WINTER VOLUME MMXV eystone ISSUE 1 Our Vision Works KBAVista is in Ohio, Too! INSIDE THIS ISSUE By Ann Peterson Keystone Blind Association continues to provide communication skills with visually impaired Ohio services in northwest Ohio. School-aged students residents. They also provide basic education about have received Orientation and Mobility training various eye conditions and how they affect vision. 1 and Vision Rehabilitation (TVI) services in Mahon- Casework services are provided for children Cover Stories ing and Trumbull Counties for several years. We and young adults in Mahoning and Trumbull Coun- plan to provide TVI services in Ohio again this year. ties and for adults in Brookfield and Masury, Ohio. 2 O & M instructor Luann Cade is currently working Children’s and young adult’s casework services From the President with Youngstown school students. She teaches include transportation to and from weekend them cane travel, orientation in their environment events, support groups, and life skills sessions at day and how to navigate safely and efficiently from camps in the summer. Adult casework services 3 place to place. include transportation for medical appointments, News & Notes Vision Rehab Therapists Jenn Lilly and Kathleen grocery shopping, banking, life skills sessions, mail Buskirk work with adults in Mahoning, Columbi- reading and support groups within Brookfield, 4 ana and Trumbull Counties through contracts with Masury, and in Mercer County. They also provide Office of Ohioans with Disabilities. OOD contracts transportation to and from the Low Vision Clinic in Keystone Essentials for rehab instruction, rehab technology and low the Sharon office of KBA. vision services for adults through the Independent To find out more about these services, to 5 Living and Vocational Rehab programs. Staff has make a referral or to learn about eligibility, please Get Involved worked on telescope training, cooking, clean- contact Ann Peterson at 724.347.5501 or by email ing, home and personal management skills and at [email protected]. 6 – 7 KBA Events 8 Winter Eye Awareness Youth Programs Information from the websites of The Glaucoma Research Foundation, Our Industrial Projects National Eye Institute, and Eye Med January is National Glaucoma Awareness getting older, and it can happen to people of any 9 Month. Currently, 2.7 million people in the United age. Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Tips From The Pros States over age 40 have glaucoma. Glaucoma is is a disease that blurs the sharp, central vision called “the sneak thief of sight” since there are no you need for “straight-ahead” activities such as symptoms and once vision is lost, it’s permanent. reading, sewing, and driving. AMD affects the 10 As much as 40% of vision can be lost without a macula, the part of the eye that allows you to see Crawford County Corner person noticing. Glaucoma is the leading cause of fine detail. While there is no cure for AMD, there preventable blindness. Vision loss from glaucoma are treatment options to stabilize the vision loss. 11 is caused by damage to the optic nerve. There is Prevention is the key to minimize the risk of AMD. Lawrence County Corner not yet a cure for glaucoma. However, medica- March is Workplace Eye Health and Safety tion or surgery can slow or prevent further vision Month. Each day, more than 2,000 American loss. Regular eye exams are especially important workers suffer an eye injury, and nearly 1 million 12 for those at higher risk for glaucoma, and may help Americans have lost some of their sight due to an Keep in Touch to prevent unnecessary vision loss. eye injury. It’s estimated that 90% of workplace February is National AMD and Low Vision eye injuries could be avoided if safety eyewear Awareness Month. Low vision is a term used to is used effectively. All eye protection should be indicate partial sight or sight that cannot be certified by the American National Standards fully corrected with surgery, medications, contact Institute (ANSI) as ANSI Z87. lenses, or glasses. Low vision is not a natural part of KEYSTONE | keystoneblind.org 1 PRESIDENT E occasionally wear a t-shirt that team present, they presented well. I am H says, “Teamwork – a lot of people grateful for their willingness to share their T doing what I say”. I wear it in jest knowledge and talent. I and I hope others understand that it is The Keystone team goes beyond Vista is the official M meant to make fun of that kind of “non- staff. For example, our recent “Sizzler for Vista team” approach. Sight” annual fundraiser not only count- publication of Keystone. O Real team-work is something we ed on staff members, but our board It is published four times per year. R strive for at Keystone, and I recent- of directors as well. Board members Digital versions are also available at F ly had reason to be extremely proud sold tickets, collected Chinese auction www.keystoneblind.org of our team. As our part of being a baskets, prepared food, secured co-sponsor of this fall’s