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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.
If you’re a working-age adult, between the ages of 23 and 55, this webpage contains pertinent information you will want to know.
Like many people in your age group, you may be looking for assistance in:
- Developing new skills for personal independence
- Improving your mobility and orientation at home, outside and using public transportation
- Finding employment
- Training for job advancement
- Educating families, friends and co-workers on how and when to assist you
For more information, please call 216-791-8118, ext. 4675.
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.
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 10 or 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, ext. 323 or toll free at 877-776-9563, ext 4647. Email Business Enterprises
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 support and services Cleveland Sight Center offers. For more information on Career Development and Employment Services, contact Deborah Fox at 216-791-8118, ext. 7344. Email Employment Services
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 Bryan Manthey at 216-791-8118, ext. 8746. Email Community Mobility and Rehabilitation Teaching
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, ext. 7337 or toll free at 877-776-9563, ext. 7337. Email Computer and Technology Services
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.
Personal Rehabilitation Employment Preparation
Depending on the degree of your vision loss, Personal Rehabilitation Employment Preparation 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 Rehabilitation Employment Preparation, contact Kathy McKinsey at 216-791-8118, ext. 8757. Email Personal Rehabilitation Employment Preparation
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 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. For information about these free screenings, as well as educational programs, please call 216-791-8118 ext. 8741.
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 ext. 8757. Email our Residence Center
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