Provides Prevention of Blindness programs, provides direct services to persons whose visual acuity and income fall within the state guidelines.

PROGRAMS:

TRANSPORTATION/ESCORT
Enables individuals to travel to and from community facilities, receive medical and dental care, shop, pay bills, bank and handle other personal needs. This service reduces isolation and promotes independent living.

Eligibility: Persons whose visual acuity and income meet state guidelines.

LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION
Provides practical education or training to individuals or groups in the skills needed to perform daily living activities. Instruction may include nutrition, food preparation, consumer education, management of finances, health care and family problems. Open to the public but designed primarily for visually impaired.

CHORE SERVICE
Read mail, complete forms, assist with record keeping. Volunteer opportunities are available to those persons interested in assisting individuals who are blind and visually impaired with shopping, reading and writing.

Eligibility: Persons whose visual acuity and income meet state guidelines.

VISION SCREENING PROGRAMS
Preschool : (Ages 3-5) Check for visual acuity and muscle balance.
Parents of children with potential problems are advised to contact an eye specialist of their choice for diagnosis, correction and treatment. Staff conducts follow-up of all referrals.
Adults:  Check for visual acuity.

LOW COST EYEWEAR PROGRAM
This program offers single vision or bifocal glasses is $40.00 per pair.

Eligibility:
No income guidelines or residency requirements.
Must have a current prescription and call the Blair County Association for the Blind for an appointment.  To schedule an appointment call 944-2021.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Provides education and safety programs about eyes for children and adults at daycares, schools, and senior centers.

INFORMATION AND REFERRAL
Information and referral are provided to the public and recipients of social services. Information is about this agency and other human services programs.

EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM
Blair/Clearfield Association for the Blind is looking to network with area businesses to employ the handicapped. BCAB has signed up with the Central Contractor Registry to get a list of federal contracts for janitorial work, call-in centers and food services. They also have contacted Pennsylvania Industries for the Blind and Handicapped for contracts with state buildings, including janitorial work and photo centers. The BCAB is partnering with SKILLS, Goodwill and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) for more job placements. BCAB hopes to raise $60,000 by June to seed its employment program. Once the employment program is going, it will help support other services including, transportation, vision screenings, educational programs, lending library, support groups and a referral service. Some of the things which could greatly help BCAB are: employment opportunities (the government offers cash and tax incentives,) experienced business people to serve on the board of directors and customers for the janitorial service. There are an estimated 1.3 million blind people in the U.S., and each year approximately 75,000 Americans become blind. Employment represents an important step toward helping blind Americans achieve economic security. Employment is the most important issue for the handicapped. Over 50 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed and if visual impairment is a component, that percentage grows to over 75 percent. BCAB is establishing a new Corporation in order to procure National Industries for the Blind contracts. NIB has exclusive rights to federal contracts for 4,772 products and 401 services. NIB's strategy for moving forward includes plans to further diversify employment opportunities for people who are blind; to create product and service awareness within government agencies; to aggressively market the highest quality products and services; to generate public and private partnerships; and to provide technical, operational, marketing and business development services to its associated, community-based agencies. As the service industry rapidly expands in the U.S. and technologies emerge, NIB will continue to deliver new and exciting career opportunities for people who are blind.