Matthews New FSP Director
Stephen Matthews is the new BVA National Director
of the Field Service Program, effective November 8. He joins the
BVA National Headquarters staff after serving as the Boston-based
Region One Field Service Representative since November 1996. Steve
and his wife, Suzanne, have relocated to Silver Spring, Maryland.
"I look forward to this opportunity to serve
blinded veterans in a new and different capacity," he said.
"I believe that the Field Service Program serves as the wheels
of the BVA engine, and that the Representatives themselves are
a vital part of the organization."
Steve is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, having
served from 1956 to 1960 in security service, specifically crypto
clearance. His vision loss is due to Retinitis Pigmentosa. He
worked for the Postal Service from 1962 to 1996, serving first
as a railway postal clerk and later as both a superintendent of
window service and a customer service supervisor. He studied business
management at Newbury College in Boston.
Steve has served three-year stints as both President
and Secretary of the Massachusetts Regional Group. He has also
been a board member for the Massachusetts affiliate of the Foundation
Fighting Blindness, a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council
on Veterans Affairs, a member of the Governor’s Advisory
Council for the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, and a
member of the Commission’s transportation committee. Earlier
this year he received the annual Mildred Hilliard Memorial Award
for extraordinary service to the State Commission.
Suzanne will continue assisting Steve with the administrative
work of the office. In addition, as a recently accredited Volunteer
National Service Officer, she will also track claims at the Board
of Veterans Appeals and the Appeals Management Center.
"We’re pleased to now have Steve and Suzanne
here in Washington to head up the Field Service Program and work
on claims issues," said Tom Miller. "I’m sure they
will continue to serve blinded veterans with the same passion
and dedication that were characteristic of their work in Boston."
Steve can be reached at 202-530-9285, 202-223-1319
(fax), or his new email address, blvmat1@vba.va.gov.
South Texans Mix White Canes, Luau
During the month of October, BVA regional groups
and individual blinded veterans distributed an unprecedented quantity
of educational materials at White Cane Awareness functions throughout
the country.
The most unique of all the gatherings might well
have occurred in San Antonio, Texas. The activity: An October
15 White Cane/Hawaiian buffet luau with all the trimmings hosted
at and by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8541.
"We had 91 members and guests in attendance,
plus 20 entertainers from the ‘Ukulele Ladies and Gents’
that sang, played, and danced the hula for us," said Dr.
Sidney Ordway, BVA National Treasurer and president of the South
Texas Regional Group. "We had a sumptuous feast of pit-roasted
pork, yams, and corn, as well as stir-fried vegetables and a wide
variety of tropical fruit and punch."
Sid added that the pig was donated and roasted by
the Special Forces Association, Chapter 15.
Blind Rehabilitation Outpatient Specialist Bob Kozel and VIST
Coordinator/BVA National Vice President Larry Belote gave a history
of the development and use of the cane itself and the significance
of White Cane Safety Day activities.
Radonna Jernigan, Recreational Therapist, spoke
to attendees about activities available to blind and visually
impaired veterans at the Audie L. Murphy VA Medical Center.
Other honored guests included Milton Ayala, Chief
of Social Work for the South Texas Veterans Health Care System,
and Brad Corkwell, Chief of Prosthetics and Sensory Aids.
The event was observed and reported the next day
in a feature by Scott Huddleston in the Metro/South Texas section
of the San Antonio Express-News.
White Cane Safety Day is a national, 40-year-old
campaign to raise public awareness of issues facing the visually
impaired. Much of the progress toward the elongated, lightweight
folding white canes now used by most blinded veterans can be traced
to the veterans of World War II. The canes of today are made of
aluminum, graphite, or light compounds, and are heavily relied
upon to feel out a safe walking path near traffic.
|
