The National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina headquarters on Kilbourne Road (Photos by Damian Bertrand/Carolina News & Reporter)
Sarah Massengale was born blind.
Navigating life as a college student at the University of South Carolina, she learned the struggles of self-advocacy.
“You had to fight to get things done,” Massengale said.
Massengale dealt with low textbook accessibility. And people often forgot to accommodate her needs.
That’s when she adopted the National Federation of the Blind’s philosophy: Blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future.
“We can do whatever the heck we want, but people don’t know that they’re standing in our way,” Messengale said.
The National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina is the state chapter of the national organization, a civil rights advocacy group aiming to assist, support and advocate for America’s blind population.
“We are the blind speaking for ourselves, rather than having other people speak for us,” said Marty McKenzie, the president of the board of NFB of S.C.
McKenzie, who has been a member for nearly 30 years, said the organization’s goal is to educate the public, empower members to advocate for themselves and ensure they get the training they need to live independently.
The federation serves about 600 people in South Carolina. It offers several programs, such as computer and cellphone training for the blind.
Access to transportation is one of the biggest challenges the blind community faces, McKenzie said.
“We have ride-share apps, and yet, they discriminate based on people who use a guide dog in some instances,” McKenzie said.
Blind people have better luck with transportation in Columbia, but in other parts of the state, there is less access, said David Houck, the executive director of the NFB of S.C.
“You’re better off than most parts of the state because … you can pretty much get around with the city bus service,” Houck said. “There’s also Uber, Lyft and cab service in Columbia. In other parts of the state, you’re probably not going to see that.”
McKenzie said that many people also get judged before they get into a good employment situation. Seventy percent of the employable blind are unemployed or underemployed. He said he hasn’t seen that statistic change in his entire career.
The Columbia chapter of the NFB of S.C. travels to the Statehouse once a year to promote the organization and let legislators know what it needs.
Chapter members would like to advocate more often, but some challenges make it difficult to spread awareness of the program, said Andrew Adams, the Columbia chapter president.
“It’s kind of hard to get out sometimes,” Adams said. “You want to be on the (Statehouse) grounds, but then you have these barriers put in place: ‘Hey, you need to get approval, and you need to go through all these different steps to get there.’”
But supporting his blind community makes the hard work worth it.
“It’s very motivating to be able to speak for blind Americans … letting these representatives know that, ‘Hey, we’re here, but these are the things that we’re struggling with, and we need your help to push these policies,’” Adams said.
The blind community has had legislative success over the years, Houck said. The General Assembly has passed 44 bills since 1958 that aim to help blind people.
“All the things that we do are just tailored to help a blind person to live the life they want,” Houck said.
