The Challenge
Some 2,000 Sacramento area residents become legally blind each year, with many foregoing needed services and programs simply because they do not know where to turn. For adults under the age of 74, the leading cause of this vision loss is diabetes related. Other factors include glaucoma, macular degeneration, stroke, and accidents. Many feel that they must give up countless things they value: independence, career, social life, exercise, hobbies and other interests. Some become so discouraged and despondent that they stop caring for themselves and rely on others to assist with their daily needs.
Fortunately, positive intervention can replace unfulfilled potential with self-confidence, independence, productivity and dignity. The key to a positive outcome is to ensure that people who are blind or losing their vision have access to support for continued independence through the acquisition of blindness skills.
For more than 50 years, the Society for the Blind has been the catalyst for this critical intervention. No other organization in Northern California, outside of the Bay Area, provides a full spectrum of services for people who are blind or have low vision. As a nationally-recognized nonprofit organization, Society for the Blind is also one of only a few such providers on the West Coast.
As the area’s population has expanded, so has the need for programs that empower people who are blind to lead productive, self-sufficient lives. The Society is working at full capacity, currently serving more than 3,000 clients each year. Still, there are thousands of the estimated 30,000 visually impaired people in our area who are not receiving the services they require.
Society for the Blind has the expertise and experience to reach and change the lives of those who are blind or visually impaired. Their mission, though, is significantly hampered by a 40-year-old facility that is far too small and outdated to meet the needs of our community.