The National Federation of the Blind of Michigan announced that partial funding has been found for NFB-Newsline, the free service that provides independent access by blind and print-disabled people to hundreds of local and national publications and job and TV listings, to temporarily restore service in Michigan. 

The $20,000 in partial funding provided by the Michigan Commission for the Blind will continue the service, which helps enable print-disabled Michiganites to access the news they need to succeed in work, school, and community life, for several months.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: "This vital service, which offers the blind and other print-disabled people unprecedented, round-the-clock access to news and information, continues to grow, regularly adding new publications and new features. We remain hopeful that the additional $60,000 of funding needed to support the service for the rest of the year can be found."

Said Larry Posont, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan: "Due to budgetary issues discovered earlier this year, it was understood that we would be unable to continue offering NFB-Newsline to blind and print-disabled individuals in Michigan ... The discovery of $20,000, allowing for several months of this important service, is certainly good news, and I am eager to do what I can to ensure continued service provision in the future once this funding runs out.  I wish to hear from anyone with ties to foundations offering grant opportunities or to other revenue sources."

NFB-Newsline allows those who cannot read conventional newsprint due to a visual or physical disability to access newspapers and magazines by download to a digital talking-book player, over the telephone, or on the Web. NFB-Newsline offers more than 300 newspapers and magazines and is available 24 hours a day. In addition to offering national newspapers such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, NFB-Newsline offers more than 25 prominent magazines, including the Smithsonian, Time, Rolling Stone, Popular Science, and Wired. NFB-Newsline offers several Michigan-specific papers in addition to the Michigan Associated Press feed; these include the Detroit Free Press, the Flint Journal, and The Mining Journal (Marquette). Additionally, NFB-Newsline offers a new job-listings feature that allows subscribers to search through hundreds of thousands of job listings from all across the country by category and keyword, and will be of substantial help to reduce the estimated 70 percent unemployment rate among the blind. 

To learn more about NFB-Newsline visit www.nfbnewsline.org. Those interested in subscribing to the service may fill out the online application form, write to nfbnewsline@nfb.org, or call (866) 504-7300.  In order to be eligible for NFB-Newsline, an individual must be a U.S. resident who is legally blind or has a physical or learning disability that prevents the independent reading of newspapers.