“Spend some time living in the world like a visually impaired person,” said Joyce Minard, “and you quickly realize how blessed you are to have your eyesight.”
What prompted the feisty New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce president to spend time wearing special glasses that impaired her vision and to get involved with Lighthouse International, an organization for the blind and visually impaired? Â It began when her mother”™s vision started deteriorating. Minard worried: not just for her aging parent”™s physical danger, but for her increasing depression and growing feeling of isolation.
“She felt so cut off by the effects of macular degeneration,” said Minard. “Trying to watch television and not being able to see it, or trying to get down the steps to go to the mailbox ”“ everyday tasks we take for granted ”“ became impossible for her. That”™s when The Lighthouse came into our lives.”
Lighthouse”™s Poughkeepsie office sent a caseworker to help Minard”™s mother relearn everyday skills that would help her regain self-sufficiency. When Minard”™s mother entered an assisted-living facility, her caseworker continued to stay in contact with her on a regular basis. “She was more than a caseworker,” Minard said. “She became a friend.
“I was amazed at the concern, care and dedication of these caregivers,” continued Minard. “My mother didn”™t like to ask anyone for help, but the way they helped her didn”™t feel like help. It was just a relearning process. And the atmosphere was handled with such respect and dignity, she didn”™t feel like a burden. The help was a welcome blessing. My mom recovered her self esteem. She learned to live with her failing sight, but learned to feel good about herself again.”
Minard is president of a chamber that serves more than 800 business members and dates to 1900 when it began its life as the Board of Trade. Its Web address is www.newpaltzchamber.org.
After her mother died, Minard wanted to give something back to Lighthouse, the organization that made such a difference in her mother”™s life. But in order to become an advisory board member, Minard had to pass The Lighthouse”™s litmus test: that”™s where her time spent living as a visually impaired person came into play. Wearing a special pair of glasses gave the same level of sightlessness her mother experienced, Minard had to learn to get around in a blurry, disoriented world.
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“Just getting down a flight of stairs was exhausting, it was a frightening feeling, not knowing if you”™d make it to the bottom,” said Minard. “My instructor, who didn”™t grade me, told me I failed the street navigation excursion because I couldn”™t use the cane properly. That”™s when it really hit me how hard it was for my mother and how hopeless she must have felt.”
Lighthouse became a calling for Minard to give back actively to the organization that gave her mother so much. “As taxes and costs go up, funding for nonprofits is often the first place cuts are made,” said Minard. “That”™s why it”™s important to keep the mission going, raising money and raising awareness. We”™re all aging and most of us will face the trials and tribulations mom faced.”
Lighthouse”™s clients range in age from infants to octogenarians. “Making it possible for a new mother to change her baby”™s diaper ”“ or in my own case to see mom being able to enjoy a TV show ”“ is the reward you get out of volunteering,” said Minard.
She recalled one poignant event: “One blind boy wanted to ride a bicycle. One of our chamber members came to the rescue: He attached a bike to his scooter; he steered the scooter, but the child could ride the bike, pedal and enjoy the experience. He was thrilled and we were sharing that ride and his enjoyment right along with him. You can”™t put a price on that.”
Like to learn more about how you can make bring a little light to a darkening world? Visit Lighthouse International on the Web (www.lighthouse.org), or call the mid-Hudson Valley office in Poughkeepsie at 473-2660. If you”™d like to help shed a ray of light in the darkness, all volunteering efforts and donations are welcome. Lighthouse has certainly made Minard”™s appreciation for her gift of sight all the more special, and being able to give back in some way to the organization that made her mother”™s life easier is Minard”™s way of honoring her legacy.
“Mom had a saying,” said Minard. “It sounds better in Italian, but it translates something like this: ”˜Extend your hand to the people who least expect you to; in return, your world will change right in front of you.”™ And God bless her, she certainly was right about that.”
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