Daytona Beach, FL - The merger between two non-profit agencies offering services for the blind happened in January, and CEO Ronee David of the now-named Conklin Davis Center for the Visually Impaired, said she looks forward to welcoming more than 50 em.
Jun 1, 2021 | 4:42 AM
DeLand, FL – Once the consent agenda is discussed and approved by the Volusia County Council today, members will turn to presentations and proclamations. The newly merged Conklin Davis Center for the Visually Impaired CEO, Ronee David, will give a presentation on the agency’s vision, mission, and on programs available for the vision-impaired. The agency is a combination of the Conklin Center for the Blind, founded by Millard Conklin in 1979, and the Center for the Visually Impaired, founded by Kathy Davis in 1988. The proclamation names June 1, 2021 as Jim Chisholm Day for the now officially retired James Jim Chisholm after a 17-year tenure as Daytona Beach City Manager. Daytona Beach City Manager Shares Accomplishments & Future Plans Also today, Volusia County Beach Safety Captain Andrew Etheridge, who’s been serving as Interim Beach Safety Director since Januray 23, 2021, is expected to be confirmed to the permanent position. Etheridge took
The agenda can be found online here. Tune in to the live stream here.
The Volusia County councilmembers are Chair Jeff Brower, Vice-Chair Billie Wheeler, Barbara Girtman, Ben Johnson, Heather Post, Danny Robins, and Fred Lowry.
4:20 p.m. | Meeting adjourned
That s all folks. Thanks for tuning in. The next Volusia County Council meeting is scheduled for June 22.
4:15 p.m. | Return to discussion on failed sales tax hike
Heather Post said she s concerned with sending a message that people didn t know what they were voting on when the half-cent sales tax hike failed two years ago. Fred Lowry said that earlier in the workshop.
Conklin Davis Center for Visually Impaired s merged mission
Ronee David, president and CEO of the merged Conklin Davis Center, said the residential program will remain as it was, to teach people with blindness and at least one other disability skills to work and live independently.
“We’ve been getting calls from all over Florida from parents and former clients who want to come back,” David said. “There definitely is a great need.”
The Conklin Center’s residential program was closed in March 2020 after the state canceled its contract supplying about 60% of the organization’s funding, citing violations that “present potential to endanger the health, safety and welfare of the clients,” including operating for several months without specific required, certified staff members. The center continued providing some at-home services to clients.
Program for people with blindness, multiple disabilities in Daytona Beach plans reopening Mark Harper, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Lois Butterfield, who is 64 and blind, walked and ran 2,020 miles in 2020
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A recently merged nonprofit is on track to reopen the residential program previously offered by the Conklin Center for the Blind in Daytona Beach.
Officials at the Conklin Davis Center for the Visually Impaired say they are working with the state Division of Blind Services to restore funding and reopen the 8-acre campus at 405 White Street by July 1.
The Conklin Center, which had lost state funding in March 2020 because of what the state deemed violations of its contract, went on to merge last fall with the Center for the Visually Impaired, a separate Daytona Beach nonprofit with a slightly different mission.