Blind Center helps WWII Veteran despite pandemic

Losing your vision can be a hard pill to swallow but the Western Blind Rehabilitation Center (WBRC) helps many Veterans get back on the path to independence. Even during this pandemic, the WBRC is still serving our Veterans and taking all precautions while providing tailored plans to help them gain the skills needed to navigate their vision loss.

Just ask recently admitted Dorothy Ward, a WWII Veteran from Redding, Calif. She was in the Army Air Forces in 1940, where she actually served next to her own mother. Later, she became a firewoman in Tracy, Calif. - an unusual job for a woman at the time. She has always been active in the community, whether she was spending time with her bowling team, planning dances at the local community center, or serving as honor guard at the Veteran home in Yountville, Calif.

This is her first time in the WBRC after hearing nothing but good things from other Veterans. Her self-starter attitude helped her prepare for this new journey. She wasn’t sure what she was getting into, but she found the WBRC to be much more than she expected.

“I learned a lot from the instructors. It’s such a wonderful program,” said Ward. “You don’t have to rush. They have patience that we can learn from.”

Ward participated in training for safe use of a four-wheel walker through the Mobility department, training with visual devices for hand-free tasks through the Visual Skills department, and money identification, grooming and note taking training through the Living Skills department. She even hand painted mugs and created buttons for her daughters through the Manual Skills department. Her leisure activities included playing Wii bowling with Recreation Therapy.

“Everyone that has a vision problem, they should come to a school like this, they would all benefit from it and it would be very helpful,” said Ward.

Visit the WBRC website to learn more about the services offered.