I'm a veteran and the Director of Operations for IFB Solutions Little Rock. It is Arkansas' only facility of IFB Solutions, the nation's largest employer of people who are blind. Many of you may know us by our previous name, Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind.
While I myself am not blind, I have spent the past 18 years working side-by-side with more than 100 individuals who have vision impairments, many of whom never before had gainful employment and the accompanying independence that comes along with it. I'm disheartened by the unfortunate fact that next week 47 of our fellow blind and visually impaired employees working at our headquarters in North Carolina will lose their jobs.
For 19 years, IFB Solutions has been making eyeglasses for military veterans and their families through contracts with the Department of Veterans Affairs. But in early June, the VA changed its contracting policies in response to a legal ruling that veteran-owned small businesses get priority over nonprofits like IFB Solutions.
I served in the U.S. Air Force for eight years, and it gives me tremendous pride to make notebooks, T-shirts and highly specialized jackets for my fellow veterans. I don't think there should ever be a law that creates competition between veterans and those who are blind. The VA is a huge organization and there is enough business for everyone without resorting to exclusion. Before the policy was challenged in the courts, the VA had successfully managed contracts with both veteran-owned businesses and blind agencies for a decade.
Now that the ruling has been made that veteran-owned businesses have priority, the VA has begun communicating with agencies like IFB Solutions that our contracts are ending. Our first contract employing 47 people ends Aug. 15, and it's likely that the remaining two contracts will end by this fall. In total, those contracts help employ 137 people at IFB Solutions, including 15 veterans.
I know that job transitions are something most of us face multiple times in our lives, but for our employees who are blind, a lost job is devastating. Even in today's job market, 70 percent of working-age people who are blind are not employed. The reality is that job opportunities for someone who is blind are limited.
In my role as director of operations, I have the opportunity to see the direct impact a job at IFB Solutions has in the lives of my co-workers who are blind or visually impaired. Like Margaret Ruffin, the supervisor of our Paper Department, who happens to be totally blind.
When Margaret lost her sight in her 20s, she was a single mother with three small children and had no other choice but to work. Forced to adapt to a life without vision, Margaret struggled to find an employer who would accept her and adapt her workspace in a safe and productive way. Thankfully, she received that support and employment from IFB Solutions, then known as Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind. Over her years at the facility, she's grown in her abilities, and today serves as our only supervisor who is totally blind. She oversees a department of 17 employees, many of whom are also blind or visually impaired, in manufacturing various spiral-bound notebooks. They cut, punch holes and pack perfectly produced, rarely flawed products totaling 3.6 million units annually.
Thanks to the dedication of people like Margaret, IFB Solutions Little Rock is what it is today.
While the immediate job losses are in North Carolina, the impact of this contract loss, and those that may follow, will be felt organization-wide. Because of this, Margaret, and many other employees, face the same uncertainty--where to go for employment and how they will provide for their families.
If IFB Solutions cannot maintain its contracts with the VA, where will they go to find a job?
For nearly 80 years, Little Rock has supported our mission of employing, training and serving those who are blind or visually impaired. You've toured our facilities, attended our events, like Bingo for Bags, and perhaps even become a donor. I'm hoping I can call on your support once more by asking you to join us in writing our national lawmakers asking them to quickly move ahead with legislation that clarifies Congress' intent to maximize contracting awards for veteran-owned businesses without eliminating jobs for people who are blind. With legislation underway, the VA should suspend its contracting changes until the situation can be resolved. This would then put on hold any contract expirations and maintain jobs in the IFB optical lab.
When Margaret lost her vision, she was forced to re-evaluate her life--and the future she'd dreamed of for her three small children. I hope you'll join me in giving Margaret and her fellow employees the reassurance and job security they deserve. Join me and the more than 1,000 people who currently work at IFB Solutions to get Congress' help in fixing a problem that never should have existed. Military veterans as well as people who are blind should have opportunities to succeed in all aspects of life.
For more information, visit www.ifbsolutions.org/jobsfortheblind.
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Curtis Chase is director of operations for IFB Solutions Little Rock.
Editorial on 08/08/2019