Sights for Hope Connects Clients with Smartphone Tools for Independence

By Sights for Hope Team |
A woman in a beige coat sits on a bench outdoors, holding a white cane and a smartphone.

While 49% of Sights for Hope’s clients have incomes below or near the federal poverty line, its caseworkers connect them with free smartphones and affordable apps to live more independently.

Sights for Hope caseworkers teach clients who have smartphones how to use apps such as Seeing AI, BlindSquare, Be My Eyes, and Cash App. Seeing AI uses the phone’s camera to identify people and objects, and then audibly describes them. BlindSquare uses GPS technology to help users with orientation and mobility. Be My Eyes utilizes a community of volunteers with sight who can assist users with everyday tasks. Cash App is a popular banking and payment app with several accessibility features, including the ability to read cash bills.

Caseworkers also help qualifying clients who do not have smartphones obtain them for free through the TechOWL program run by Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. The program also helps qualifying clients receive free tablet devices.

Sights for Hope holds weekly Tech Talk programs by phone in which clients can get help with using their devices. It also holds an in-person program for iOS users each month at its Lehigh Valley Services Center.

“While assistive devices for people with visual impairments and blindness have become more sophisticated in the past decade, their affordability has not improved as quickly,” said Dennis Zehner, Executive Director and CEO of Sights for Hope. “Smartphones and apps such as these can fundamentally transform our clients’ lives and provide cost-effective solutions for organizations like Sights for Hope to further their missions.”

Sights for Hope has empowered people to conquer and prevent the challenges of visual impairments and blindness since 1928. Sights for Hope’s services strengthen skills, deliver supports, champion solutions, and build self-confidence for its clients, its patients, and the people in its communities. Founded from a challenge made by Helen Keller, Sights for Hope is proud to carry that tradition forward in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Monroe County. Sights for Hope is a member of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind (PAB) and the VisionServe Alliance.

Image: A woman in a beige coat sits on a bench outdoors, holding a white cane and a smartphone.