It’s a Celebration
On March 15, 2011, Debbie McKenzie was awarded the 4,000th computer, specially equipped for blind users, from the Texas Center for the Visually Challenged (TCVC).
Debbie McKenzie is pictured here in the yellow dress with her husband. Her story is quite simple and with the help of affordable technology- greater knowledge and independence are at her fingertips.
Debbie is thrilled to do new things. She recently researched treatment alternatives for a serious medical condition. Strong Web access allows her to investigate product features, functionality, and reliability. Debbie considers Google to be her best friend. She is a part of the world- she is up to date on local news, national issues and world events. Debbie is committed to health and fitness. She is in the process of creating a large computer catalogue for all her "good health" recipes.
I asked Debbie what she feared and she told me "Not being able to do the things I love". Her joys are mountain climbing in the Rockies, cooking and her grandchildren. This amazing woman is an example to us all. Given technology and her energy level, the world is a bigger place. Debbie understands the journey and her computer makes travel easier.
The photo shows
the dedicated volunteers, members of the North Texas
PC Users Group, who meet twice a week to refurbish donated
computers and retrofit them to serve the special needs
of the visually impaired.
Front Row:
Jesse Hastcoat, Ken Mann, John Austin, David Franke, Pete Mitchell, Bob Langford (TCVC President Emeritus),
Debbie McKenzie, Dave McKenzie, Gil Brand (TCVC President)
Back 2 Rows: Dave Hein, Preston Chaney, Ken Ray, Jerry Jackson, John K, Skip Johnson, Larry Stehno, Javier Criado,
Vernon Cates, Jack Johnson, Gene Morrison, Dave MacKenzie, Ted Bywater, Mike Ripps, Pete Guild, Jim McCray, Howard Harkness.
My Right Hand in Life
"Thank you for your dedication and commitment to provide wonderful opportunity for the blind and visually impaired. I have been using the computer that I received a little more than a year ago almost daily. My computer is my right hand in life. It opened up the world of opportunities. Thank you very much." Shiro Iwae. July 2011
We received a special thank you note from Reid Butler:
" Thank you and the staff/volunteers of the Center for sending me this computer! I will try my best to use this machine to improve my life and the lives of my family. The training I am receiving from the New Orleans Lighthouse for the Blind and this equipment, it should go a long way to helping me become more independent and find a job. The Zoom Text software is fabulous! It is already helping me to do something I have never been able to do before: send and receive emails! Also I have been able to read a book online! Having the Internet available to me will also be wonderful as I can search for many things of interest and help me do research for my genealogy. Thanks and God bless!." August 2010
Absolutely!!!!!
" What Louis Braille did for reading, these computers are doing with technology for the blind," said Paul Veilleux, President of the Dallas Chapter of the American Council for the Blind during a ceremony in which he was personally presented with a computer refurbished by the Texas Center for the Visually Challenged.
Zoom Text helps Spanish Teacher
" I want to thank the Texas Center for the Visually Challenged for the computer which you sent me. It has made all the difference in the world to me and my use of the computer. As a volunteer at my church and the Senior Center in my area, I teach two Spanish classes a week, a great deal of which comes from the internet, and was on the verge of having to give this up because I simply could not see well enough on the computer to do the necessary work. With the help of Zoom Text I am now able to do in a couple of hours what had been taking me most of the day. I just can't thank you enough." Dean Borden.