Growing Pains

A four state agency is expanding to help more citizens with vision problems. The Joplin Association for the Blind held a groundbreaking Imagine losing your sight,and never seeing your loved ones again. It`s a growing problem and one that the Joplin Association for the Blind working to help. That`s why the organization held a groundbreaking for a new expansion to its current facility. "Low and behold our low vision center has grown so much in the past six years that we`re had to add onto that. We`ve had to add onto that hopefully this will be large enough expansion that will cover anything we need within the next 10 years,"said Bud Martin, Building Community Chair. The center has been helping people see with devices such as this closed circuit tv which magnifies text up to 100 times. Workers say they`ve come a long way since the beginning. "We began very small on 17th and Pearl in Joplin in 1995. From that we grew to now we`re seeing or having contact with over a 1000 people ever three months,"said Esther Gerbitz, Director of Low Vision Services. And to the patients who are getting second site with the help of these devices,the center is offering new hope. "We`ve had grandparents who`ve come in that have never seen their grandchildrens faces because of their vision loss. a lot of them would have pictures and we`d put it under the CCT and we`d put it under the cct and a lady came in and just cried. because it was the first time she`d ever seen her grandchildren`s face,"said Stephanie Mann, Executive Director. The new expansion will be 1600 square feet, with a price tag of 120 thousand dollars. The construction should be completed by February 1st, 2004. If you would like to donate to the Joplin Association for the Blind call 623-5721. Reported By: Brad Douglas