Sights for Hope marked a milestone this week by holding a graduation for the first clients in more than 40 years to complete its Advanced Braille life skills education program. The four graduates had been studying what is known as grade 2 Braille, or contracted Braille, for more than two years. When the COVID-19 pandemic […]
Sights for Hope’s client population increased by 14% during its 2021-2022 service year, according to organizational data. The organization had 631 clients with visual impairments and blindness when it ended the year on June 30. During the 2021-2022 year, 155 clients enrolled, 46 clients disenrolled, and 32 clients passed away. A total of 86% of […]
Sights for Hope and Pennsylvania Lions District 14-K have formed the Lehigh Valley Sights for Hope Lions Club – a branch of the Whitehall Lions Club that empowers people with visual impairments to give back to their communities. The Lehigh Valley Sights for Hope Lions Club will select and implement service projects at its own […]
In honor of World Braille Day, Sights for Hope’s clients and team members with visual impairments created a video to tell the story of Braille’s creation and its impact on their lives. The video features clients Chuck Alison, Annette Gozzard, Annie Ocasio, and Gary Dvorshak, who also is a member of Sights for Hope’s Board […]
Technology can make all the difference for our clients living with visual impairments. One of our clients, Earl*, has been a professionally-trained carpenter for over 40 years and continues to practice his craft despite his visual impairment. Although it may take him a bit longer to complete projects, the quality of his craftsmanship does not […]
The Sights for Hope Lehigh Valley Service Center is fortunate to also be the home to the Posch Braille Library. Dianne Michels, our Vision Rehabilitation Therapist, provides Braille class to clients at various levels, and Jim* is one of those clients. Jim came to Sights for Hope after having been blinded in an accident. With […]
We sat down this week with Dianne Michels, Sights for Hope’s nationally-certified Vision Rehabilitation Specialist, to talk about the positive impacts that technology has on the lives of individuals living with visual impairments. Diane says that the opportunities that iPads and laptop computers provide users take on added importance for those living with visual impairments […]
Center for Vision Loss client Gary Dvorshak was elected to the agency’s Board of Directors during the board’s January meeting. Dvorshak, who has been a client since 2013, is in his second year as President of the Lehigh Valley Council of the Blind (LVCB) – an advocacy and peer support network of individuals who live […]
Center for Vision Loss activities in December will give clients a chance to close out 2020 with music and holiday cheer. The agency’s Monroe County clients will gather to sing carols and create holiday cards on Friday, Dec. 4, and its Lehigh Valley clients can lift their voices to holiday classics and bake holiday cookies […]
The hardships that took most of Dorothy Montero’s sight, paralyzed her from the waist down, and isolated her in a new city would be enough to drop most people into deep despair. For Dorothy, that loss of hope led her to, in her words, make bargains with God. She reasoned that she would have a […]