On Friday, Nov. 5 2021, Moreed Kamal retired from Cleveland Sight Center after 13 years of remarkable service. If you would have told him when he was in his 20s that he would retire with a Masters in Social Work, working as a Case Manager and Share the Vision Coordinator, he wouldn’t have believed you.

At 23-years-old, Moreed lost his sight. He had just finished playing basketball at a local outdoor court and was walking home when he suddenly lost his vision completely. He was a few blocks away from home and couldn’t see anything. He hoped someone would walk by so he could ask for help, but no one did. Thankfully, after a few minutes, his vision came back. After this happened, he visited the doctor and found out that he had Glaucoma and would eventually be completely blind. He was shocked. He thought Glaucoma only caused vision loss in older adults. He knew nothing about blindness, nor did his family or friends.

In an instant, Moreed’s life changed. He had to figure out what this meant for him. How would he live with vision loss? How would he adapt? In the beginning, he struggled and had very little hope. He dropped out of college. He didn’t think he could live the life he wanted.

With the help of his family, friends, doctors and Cleveland Sight Center, he challenged himself. He worked with various CSC departments to learn how to use JAWS, read braille and advocate for himself in the workforce. 

He wanted to prove to himself, and the world, that he could do anything a sighted person could.

“I don’t consider myself disabled because of Cleveland Sight Center. I can do anything someone who has 20/20 vision can because of CSC’s programs and services,” Moreed said.

So – he got his Associates Degree in Drug Abuse Counseling. He didn’t stop there. He continued to get his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Social Work at Cleveland State University. While there, he was president of the National Honor Society and participated in a variety of public speaking engagements.

He then began his career at Cleveland Sight Center as the Share the Vision Coordinator. Share the Vision is a peer-to-peer mentoring program for people who are adapting to vision loss and blindness. Who better to lead this program than Moreed? He used his own experience as a way to offer hope, help and support to others. Through Moreed’s passion and dedication, the program grew immensely and now has over 50 participants. After 8 years, Moreed took on another role, in addition to Share the Vision, as a Case Manager at Cleveland Sight Center.

But, Moreed is more than just his title at Cleveland Sight Center. He is a fierce advocate for the blind and visually impaired community and a bright spot in everyone’s day.

“The members of the blind and visually impaired community are human beings just like everyone else. We are intelligent. We can talk, hear, smell and feel,” Moreed said.

Moreed plans to spend his time in retirement with his family. Not surprising to anyone who knows him – he also plans to speak publicly about blindness and low vision in an effort to change the narrative and show the world that members of the blind and visually impaired community can do anything a sighted person can.

View a PDF version with photos here.