Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind the source for blindness news and information since 1907

By Bryce Hoekenga © Kalamazoo Gazette, Michigan — About five months after moving into a bigger facility on Kalamazoo’s east side, a company that employs the blind to assemble calculators for the federal government has started to assemble furniture. Midwest Enterprises for the Blind Inc. began assembling folding chairs and tables on Thursday. Production manager Glen Mackey said the furniture likely will be used in government cafeterias…. READ ARTICLE

By Kelle Barr © Kalamazoo Gazette, Michigan — Linda Merrill was 38 when she got her very first paying job. She was born three months premature, and the days she spent in an incubator filled with oxygen proved to be too much for her already underdeveloped eyes. She could see only tiny amounts of light for the first seven years of her life. When she was 7, both eyes had to be removed, leaving Merrill completely blind. She lived her adult life in subsidized housing, getting by on income from Social Security and disability. “Volunteerism is beautiful, but it doesn’t pay the bills,” said Merrill, of Parchment. Then came the phone call in 1997 from Goodwill Industries saying that they’d found a job that was perfect for her — assembly work at Midwest Enterprises for the Blind. Then came the phone call in 1997 from Goodwill Industries saying that they’d found a job that was perfect for her — assembly work at Midwest Enterprises for the Blind…. READ STORY