Good news for the visually impaired

For 94 years, Mildred Denham has been involved in church and civic activities, even after macular degeneration robbed her of central vision in her late 80s.

She has some peripheral vision, but she admits "as far as reading, that is just out of the question."
That left her unable to keep up with local news, until three years ago when she heard about the Radio Reading Service of Eastern North Carolina.

Based locally out of the studios of Public Radio East at Craven Community College, volunteers clip local stories and news items from the Sun Journal each afternoon for a one-hour broadcast to the area's visually impaired.

"It's been wonderful," said Denham, a former teacher, who was later a management analyst at Cherry Point. "With the visually impaired, it is nice to have someone read to you. They pretty well cover the paper. I have just been pleased and happy to have that advantage."

Director Dave Small explained that volunteers come in at 2 p.m. daily and clip the local items from the newspaper in preparation for the 3 p.m. air time. A reader and a board control operator then go live via a special frequency for an hour. They even give descriptions of the photographs.
Since there are other audio outlets for national news, the content is all local.

"I like all of it," said Denham, who moved here with her late husband, Charles, in 1953. He too was active in civic affairs, so the couple was always interested in local happenings.

"I think they do a good job of coverage and try to cover the whole horizon so each person receives what they would like to hear," she said.

She and other listeners in a 10-county frequency range get the feed on a one-channel radio that is provided by RRS and distributed through the Department of Social Services Services for the Blind.
"It's one-on-one because they each have their own radio," Small explained.

The program also extends to anyone who can't physically read the paper.

"Imagine if you have a physical problem with your hands and you can't pick up this newspaper and make it work for you," he said.

The RRS gets no government support, relying on local businesses and charities, Small said. The group's broadcasts from the CCC campus in New Bern are free of charge, courtesy of the college. Howard Jones, of Pinkam Television, designed the broadcast equipment.

The service began in 1992 and today it is also broadcast through the audio system at Craven Regional Medical Center.

But, with a seven-day-a-week schedule, the broadcast group itself has a dire need - more volunteers for a few hours a month.

Small said experience in broadcast is not necessary and people should not be intimidated by a few knobs on the control board.

Surveys show the average audience member is over 55, female, living with one family member or alone - usually with no one to read to them.

"Close your eyes," Small said. "Now imagine opening your eyes and you are still in the dark."
There are 2,100 registered blind people in this area, Small said. There are potentially 36,000 listeners in the frequency range who would benefit from a few hours of volunteer work.
"It is rewarding work," Small said. "We just need more volunteers."