Kaiser Permanente has granted $25,000 to Society for the Blind in Sacramento to expand its programs for youth and working-age adults with vision loss across the region so they have the blindness skills, academic assistance and job-readiness training to be successful and independent.
“People with vision loss have an unemployment rate of nearly 70%, and 80% of our program participants are low-income, so workforce preparedness is essential to ensuring they gain financial stability and independence,” said Shari Roeseler, executive director, Society for the Blind. “We are grateful to Kaiser Permanente for recognizing the important gap we can fill by ensuring people with vision loss can find and maintain employment.”
Society for the Blind provides low-vision eye care, life and job skills training, mentorship, and access to tools to maintain independence for more than 5,000 youth, working-age adults and seniors experiencing vision loss each year.
Kaiser Permanente funding will help Society for the Blind expand its Core Skills program that enrolls 100-200 new clients from across the region each year. The program works with clients ages 17 and up, offering training and assistance in searching for and applying for jobs online, creating a professional cover letter and resume, and mock interview sessions. Clients learn how to use assistive technologies to perform work functions and to confidently explain their ability to do the job for which they are applying. Youth participants also learn appropriate dress for the workplace, social and interpersonal skills, budgeting and finance.
“Kaiser Permanente partners with organizations in our community, like the Society for the Blind, to help promote economic opportunity and job readiness for those in need,” said Jay Robinson, senior vice president and area manager, Kaiser Permanente Sacramento and South Sacramento. “By investing in workforce development programs and training opportunities that lead to financial stability we are working to improve the overall health and well-being of the communities we serve.”
For more than 70 years, Sacramento-based Society for the Blind has continued to create innovative ways to empower individuals living with low vision or blindness to discover, develop and achieve their full potential. Since 1954, Society for the Blind has grown from a dedicated group of volunteers to a nationally recognized agency and the only comprehensive rehabilitative teaching center that provides services for a 27-county region of Northern California. Learn more or donate: www.SocietyfortheBlind.org.
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care and is recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of its members and the communities it serves. Kaiser Permanente currently serves nearly 12.6 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information: about.kp.org.