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Hernando Today

It's All About Independence

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By VIRGINIA DIAZ

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: March 26, 2009

Most of us never think about the fact that when we open our eyes each day we see clearly and in color, we can read signs, books, newspapers or labels, or that with a quick glance we know a $10 bill from a $5 bill.
Imagine though if slowly, colors began to fade, or things started getting blurry and you couldn't make out what's written on paper or the details of the face of someone you love.
Think about how awkward and vulnerable you'd feel if you couldn't see exactly where a step was or couldn't tell when someone or something was coming up beside you.
If you can imagine those things even a bit you are putting yourself in the shoes of someone who is living with impaired vision.
"When your field of vision comes down to where you're only seeing like through a tube, it's really debilitating," says Jim Polk who is on the Board of Directors for the chapter of the Lighthouse for Visually Impaired and Blind that serves Hernando, Citrus and Pasco counties.
Except for some minor problems telling dark colors apart, Polk's vision is normal. But he knows the difficulties facing the 504,000 plus people across the state considered visually impaired.
According to the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), those sight-troubled Floridians are part of an estimated 21 million people nationwide who report that they experience significant vision loss. And almost a million and a half of them are considered legally blind. Here in Florida, the number of legally blind is 84,000.
Sylvia Stinson-Perez, Executive Director of the Lighthouse is one of them. "Legally blind is vision that is 20/200 or significant field loss," Stinson-Perez explains.
She was born with a condition called retinitis pigmentosa and has always been visually impaired.
"What you can see from 500 feet away, I would literally have to be 20 feet away to see. I have to use a cane (in low light) because I will fall down steps and I have no depth perception."
According to AFB, the definition and scope of vision loss refers to "individuals who reported that they have trouble seeing even when wearing glasses or contact lenses, as well as to individuals who reported that they are blind or unable to see at all."
Stinson-Perez brings her definition down to a practical level. She describes it as" functional vision loss that impacts daily life."
And that's where the Lighthouse can help. She explains it to people this way. "If you cannot maybe read your mail, read your medicine bottles, which is very dangerous, or get the things you need like groceries, we are the right place."
Among the services the Lighthouse offers is an independent living skills course. There are 14 staffers for both the Brooksville and Port Richey facilities. They are trained and educated to work with the visually impaired and blind.
Twice a week for six weeks people are picked up and brought to the location nearest them and taught about writing devices, talking clocks and other gadgets that can improve life for the visually impaired. They are also taught cooking skills in a training kitchen built to order for the Lighthouse and along the way they are taught a little Braille.
"We also do some home training," explains Stinson-Perez. "They come into the class and if they don't have all their needs met there, we go into their homes and maybe help them learn how to mark their appliances, their medications."
Stinson-Perez came to this area last July after spending seven years working at the Lighthouse in Miami.
A trained social worker, she faces an uphill battle in many areas not the least of which is disabusing people of the notion that the Lighthouse is only for the blind.
"Only about 5 to 10 percent of the people we serve are totally blind. The majority of people we serve pretty much have some significant remaining vision. If they are adults, for the most part, they have macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma or cataracts," says Stinson-Perez. " A good number of our children are totally blind. But still there's this perception out there. I hear people say well I'm not blind enough to go to the Lighthouse."
Stinson-Perez and her colleagues at the Lighthouse are frustrated by that kind of thinking. She believes people should see the programs and services provided by the Lighthouse are as rehab for vision. "If you break your hip you go to rehab. You lose your vision, you go to vision rehabilitation. We are the rehab that connects. There are thousands of legally blind people around here and we are just scratching the surface."
She and Polk and the others at the Lighthouse here and in Port Richey and in Citrus County want to get the word out to doctors and to those with vision issues that rehab helps.
"The key reason we exist, the key reason there's such a need comes down to one word — independence," says Polk.
"What we're trying to do is teach people what they need to know to be independent."
"Live independently. That is what's critical." Stinson-Perez who is married to a sighted man and has a 9-year-old daughter emphasizes that point, "I think that is one of my major missions and I think it's because I am visually impaired. I want people to understand you do not need to shut us away. We don't need to hang out in our homes and not do or live anymore. Too often that's what's happening."

Never To Old Or Too Young

"We provide for infant all the way through the senior years. In fact last year we had a birthday party for a 1 year old and a 100 year old in the same week," Stinson-Perez tells Hernando Today. She and Polk are especially passionate about the children.
"I don't care how hard and how tough you are when you see a 1-year-old child that's blind and struggling, it will tear you apart," says Polk.
"We change lives with them," says Stinson-Perez. Because the earlier you can start with those kids, you get them ready for school, you have their parents understand and that's a big part of what we do — helping their parents understand their child's life is not over because they can's see,"
The Lighthouse currently counts 15 babies in their caseload. They hope to expand that number. And though they don't have funding yet, they hope to have a summer camp this year for kids 6 to 13 who are visually impaired. However, thanks to some federal funding, they have a job training program for teens.
"They don't just go out there and get that first job. In fact there's a 70 percent unemployment rate among people who are blind. We do not want our teenagers to add to that number. That's why the federal government realized we have to do something about this."
One thing that works well for the Lighthouse is sponsored events like the annual Pajama Party, the second event was held last November. Paid for Stolte Vision Center, it raised over $10,000 for the children's program.
"That was fun," says Dr. Keith Stolte. "I love doing things to help the kids."

The Struggle For Funds

The services the Lighthouse provides are free and they do not bill Medicare or Medicaid. They are completely dependent on state funds and donations. And like everyone else, the Lighthouse is feeling the pressure of our weak economy. The Lighthouse's numbers are down across the board. The state can offer very little. The number of sponsored events they so desperately need to keep their services running and growing is almost non-existent. And donations, which make up 60 percent of their budget, have also dropped significantly.
Transportation is one of their biggest headaches. "There are no transportation options. We have to go to our client and it is very costly," explains Stinson-Perez.
The Lighthouse has to buy it's own vehicles. They depend on volunteer drivers who must be background checked and have a good driving record. The drivers often have to travel from one end of the three counties they serve to the other burning gas that The Lighthouse has to pay for.
"We are always struggling with funding," says Polk. "The dollars we need are totally dependent on donations." Especially, he says, from people looking from some extra deductions around this time of year — tax time. "At the end of the year when they do their income tax report, if they need or want to make a contribution to a charity, we'd like to be number on that list."
There are a couple of events coming up that it is hoped will raise some much needed cast.
On April 11 there will be an Easter Egg hunt using audible Easter eggs at The Lighthouse's Brooksville location on California Street. And on April 25 a fundraiser will be held at the Triple S Golf Ranch in Dade City.
In addition, Polk and Stinson-Perez are planning other ways to raise awareness about the program and to help raise money for it.
"I am developing a mailing list of all local clubs like Rotary and Kiwanis and Professional Women. We're going to set up a speakers bureau and we want to have the opportunity to go to talk about our program. That helps get the word out for donations, sponsorships and everything else."

For More Information

If you would like help for yourself, a friend or family member with vision problems, volunteer your time or make a donation, you can contact the Lighthouse at either their Brooksville or Port Richey locations.
The Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind
Brooksville: 6492 California St., Brooksvillle, FL 34602
352-754-1132
Port Richey: 8610 Galen Wilson Blvd., Port Richey, FL 34668
727-815-0303

Virginia Diaz writes regularly for the Hernando Today Health Today section. She lives in Brooksville and can be contacted at virginia.diaz61@gmail.com.

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