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ABOUT US
How does Sierra
Services for the Blind differ from other organizations for the blind, and
from other organizations serving the disabled community?
First, blindness is a unique disability. Restoration or improvement of vision by
modern surgery (corneal transplants, lens replacement, and laser surgery) is
common. However, for other causes of
blindness, beyond magnification in the early stages, there is no mechanical
fix. Blind individuals cannot use prosthesis,
a wheelchair, have a car modified to accommodate a need, or use any of the
other devices used to accommodate to a disability as described in the
Americans with Disabilities Act
This is why in larger population centers there is a separate agency just for
the blind, an agency which does not claim or attempt to serve all
disabilities. National organizations
such as Lighthouse for the Blind, the Braille Institute, the National
Federation of the Blind, and the American Federation of the Blind operate
these centers. The few organizations
operating dog training centers, similarly operate in major population
centers. A federal study done by the
New York office of the Lighthouse for the Blind found Sierra Services for the
Blind is the only agency in the nation serving exclusively a rural community. No other agency offers the extensive
variety of transportation, classroom, and in home services provided by Sierra
Services for the Blind.
Second, the nature of the community and the needs of a predominately elderly
clientele make it impractical to use service techniques used for younger
blind in higher density communities.
Center based programs found in cities are based on attending a class
for a finite period of time where the clients are exposed to a curriculum
based on necessary skills to accommodate to blindness in the cities is
offered.
In a rural community with a large percentage of retirees, the needs of
individual clients vary widely. They
are not suddenly blind. They require
an increasing amount of training and assistance as they lose vision
gradually. Center-based programs do
not work because the required transportation system is missing. And simply stated, you don't have to teach
them how to cook for themselves, just how to do it a new way. For residents of a rural community, the
loss of the ability to drive for an individual living alone can be a
devastating event, which for the blind requires immediate support. This is especially true when both members
of a household lose this ability.
Sierra Services for the Blind provides necessary transportation to
medical appointments, including necessary escorted transportation to a
pharmacy for required prescriptions.
Departments of Rehabilitation are geared to retrain toward employment. Except for the blind, they are
successful. Blind seniors are usually
not able to find employment; they are simply trying to forestall
institutionalization at public expense.
Although they represent 5% of the senior population, they are 48% of
those in long term care institutions.
Third, seniors tend to congregate in rural communities for three reasons. They retire there for a more relaxed
lifestyle. Some arrive with their
children when the children retire and bring them along. Or, they are remain behind when the younger
population has to leave the area to find work. As a group, seniors in rural communities do
not seek services from program-based agencies since these static programs do
not fit their ever changing individual needs.
Simply, it is for Sierra Services for the Blind to fill these needs as
they occur.
The financial cost to the public for the institutionalization of senior blind
individuals is measured in billions of dollars and will grow dramatically as
society ages. As is often the case in
national trends, this problem rises in rural America first. When it comes home to the cities, it is
often too late to stem the tide, and far too expensive to accommodate. Further, this does not address the cost in
human terms. This elderly generation
wants a hand, not a handout. What we
do now not only effects seniors left in institutional darkness, it effects
younger generations knowing it is likely to be their future as they age.
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