OAKLAND — Without a windfall from either single donations or a corporate gift, the 74-year-old Lions Center for the Blind will be closing its doors Aug. 31.
The nonprofit center, which serves more than 500 clients annually, needs $500,000 to operate for the rest of the year. They need further, sustaining help to keep operations going beyond that.
“At this point we’re at the emergency stage,” newly elected board President Maureen Powers said. “We’re asking for community support to try to keep the doors open.”
The Lions Center for the Blind in downtown Oakland helps blind and visually impaired people — who have either been that way for life or who are just experiencing declines in sight — obtain orientation, daily living and computer/assisted technology skills as well as employment readiness and placement assistance. For example, it helps visually impaired people ride public transportation and learn the skills they need for a job.
The center helps people in several East Bay counties. It started as a place for recreation for blind people and grew into a place where the visually impaired could find employment. It is supported, in part, by the California Department of Rehabilitation but reimbursements have not increased in 20 years, Powers said.
“It’s a huge loss,” she said. “There are no other organizations in the East Bay that provide the assistance technology and the employment skills that we do and to me those are the most important things we can do.”
The organization with offices in Oakland and Fairfield helps people fully participate in their communities. Berkeley resident Marianne Haas turned to the center for technology and job training in 2007 and has now become a volunteer and a board member. Visually impaired since youth, Haas said she has really benefitted from the Lions Center’s services.
“They helped me find work, they helped me with computer skills so I get better with the screen reader called JAWS,” she said. “As a volunteer, I really learn how to get along with other people.”
Caleb van Docto, director of services, said there are no other organizations like this that offer services in places such as Solano County.
“If there’s any chance for services in the East Bay, we’re one of them,” he said.
Lions Center for the Blind CEO Michelle Taylor Lagunas said that their services are unique to the area with a major focus on employment.
“Our commitment really is to help build a skill set that is meant to be a career-ladder position. It’s not just to place an individual in a job where there is no growth or individual development,” she said.
The center’s board of directors voted at its June 20th meeting to stop providing services on Aug. 31 pending the receipt of any significant additional funding. They are working on client and staff transition while also setting up a GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/LCBOaklandClosure where anyone can donate to help keep the center open.
More information about Lions Center for the Blind can be found at www.lbcenter.org and at 510-450-1580.
