White Cane Awareness Day Celebration

    NEWBURGH, NY, October 07, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- White Cane Awareness Day will be celebrated this month at the Newburgh headquarters of Independent Living, Inc. An annual, nationally-designated day, White Cane Awareness Day was created in 1930 by an Illinois chapter of Lions Clubs International to recognize the rights of people who are blind or visually impaired. Today, White Cane Awareness Day celebrates the significance of the white cane and the independence it affords.

Free and open to the public, the event will be held on Friday, October 14, from 9:30 - 11:30AM. Attendees will be updated on locally-available programs and resources, as well as view demonstrations on state-of-the-art assistive equipment.

Independent Living, Inc. is a nonprofit service and advocacy organization serving the mid-Hudson region of New York. Douglas Hovey, Executive Director, will open the October 14th event, followed by local dignitaries including NYS Senator Bill Larkin. A member of the Orange County Legislature will deliver the official county proclamation recognizing October 15, 2011 as White Cane Awareness Day. The proclamation decrees the significance of the white cane and the federal and state laws, which protect the rights of those who are blind and visually impaired.

Julie Cardone, a Senior Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor from the NYS Commission for the Blind, will moderate a discussion about goals, barriers and solutions for people who are visually impaired. She will be joined by four members of the Support Group that meets at Independent Living (on the 2nd Tuesday of each month), who will share personal experiences.

During the event, C Tech Low Vision Products of Pearl River, NY will offer technical demonstrations of assistive technologies available at Independent Living. Representative Chuck Cohen will demonstrate several devices, including a screen reader, a screen magnifier with speech component, closed circuit TV and portable CCTV. Attendees will be able to try on "simulator goggles," glasses which simulate the experience of seeing through the eyes of individuals with a variety of visual impairments, including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, congenital cataracts, and other conditions.

Since 1987, Independent Living has provided consumer-directed, cross-disability service and advocacy to enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities. Programs and resources are available for individuals with all disabilities at every stage of life in a range of service areas, including early childhood direction, personal attendant care, work incentives counseling, employment, deaf and hard of hearing advocacy and support, and Medicaid service coordination, long term care planning, mental health case management, and peer advocacy.

Reservations are not required to attend the event. Refreshments will be served. More information about Independent Living, Inc. is available at www.myindependentliving.org, or by calling Suzanne Tremper at 845.565.1162 x209. The event is being held at 5 Washington Terrace, Newburgh, NY. Two new Independent Living service centers will be opening at 10 Prince Street in Monticello, NY and at 66 Bennett Street in Middletown, NY this October, providing greater access to services for people with disabilities living in Western Orange and Sullivan Counties.

# # #