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"To empower people with vision loss to realize their full potential, and to shape the community's vision of that potential.”
Our programs and services are designed to empower our clients to move beyond limitations.
Steven M. Friedman, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Cleveland Sight Center
Contact Information
216-791-8118, ext. 4531
Email Steven M. Friedman
A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Recreational Activities, a Residential Camp, and a Special Program for Young Adults Kept Cleveland Sight Center Hopping this Summer
It’s been a busy summer for Cleveland Sight Center! From the computer lab, to the hiking trail, to the golf course, clients of all ages who are blind or visually impaired have been on the move – learning, laughing, growing.
From infants to seniors with vision loss, Cleveland Sight Center’s residential camp, Highbrook Lodge, has brought enjoyment to all who have come to play or stay for over 80 years. Multiple sessions, organized by age group, are held annually during June, July and August. These sessions cater to the special needs and interests of campers and include a range of indoor and outdoor activities that allow campers to focus on learning through play.
Campers can explore Highbrook Lodge’s beautiful 60-acre property, located in Geauga County, and participate in traditional activities -swimming, hiking, fishing, singing, campfires, sports, arts and crafts - or more specialized curricula that could include poetry, drama, field trips, and building skills for life and employment. New this year, Highbrook Lodge launched a session for families with children age seven to eleven who have vision loss. This session helped to serve as an intermediate step between a whole family participating in a Bright Futures session for early childhood and having children attend camp on their own, which can begin at age eight.
“Highbrook is a wonderful place; actually, it’s a big part of God’s handiwork…And to be with your friends for eight or nine or ten days…You come home happy and refreshed and count the days and months until you can go back again. I love Highbrook Lodge,” says Gertrude Mosby, a ninety-year-old client who has attended Highbrook Lodge for the past sixty seasons.
Highbrook Lodge is accredited by the American Camp Association and is ADA accessible. Campers who attend Highbrook Lodge enjoy a multi-faceted learning experience and make friendships and memories to last a lifetime.
Good friends and good times also happen when clients get active through Cleveland Sight Center’s recreation program. This summer, recreational activities included tandem biking and hiking with a sighted partner through Cuyahoga Valley National Park or playing golf with a sighted spotter at several local golf courses. Golf participants also received instruction from a PGA instructor or associate at the Washington Golf Learning Center two times a week. A fishing trip got clients out on the water in search of Lake Erie perch, and an activity day brought everyone together for games, music, a light lunch and plenty of fun.
“Activities have strengthened my ability to deal with my blindness and maintain my independence. I can now do things on my own, whether I’m at home or in the community. Knowing that I can still be physically and mentally active doing what I enjoy and also always learning something new, like reading Braille, is very rewarding to me,” says Keith Abramson, a Cleveland Sight Center client who has been involved with recreational activities, like tandem biking and hiking, for over 15 years.
Other recreational activities throughout the year include line dancing, book discussion groups, music studies groups in collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra, crochet and craft days, Braille studies classes, social clubs, the Braille Notes Choir, which performs throughout the community, and more! All of these recreational activities provide Cleveland Sight Center working-age adult and senior clients with fellowship, entertainment, informal instruction, exercise, and enrichment. The agency’s recreation program plays a pivotal role in helping clients adjust to vision loss and maintain a healthy, active lifestyle.
“Recreation is the continuation of my initial rehabilitation,” says Cheryl Fields, a Cleveland Sight Center client who lost her vision at the age of twenty-six. Cheryl leads the Book Discussion group and crochets weekly with her friends at the agency.
Recreation and socialization are also an important piece of Cleveland Sight Center’s Fundamentals for Success program. The program served a record-high number of clients this year with a class of seventeen individuals. Fundamentals for Success is unique to the agency and provides a key opportunity for young adults, ages 16 to 22 who have vision loss, to learn daily living and vocational skills and transition from high school to college or to the workplace.
Participants live in a residential apartment setting at Cleveland Sight Center for six weeks in the summer. With close supervision, they are responsible for their own daily activities of cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping and other tasks. Field trips, recreational activities and events provide a fun setting to help participants improve their social skills and abilities to function in the outside world.
Participants also receive career coaching and assistive technology training, and gain paid work experience with local companies and organizations. This year, local employers included the Cleveland Foodbank, the Cleveland Indians, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, United Cerebral Palsy, and two Cleveland Sight Center Business Enterprise food stands.
Upon completion of the program, Joni, a 2009 Fundamentals for Success participant, wrote a letter to the agency saying, “…Another class that I really enjoyed was Randy’s computer class. Before I came I absolutely hated computers, and most of all hated typing…As of now I know all the finger placements and keys of the key board, and I can type around 15-20 words per minute. I know it’s not that fast but before I had no idea how to type. And by the way I typed this paper properly while not even looking at the key board. I really enjoyed my stay at the Sight Center…this has got to be the greatest experience ever; this has really impacted my life.”
Steven M. Friedman, Ph.D.
Executive Director
