Local man seeks to form group for blind and vision-impaired

By Lynn A. Wade

Herald-Tribune

Tony Moore lost the sight in one eye at age 32. He has detached retinas, and other problems left him substantially vision-impaired, with fluctuating ability to see from the left eye.

Nevertheless, he sees one thing clearly -- visually impaired people can live complete, full lives and owe it to themselves to do so.

"Sometimes, people don't get out. They don't socialize or go do things as much as they could," Moore said. He knows first-hand that visually-impaired or blind people do face barriers, like transportation or needs for assistive technology, but he strongly believes that by networking they can manage these issues and create social and economic opportunities for themselves and for others with similar challenges.

That's why Moore's rallying resources at the state and local level to form a chapter of the Missouri Council of the Blind.

In order to form a chapter, eleven charter members -- six legally blind and five sighted adults -- are needed.

Sighted members would join in many of the activities and would perform the duties of treasurer, driver, reader of printed, non-braille materials and so forth, Moore said.

Members would be under the umbrella of the state organization, which offers many social activities and a variety of resources.

For example, there's a family camp which sighted and visually impaired family members can attend together in the summer, as well as an adult retreat each year.

Locally, the association helps to fund chapter activities, like bowling outings, dances or other social activities.

"People would be able to socialize, and to find out things from each other they need to know. For instance, there's a library (of fiction and non-fiction audio books) you can check out. All you have to do is sign up. You can get newsletters, newspapers, all kinds of things." Moore said.

He sees the group as a social group, a resource network, and much more. Guest speakers at meetings would share information, and it's his hope it would be an active group that would help its members learn skills and gain incentive to do things and to maintain an active lifestyle.

"There's networking, sharing information. I'll give you an example. I've got a guy who drives me to Sedalia when I want to go. He might want to drive someone else once in a while," for a small fee, Moore said.

The first meeting has not yet been scheduled, but it's likely the group will meet at Independent Living in Nevada -- at least at first. Members could later decide whether the site's a convenient meeting place, since membership would be open to anyone in surrounding areas, like Fort Scott, rural areas of Bourbon County and Vernon County, Rich Hill, Stockton, Lamar, El Dorado Springs and other areas who has a vision impairment or a family member with a vision impairment.

Anyone interested in joining or helping to form the new group may contact Moore at (417) 549-6709.