The Solution

To answer this need, the Society negotiated with a major developer to secure a 20,000-square-foot building at 13^th & S streets in downtown Sacramento that will allow the agency to significantly expand their services and remove the physical barriers that prevent them from reaching those in need. To meet this obligation the Society must raise enough money to purchase and renovate the building and expand needed programs.

The new space will allow the Society to:

• Double and even triple the number of clients it serves.
• Introduce much-needed support programs for very young children and their families – programs that are currently not available.
• Ensure that comprehensive rehabilitation services for the visually impaired are available in Sacramento – allowing our friends, family members, and neighbors to receive necessary tools and training without traveling across the country.
• Slice the current 70 percent unemployment rate among Sacramento area residents who are blind by helping develop their marketable skills.
• Enhance and develop programs that will cement the Society’s standing as one of the leading blindness agencies in the country.

Its new location can be easily reached by public transportation, significantly reducing – and often eliminating – dependence on county-subsidized transportation programs. The increase and ease of public transportation options also will encourage more clients to use the Society’s programs and services, as well as inspire a greater sense of independence among those who are visually impaired. Additionally, the new building will complement and enrich the Sacramento region’s growing reputation for cutting-edge health-related programs and practices; potentially attracting related business, industry, education and research to our area.

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