-Pay attention, learn how to confidently advocate for yourself. Sell your abilities, skills, and attributes to launch a successful career.

-Remain open-minded and do not give up on yourself. There will be times you are denied an opportunity. Do not take it personally. Learn from the event, keep improving your skills, continue pushing past your comforts, and the right opportunity for you will come.

Yes, it is challenging to step out there. But at the end of the day, all the work you put into yourself will shine through. You will become an asset and opportunities will open for your success.

Wishing you the best on your journey!

 

 

 

IFB Employee of the year Diana-Marie Soto covers QuePasa Magazine

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IFB Solutions 2021 employee of the year, Diana-Marie Soto is featured on the front cover of QuePasa Magazine.

Leer en español aquí.

English translation of the QuePasa article below.

Winston-Salem .- Diana Soto never thought that machine sewing was possible, much less did she imagine that she could dedicate herself to it professionally. Soto was born visually impaired, and since joining a Winston-Salem organization that serves blind people, her life has taken a 180-degree turn.

IFB Solutions is a city-based non-profit organization that employs and trains more than 1,000 blind people nationwide, including Soto, who was recently named Employee of the Year.

“(This recognition) means a lot, not only for being the employee of the year but because I am a Hispanic employee of the year,” Diana-Marie said in conversation with Qué Pasa.

IFB employs 300 Spanish-speaking people, of which 150 work at the Winston-Salem headquarters.

“I am proud to represent my community and that they see that they can do it too.”

Soto started working at IFB in 2018, where she learned how to sew military shirts at the organization’s factory. She also helps translate company information into Spanish and teaches English to her fellow Hispanics.

Working for the first time
In addition to sewing jobs, IFB trains and employs people for other jobs such as machine operators or customer service.

“We have people who come without experience, but we are willing to train, hire and give an opportunity,” Laura True, director of human resources, told Qué Pasa. “Just because they’ve never operated sewing machines before doesn’t mean they can’t.”

True explained that a third of his employees had never had a job before because, she said, blind people, tend to overcome many barriers, whether it be discrimination, transportation barriers, or, “employers just don’t have the confidence to hire someone who is blind. ”.

“Without organizations like ours, what are these people going to do? Many companies do not know how to receive them in their organizations ”, said True.

Barriers such as discrimination, transportation, or a lack of trust mean that many of IFB’s employees have never had a job before.

This is the case of Soto. The Puerto Rican was born with a retina pigmentosa, an eye disease that prevents her from seeing, especially when she enters places after being in the sun. Before coming to IFB, she had not had a job, and joining the organization has meant “a great change” in her life because, she said, it has given him the opportunity to have a job, a salary, and provide her children with things that before could not. Even, “now I have an iPhone and before I did not have!”

Although today, having a smartphone has become normalized, “for a blind person it means a lot because this type of phone has programs for the blind that make us completely independent,” she explained.

For example, she said, there are apps that help people guide them while they walk, others that tell them the colors of clothing or read letters or text messages.

Resources for adults and children
IFB also has a Community Center for Low Vision, through which it provides technology and other resources “to help those who want to live an independent life, both for adults and children,” explained Nicole Ducouer, director of communications.

“There is a lot of help for families with children who are struggling with their work, who are concerned that their children will one day be independent adults,” Ducouer said.

In addition, the organization offers after-school programs and summer camps for visually impaired children in Winston-Salem and other areas of North Carolina.

To learn more about the organization’s programs visit: https://ifbsolutions.org
To learn about the employment program, call Laura True at 336.245.5653.