East-West

Roll on the River 2008

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Belleville News Democrat

WSIE Radio

Riverfront Times

KWMU 90.7

Fine Dog Creative

United Access

Missouri Foundation for Health

Southern Bus & Mobility

SSM HealthCare

Alton Telegraph

The ROHO Group

KIWI

Holland Construction

PTL Manufacturing

Memorial Hospital

Metro East Insurance Group

Gateway Confluence

Senator Rita Heard Days

Kane Mechanical

SimmonsCooper LLC

Olin Corporation

WHAT'S NEW

Rotary Club of Swansea Gives Grant

Equipment pictured front left to right:

Braille embosser (used for creation of Braille material), Victor "Wave" DAISY Book Player, Coby MP3/CD Player, Zoom H4 Portable Digital Recorder, and Dolphin Publisher.

Pictured rear center: Computer monitor showing Duxbury Braille Translator software.

Rotary Club of Swansea awarded LINC a $3,000 grant. The funds were used to purchase equipment, software, and supplies to create publications in numerous blind-accessible formats. This includes Audio CD, DAISY CD, Braille, Audio File, internet-distributable content and electronic text.The Rotary Club of Swansea is a group of professional men and women working to make our community and world a better place.

“The Braille literacy skills of persons who are blind and visually-impaired have been on a steady decline for the past several decades,” according to Tim Kesterson, Technology Specialist at LINC.

“To meet their communication needs, a significant number of individuals have embraced assistive technology and other media formats. Visually-impaired individuals have a variety of choices of accessible media formats to work with and there are more being developed yearly.”

"While it is very important for visually-impaired individuals to learn Braille, they must also embrace the newer forms of communication that are favored by today’s blind and visually-impaired population," Kesterson said.

LINC is currently transferring agency material into additional accessible formats to better serve persons with visual disabilities.

Volunteers from the Swansea Rotary Club are providing assistance with the transfer of material into electronic text, converting, organizing and embossing of Braille material using Duxbury Braille Translation Program, and acting as readers of material for audio cassettes and compact discs.

Additional volunteers are needed to assist with this project. Contact Tim at the Belleville office.

WEEOC Partners with LINC

Western Egyptian Economic Opportunity Council (WEEOC) and LINC have partnered together to open satellite offices for the agency in Waterloo and Sparta. The Monroe Randolph Center in Red Bud has been closed.

WEEOC provides a range of services and activities which utilize all available resources to deal with problems of poor and disadvantaged residents. The collaboration allows additional services for persons with disabilities provided at one area location.

The trend across the country is for senior service agencies and disability service agencies to collaborate to form aging/ disability resource centers, according to Erica Edwards, LINC Executive Director.

WEEOC is a not-for-profit service organization that has provided services in Randolph, Perry, Monroe, and Jackson Counties since 1965. Their programs serve residents of all ages.

"Western Egyptian is very happy to be partnering with LINC in Monroe and Randolph Counties. The services that they provide truly compliment the services Western Egyptian offers to the residents of the area. This affords us the opportunity to offer "One Stop" services to persons needing assistance," said Paulette Hamlin, Executive Director of WEECO.

Services provided by Western Egyptian includes R.S.V.P. (retired and senior volunteer program), supportive services for seniors, senior nutrition sites, a head start program, community service programs and home energy assistance. They also provide housing services with energy audits and home inspections, a homebuyer program, thrift stores and housing rehabilitation and weatherization.

Similar to LINC, WEEOC has a fifteen member board of directors that consists of public officials, low-income representatives, and community members.

The new offices for LINC are located inside the WEEOC facility in Waterloo and Sparta. Our Waterloo office is at 207 West 4th Street. Violette Nast, an Independent Living Advocate for LINC, will focus on the agency’s work in Monroe County. The telephone number is (618) 615-7816.

Jon Douglas, also an Independent Living Advocate, will be housed at the Western Egyptian Head Start Administration Building, located at 1820 N. Market Street in Sparta, and oversee LINC services in Randolph County. The telephone number is (618) 317-4028.

In addition to LINC services and programs, a grant awarded by the St. Clement’s Foundation, provides Hospital Post-Discharge Care Management in Monroe and Randolph County.