WR resident wants better-equipped area for the blind

     WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Opal Young, a

Warner Robins resident who lives without her eyesight as a result of retinitis

pigmentosa, said Middle Georgia currently has limited resources to accommodate

the blind community, especially relative to her original home of New York.

Young said after hearing about

Armando Vias and his experience in the May 11 edition of The Journal, she

reached out and connected with him. Vias reached out to The Journal on behalf

of Young because she wanted to also share her experience with blindness and how

it affects her day-to-day life.

“Coming from up north, I can

definitely tell the difference in the resources, just Middle Georgia compared

to north of Georgia,” Young said. “The resources are a lot more open for the

people, for blind and the visually impaired up north.”

After Young moved with her husband

to Warner Robins in 2020 for a good deal on a house, she started researching

appropriate accommodations for the blind around the area. She eventually found

some help she needed, but some time passed before she was able to capitalize on

that help.

“I started feeling lost again when

I moved because the services were not there, and I was becoming depressed

[thinking], ‘I have to start all over,’” she explained. “I had issues getting

joined up with Georgia Vocational Rehab; I didn’t get started with services

until the following year, July 2021.”

Last year, she started a peer support

group called Empowering the Blind, and a representative from Vocational

Rehabilitation Services referred clientele to the group to share their

experiences. Young continued on, speaking about individuals in her group and

how some have been denied their respective Social Security benefits.

She also spoke on area issues with

public transportation, employment as well as completing what most would call

“normal” things on a day-to-day basis, elaborating on how people facing

blindness may sometimes need assistance — but some broader knowledge and

understanding among the rest of the community and local businesses would also

help.

“[Employers] need to become more familiar

with the kinds of things [that help us] … knowing about some reasonable

accommodations so if we do go out and interview, we won’t get shunned

immediately because they don’t understand how we do what we do,” she added. “We

use voiceover, we use JAWS, we use different technologies to make things

accessible.”

She said she works part time two

days a week as an independent living coordinator with Disability Connections, a

social services organization, in Macon. She said her employer was quick to make

appropriate accommodations when she joined the staff.

“I work with people like myself,

and with all disabilities, assisting with different challenges and to become

independent; that is our core service, to become independent,” Young said.

She said that right now her

husband can help her get to and from work, but that might not always be the

case. If someone lives in one part of Middle Georgia and wants a job in another

area nearby that offers more opportunities, oftentimes having reliable

transportation is crucial and options are limited.

“I have that privilege to have

someone,” she said. “A lot of people don’t even have a spouse or a loved one

that can drive them around, so I understand the pain of a person that probably

would want to work in Macon but lives in Fort Valley.”

Young said she had consulted with

city council and the city transportation planner among other staff in the past,

saying the city secretary had given her a list of resources on local transit

options. But those were all related to medical care.

“We want to get to the restaurant,

maybe a movie,” she said. “We’d want to go out independently.”

She added that she wanted to get

some of her group together and consult council at an upcoming meeting.

“We’d love to be able to

participate in some change,” Young said. “We’re not asking, we want to do what

we can to make some change.”

Young said she and a couple of

people from Empowering the Blind are in the process of starting a non-profit

with a goal to direct resources and additional help to people with similar

conditions.

“When they first lose their sight,

they don’t where to go, they don’t know who to call,” she explained. “I want to

be that person or that company that goes, ‘this is what you need to do, here’s

who you need to contact.’”

Young said she enjoys listening to

audiobooks and music in her free time. She said she also loves singing and

dancing to reggae music as well as going out and socializing.

This is topic of continuation.

Expect more stories about this subject in later issues of The Houston Home Journal.

 

* This story has been edited as of Sept. 7, 2022.  The story initially stated that the

Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency referred some clientele to the Empowering

the Blind peer support group. An employee of Vocational Rehabilitation Services actually did that referral. We have updated the text above and made some slight adjustments for accuracy.

 

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