CLEVELAND — October is National Blindness Awareness Month, and for over a century, the Cleveland Sight Center has been helping the visually impaired thrive in a world that is designed for people with clear vision.
After a recent renovation, they can do that better than ever.
For many, the outside of the Cleveland Sight Center is all they see as they drive by 1909 East 101st Street, but inside is a life-changing vision of support.
"When you don't have vision or your vision is compromised, life can become a challenge," Sight Center President and CEO Larry Benders says. "We are here to fix that."
The vison rehabilitation facility recently renovated their clinic and store. The two are now connected, making it easier for clients to find custom vison solutions and the devices needed. The nonprofit steps in were the medical community stops, providing services not covered by insurance.
"It's, 'How do you live better? Like, what do you want to do and what role is vision playing in that or not playing in that?' And how can we help that person get over that hurdle?" Benders explained.
The store, which is the largest in Ohio, is stocked with more than 800 low-vison aids, from simple bump dots to help locate buttons on a microwave to reading machines.
"Anywhere from your basic handheld traditional magnifiers with a lens and a light to video magnifiers," store manager Barbra Piascik said.
Piascik has other aids like a talking label wand that can read reprogrammable labels or a Colorino that can help you pick out clothing.
"My skirt, for instance," she noted. "If you put it on, 'Black' — it'll tell you the color. And this has over 250 nuances of color."
The Sight Center has 3,500 clients from newborns to the elderly. Occupational therapists will even make home visits to find solutions for clients to live the way they want.
"Because we can really help people live a better, richer, less stressful life," Benders told us. "It's not about what they can’t do; it is what is possible, and our job is to help make the possible real."
