WORKING-AGE ADULTS
Assistance We Provide
Whether you are able to work or not, you will want to improve your daily living skills and your mobility skills. Our skilled professionals will work with you and teach you techniques to enhance your capabilities, increase your independence and get around safely at home, as well as in public.
Personal Adjustment Training
Depending on the degree of your vision loss, personal adjustment training will help you with daily living skills. The rehabilitation instructors – some of whom are also visually impaired or blind – will teach you how to do the daily tasks with you becoming personally independent at the goal. For more information on personal adjustment training, contact Kathy McKinsey at (216) 791-8118, x266. Contact Personal Adjustment Training department via email.
Community Mobility & Rehabilitation Teaching
The skilled professional staff in Community Rehabilitation will provide you with training and techniques to improve your daily living skills, mobility, and increase your independence. Our Orientation and Mobility instructors will help you learn to get around safely on your own, including in your home, your school, your place of employment and how to use public transportation. For some clients, Orientation and Mobility also means learning how to use a white cane, if necessary. For more information on mobility and rehabilitation teaching, contact Anna Pekarski at (216) 791-8118, x268. Contact Community Mobility and Rehabilitation Teaching department via email.
Residence Center
If you’re enrolled in one of our more intensive skill-building programs, you may qualify to live in our Residence Center, an on-site group of fully furnished apartments. The apartment wing is attached to Cleveland Sight Center’s main building for safety and convenience. Each room has its own private bath, as well as a stove, microwave, and a refrigerator. Laundry facilities and a lounge are also accessible on a lower floor. The Residence Center is available for our clients who have not yet mastered their traveling skills and for clients who are here as participants in one of our partnership training programs with agencies in other states. For more information on our Residence Center, contact Kathy McKinsey at (216) 791-8118 x226. Contact Kathy McKinsey for information about our Residence Center via email.
Finding Employment
If you haven’t already done so, we will refer you to the Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired (BSVI), part of the State of Ohio’s Rehabilitation Services Commission. In the Northeast Ohio area, Cleveland Sight Center is a partner with BSVI in the effort to place adults with vision impairment in jobs. The members of our Cleveland Sight Center professional staff, including your case manager, along with counselors with BSVI, and many others will assist you.
Working Support
Need help with work issues or a job search? The Working Age Support Group is here for you. Join us on the third Tuesday of every month from 5:30 to 6:30 pm in the Smith Lounge at the Cleveland Sight Center. For more information, call Tim Moran at (216) 791-8118 x245. Email Tim Moran regarding Working Support.
The Working Age Support Group
The Cleveland Sight Center
Tim Moran
(216) 791-8118 x245
1909 E. 101st St.
Cleveland, OH 44106
Meets on the third Tuesday of each month from 5:30 to 6:30 pm.
Career Development
The staff in the Williams Career Development Center provides assistance in job readiness and job searches. Support is offered to working age adults, college and high school students who are seeking full and part time work, volunteer experiences and/or college internships. The staff works in the business community to further develop potential employment contacts and educate prospective employers about consumers, employment supports and services Cleveland Sight Center offers. For more information on Career Development and Employment Services, contact Deborah Fox at (216) 791-8118, x251. Contact Deborah Fox in Employment Services via email.
Computer and Technology Services
Technology has opened a whole new world of employment possibilities for people who are visually impaired or blind. Cleveland Sight Center has been at the forefront, providing computer training with adaptive equipment since 1983, when our STORER Computer Center first opened. Today, working-age adults, as well as teens and a growing number of seniors, are learning how to use assistive technology, such as voice-activated software and large print software. You can discuss computer training opportunities that would be right for you with your case manager. For more information on Computer and Technology Services, contact Ruthie Bernstein at (216) 791-8118, x253 or toll free at (877) 776-9563, x253. Contact Computer and Technology Services department via email.
Business Enterprises Program
If you are a true “entrepreneur” with a desire and the skills to manage your own business, you may qualify for entry into our Business Enterprises program. After an intensive 14-week training, clients in this program operate their own food service businesses. For more information on our Business Enterprises Program, contact Judy Post by calling (216) 791-8118, x323 or toll free at (877) 776-9563, x323. Contact Business Enterprises via email.
Prevention & Education
Our staff nurses and volunteers also provide free adult glaucoma screenings at area health fairs, senior centers, and at the Cleveland Sight Center facility on the second Thursday of each month from 9 am to 3 pm. For a schedule of these free screenings, as well as educational programs, please call (216) 791-8118 x277. View our 2007 glaucoma screening schedule.
Image from BigStockPhoto © Orla