PA Association for sponsors, worked at the event, cleaned Editor/Creative Director the Blind conference in Greensburg, PA, up, etc. It was a great evening of Stephanie Finnegan Keystone agreed to provide the major- teamwork that brought in a record ity of the program content for the event. amount of money. Editorial Assistant The following KBA staff members present- Finally, I take my hat off to all of our Maureen Perod ed programs/sessions: crews who are out there doing the day • Ann Peterson – Support Groups to day business of the organization: the • Shirley Shanes – Prevention of specialized services team, the preven- Keystone is: Blindness Follow-ups tion of blindness team, the technology Keystone Blind Association • Laurie Staph – Understanding team, the human resources team, the Keystone Vocational Services Financial Statements accounting team, the lawn crew teams, Keystone Independence Management • Tom Dill – Business Risks the rest area teams, the photo ID teams, National Foundation for Blind Children • Allen Connely – Various the document destruction team, the Non-profit Business Paradigms digging and striking tools team, the • Stephanie Finnegan – Practical hard hat team, the store front team, the Keystone Independence Management Guide to Social Media toilet paper manufacturing team, Senior Leadership Team: • Jenn Lilly – Importance of the rehabilitation team, the janitorial Programs for Blind Children services teams…and many more! We President/CEO • Kathy Buskirk – New Develop- are literally a team of teams, each Jonathan Fister ments in Vision Rehabilitation working towards our mission of educat- • Kevin Bly – Interagency ing, empowering and employing people Executive Vice President of Operations Videoconferencing who are blind or disabled. Allen Connely • Mike Nicol – Updates on New At Keystone, we are proud to say, Assistive Technology that because of our great teams, “Our Senior Vice President of Services As you can see, Keystone presented Vision Works”! Ann Peterson 95% of the programs. Not only did our Senior Vice President of Finance Cordially, Laurie Staph Senior Vice President of Human Resources Tom Dill, Esq. To contact us, please write, call, or email: 1230 Stambaugh Avenue, Newsletter Update Sharon, PA 16146 Keystone is excited to present mat sent via email. The PDF and text-only 724.347.5501 the first-ever full-color edition of Vista! versions are also available on our We hope the change will make your website, www.keystoneblind.org. Addi- [email protected] newsletter reading experience even tionally, the newsletter is available on au- more enjoyable. Feedback is always dio tape and by calling in to our Talking welcome, so let us know your thoughts! Newspaper program at 724-347-5510. If Did you know there are other formats you would like to change your newslet- of the Vista available? In addition to this ter mailing preferences or information, version, there is a large print format, a please contact Maureen or Stephanie text-only format, and a digital PDF for- at 724-347-5501. 2 vOluMe MMxv • iSSue 1 • WiNTer | viSTA NOTES WS& Art’s Retirement Hellos & Goodbyes E Last October, we bid farewell to our longest working em- KBA welcomes Katie Mason to the Casework office. She ployee, Art Wedge. Art retired after dedicating 62 years of his provides services in Lawrence and Mercer Counties. Katie is a N life working at Keystone Blind Association. What an amazing ac- brand new mom and resides in Sharon. Katie has lots of energy complishment! Art has done everything from chair caning to and enjoys being with people, a great combination to have as rug weaving, and cutting and bagging of concrete additive to a KBA employee! tool and helmet assembly. We wish Linda Reiter only the best as she leaves KBA to On November 18, 2014, a luncheon was held to celebrate spend time with family! Art. KBA employees, Board members, and friends of Art were Our sympathy to the family and friends of Anthony Guerino all in attendance. CEO Jonathan Fister spoke about various who worked for KBA as a driver. His smile will be missed! projects Art worked on throughout his time at Keystone, and then presented Art with engraved luggage tags, 2 pieces of luggage, and a check from the agency. Art and his wife Janet Keystone’s New Website plan to travel during his retirement. Last year, we talked to you about our new branding initiative. We remain extremely grateful for the decades of service One of the projects we have been working on is a completely Art has given to the agency and wish him all the very best in his redesigned website for Keystone. We’re excited to announce retirement! that the new site is now live! On the site, you’ll find information about our agency and affiliates, the vision services we provide, the many industrial projects that we’re involved in, our two ma- jor fundraising events, a new blog section, an archive for past Vista issues, and more! We hope you’ll spend some time on our new website and learn about what we do and how we serve the community.