At the beginning of the 2022 school year, administrators at Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay reached out to the Council to ask about holding an event for us with their students. Every year, students at the school hold a fundraising drive for two organizations of their choice in exchange for swapping out their uniforms… Continue Reading Support the Council with the Help of Your Company or Organization
When Education and Vision Services Director Amy Wurf talks with a new client who recently began experiencing vision loss, one of the most common things she hears is that they no longer do the hobbies they once loved. Maybe they can’t see their knitting anymore, or struggle to read music. Losing your vision doesn’t have… Continue Reading Sharper Vision Store’s New Hobby Section Can Help You Continue Doing What You Love
After losing part of her vision in 2018 due to a traumatic brain injury, 2024 Council Scholarship Recipient Jasmine Bertschy was determined not to let her vision loss hold her back. While in high school in her hometown of Valders, Jasmine was named captain of the school’s cross country team. She also earned 16 college… Continue Reading 2024 Student Spotlight: Jasmine Bertschy
Volunteering for an organization you care about can take a lot of forms. Preparing materials for an event or helping in the garden are a couple of the common ways people donate their time. We appreciate all our volunteers, no matter the size of the time commitment they are able to make. One of the… Continue Reading Volunteer Your Time and Expertise as a Member of the Council Board of Directors
If you are most comfortable speaking a language other than English and would like to discuss products in the Sharper Vision Store or services the Council provides in your preferred language, we can help! LanguageLine is a translation service that connects subscribing businesses like us with interpreters all around the world. If you would prefer… Continue Reading Translation Service Can Enhance Your Council Experience
We’re pleased to welcome Rachel Pavone to the Council staff! Rachel came on board in June as a Vision Rehabilitation Therapist. In that role, she collaborates with clients who are blind or have low vision to educate them on ways to accomplish independent living tasks, introducing them to new methods and assistive devices to help… Continue Reading Welcome Vision Rehabilitation Therapist Rachel Pavone to the Council
July is Disability Pride Month, a time to celebrate the diverse community of people with disabilities, reflect on progress that has been made in empowering folks to live with dignity, and re-energize ourselves for the work that lies ahead in building genuinely inclusive communities and society. Communities around the country will be marking the occasion… Continue Reading Celebrate Disability Pride Month Throughout July
Kari Walker, chef and co-owner of the Reedsburg restaurant Beastro & Barley, was enrolled in the Culinary Arts program at Madison College when she got her first taste of Dining in the Dark a few years ago. It started with a visit from Council Executive Director Denise Jess. “I got to hear Denise talk about… Continue Reading Building Awareness in Three Courses (Plus Dessert): The Return of Dining in the Dark
Summer and fall elections are just around the corner. Partisan primaries in Wisconsin are set for Tuesday, August 9, and the general election is Tuesday, November 8. It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that voting doesn’t make much of a difference. But that kind of thinking is dead wrong! Elected officials at… Continue Reading Decisions, Decisions—The Who, Why and How of Voting
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As the dog days of summer continue, the Council staff has been busy! All summer long, we’ve brought information about our services and resources to diverse communities across the Madison area. Here’s a little bit of what we’ve been up to in recent months. In June, we went to the UW South Madison Partnership for… Continue Reading Council Hits the Road to Reach Diverse Communities
This spring, the Council welcomed six volunteers from Exact Sciences into our offices to help with our efforts to make our space more inviting to all. The group spent their morning planting aromatic herbs in pots for our sensory garden; sprucing up the Sharper Vision Store by replacing old hooks to hold products; and organizing… Continue Reading Exact Sciences Volunteers Spruce Up Council Offices and Garden
Earlier this summer, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that local municipalities across the state can use drop boxes to collect absentee ballots. That decision overturned the 2022 ruling barring the drop boxes. This is a major win for voters with disabilities across Wisconsin. “Many voters, including those with disabilities, face barriers when casting their ballot,”… Continue Reading Ballot Drop Boxes are Once Again an Option for This Fall’s Elections