Like many, growing up, I visualized a blind person as a shuffling old person with a white cane tapping their way through life. In reality, legal blindness affects over 30% of seniors aged 80 and older, many carrying on productive, fulfilling lives. Sierra Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired exists to enhance the lives of our vision impaired community by offering peer group counseling, education, social activities, transportation to medical appointments, advocacy and training to allow independent living in their own home. All of this...
Like many, growing up, I visualized a blind person as a shuffling old person with a white cane tapping their way through life. In reality, legal blindness affects over 30% of seniors aged 80 and older, many carrying on productive, fulfilling lives. Sierra Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired exists to enhance the lives of our vision impaired community by offering peer group counseling, education, social activities, transportation to medical appointments, advocacy and training to allow independent living in their own home. All of this is accomplished with our small but efficient, compassionate staff and our dedicated volunteer drivers. We are unique in that Sierra Services was found to be the only organization catering to the needs of a rural community, while charging nothing to our visually impaired clients.
We are not government funded, 110% local, and depend upon our community for all our funding, and a small portion of that being an occasional grant. Our annual budget is $200,000. This pays our rent, insurance, utilities, an executive director, program coordinator, transportation director, and a peer counselor. We know what our monthly expenses are; around $17,000. Donation income is always variable, investment funds are dwindling. Now our future is in our community’s hands. Recent generous gifts have given us some breathing room. There is nothing extravagant here, a smooth efficient organization striving to accomplish its mission.
Our current client base is close to 200, and since our beginning in 1981 we have served over 6,000 visually impaired neighbors. If Sierra Services disappears our current and future clients’ needs will continue. Where will these neighbors and friends receive training to remain independent instead of having to burden others in their day-to-day existence? How will they thrive, yet alone survive?
If Sierra Services for the Blind and visually Impaired goes away, we know that we have done our mission to the best of our ability. But we will mourn for our client and future members. Without our organization these folks stand to lose their independence, their community access, and their ability to function as members of the community at large. Their only gain is isolation. We have been servicing the vision impaired population of over 40 years and intend to do so into the foreseeable future.
Help keep us thriving by pledging monthly, or a heartfelt gift as you are able. All gifts are gratefully accepted and tax deductible.
Contact us at: sierraservices.org. Or contact the office of Sierra Services for the Blind, 546 Searls Ave, Nevada City, California, 95959. Or call (530) 265-2121.
Sincerely,
Greg FowlerPresident of the Board of Directors