Celebrating 25 years of opening worlds – One Computer at a Time

Do you own a computer?

Do you use your computer to communicate with friends,

family, health care professionals and business

associates.

AKA – E-mail, Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype

Do you use your computer to Find important information?

AKA – Google, surfing

Do you use your computer to management of finances, and maintenance of household records.

Do you use your computer to read?

Do you use your computer to Make purchases?

Do you use your computer to pay bills on-line?

Have you ever used your computer to:

take a class on line? Defensive driving perhaps? Computers for dummies? Youth Protection training for BSA? Complete a college degree?

Do you use your computer to seek employment?

What if you lost access to a computer? How would your life change?

What if you were visually impaired and couldn’t afford •A computer and• The expensive assistive technology needed to use it?

TO THE RESCUE

Computers for the Blind Provides:E-mail, FacebookInternet searchesMake purchases & pay bills on-line Increase employment options through on-line courses &

other educational opportunitiesConduct job searches, LinkedIn Lending library of descriptive videos on CD’s & VHS.

What we do an how we do it:• We receive donations of “no longer needed” computers from businesses and individuals.

• Our volunteers wipe the hard drives clean.

• We install screen reader software that converts the text seen on the computer screen to speech that a blind person can hear.

• We also install screen magnification software and provide larger monitors for persons who have enough vision to benefit from it.

• We then provide these adapted computers to persons who don’t have other resources to get them.

What we provide: • Pentium 4 - 2GHz refurbished computers. • For those with low vision: 17-21” LCD Monitor•Accessibility software:• Screen Magnification & Screen Reader Software• typing tutorial •Additional software:•Windows Microsoft Security Essentials, Internet Explorer,

Windows Live Mail 2012• 388 Electronic Books •Word processor & spreadsheet• Instruction tutorials and FAQ articles

So far Computers for the Blind has: • Shipped over 8,000 computers•Currently shipping 80-110 computers a month

Come visit us1201 S. Sherman Street

Suite 204 Richardson, 75081

Mondays - Thursday afternoons12:30 pm – 4:30 pm

How can we partner together?

1. Computer leads from your current and former employers.

Front Page News!First State Bank in Gainesville Donates 67 computers

Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce

How can we partner together?

1. Computer leads from your current and former employers.2. Your “no longer needed computers, IPhones & IPads”

CFTB DROP-OFF SITES IN DFW AREA AFB Center on Vision Loss – DALLAS

Artisan Center Theater – HURST

Colleyville Center – COLLEYVILLE

Cooke County United Way – GAINESVILLE

Computers for the Blind – RICHARDSON

Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind – DALLAS

Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth – FORT WORTH

Lions Eye Glasses Recycling Center – WATAUGA

Plaza Theatre - CLEBURNE

REACH of Denton - DENTON

REACH of Plano - PLANO

How can we partner together?

1. Computer leads from your current and former employers2. Your “no longer needed computers, Iphones and IPads”3. Referrals of persons who are blind or have low vision

How can we partner together?

1. Computer leads from your current and former employers2. Your “no longer needed computers”3. Referrals of persons who are blind or have low vision4. Volunteers to help refurbish computers

Target Populations

Target Populations• Children and Youth

Children & Youth who are blind• 95% of sighted youth use the internet to complete homework

assignments & research compared to 47% for blind youth.

• Why?

We need to narrow the gap!

Target Populations•Older Blind Persons

There are 2 million people in the US that can’t see well enough to use a computer?

Who are these 2 million that can’t see well enough to use a computer?

Who are these 2 million that can’t see well enough to use a computer? •Over half are 65 years old or older

Seniors with vision loss are often home bound and left behind •Do not have other resources such as: • Educational funding thru special education laws• Lions Camp

• Sports Extravaganza

• Vocational Rehabilitation funding through the Division for Blind Services• World Services for the Blind

Target Populations•Newly Blinded

Target Populations•Newly BlindedNewly blinded persons lose the ability to use a computer because they don’t have sufficient keyboarding skills to operate a computer.

These skills are needed in order to use software that converts the text seen on the computer to speech.

TypeAbility Software and Computers for the Blind

• The Unemployed• The unemployment rate is 63%!

UnemployedPersons who are unemployed usually can’t afford a computer and the expensive assistive technology that is required to make them accessible.

AND

In order to apply for a job you have to do it online!

Financial support It costs on average $50 to refurbish each computer:Windows 7 licenseReplace hard drivesReplace broken partsPacking materialsBoxes

Note: This does not include overhead costs such as lease of refurbishing center, utilities, staff salaries, phones, etc.

Lions Clubs supports many worthwhile projects such as:• Lions Camp

• Leader Dogs for the Blind, Rochester Hills, MI

• World Services for the Blind, Little Rock, AK

• Lions Sight & Tissue Foundation

• Sports Extravaganza

Please consider supporting one more worthwhile project.

Computers for the Blind

Please consider helping us to…

Open up worlds – One Computer at a Time

Opening Worlds – One Computer at a time www.ComputersForTheBlind.net