Local Program Helps Blind Veterans

With the recent state of the economy, finding a job is difficult enough. But being visually impaired and having to get acclimated to the civilian workforce after being in the military makes it harder on some veterans.

Yet, one local program helps veterans find employment.

The Bridge to Work program allows veterans to access Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind training facilities that teach them skills for a job, resume writing, interviewing and on computers.

"The people that we serve definitely want to attain the skills necessary to gain employment," said Jocelyn Hunter, director of communications at CLB. "In the 21st century, one of the big necessities is in getting a job is making sure you're proficient in using a computer."

Located off of Baltimore Avenue in Riverdale Park, the group has served members of the blind and visually impaired community for the past century. Founded in 1899 in Washington, D.C., the private non-profit organization eventually expanded over the years to the suburbs in Silver Spring and Riverdale Park.

The organization offers training programs, support groups, visual and audio assistance equipments and activities to help the blind and visually impaired remain independent and active in society.

With roughly 19,000 blind and visually impaired people in Prince George's County alone, CLB provides comprehensive assistance to the members in the community through its training programs.

One of the computer databases veterans are trained to use is the Digital Data Scan, a database that allows blind workers to scan office documents for archival purposes or to convert them into DVDs or CDs. Many non-profit organizations nationwide including CLB, offer this program to companies who may need documents to be scanned and indexed.

"The program has immobilized blind veterans in the work force," said Hunter. "And one of the skills that they may learn in the process is digital scanning."

The Bridge to Work Program has teamed with government contractors and companies in providing jobs to blind and visually impaired veterans.

Lawrence Harrison, a U.S. Navy veteran, is employed by CLB through a government contractor.

Referred by the Veterans Administration, Harrison, who became visually impaired from the effects of glaucoma, has been with the CLB for the past year and works with the Data Digital Scan, scanning documents for the company.

Grateful for the opportunity to find employment, he pointed out that the best skills he learned were on the computer.

"The Bridge to Work Program helped me to be independent and to be back at work in the field," Harrison said. "If anything, I acquired more computer skills which taught me how to work on computers."