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On Monday, May 19th Peggy Dyson with the
Educational Center for the Visually Impaired, joined by members of
her board of directors, celebrated bringing services to Lincoln via
the Oasis Senior Center.
Dyson has been working for the past few years offering the same
services to those with visual impairments in Springfield through a
number of programs, all of which she hopes to duplicate for citizens
in Logan County.
The objective is to make it easier for those who do not see well to
cope with the challenges of everyday life, such as cooking, checking
to see if one has a temperature, or monitoring weight using a scale.
With the proper tools, many who struggle with these everyday needs
find it much easier to live on their own and be self-sufficient.
But, as with everything in this world, it takes money to provide
these services. Currently Dyson is able to host a once monthly
meeting in Lincoln called Magnificent Mondays, hosted on the second
Monday of each month. This is a “Daily Living Skills Program” where
that there are a variety of topics discussed during the meeting, and
typically a guest speaker. During these meetings, participants have
an opportunity to talk about tools they are using to help them
through each day and are also able to share their experiences. In
addition if someone is exploring a new tool, this session offers the
opportunity for Dyson and a coach to offer assistance and training.
At the open house hosted Monday during the lunchtime portion of the
day, Dyson had tables set up to highlight some of the tools and also
at each table gave an estimated cost on sponsoring one person for
each program.
For example, the Daily Living Skills Program can be
sponsored for $225.
Cooking with confidence, which includes special tools
such as special shaped measuring cups and spoons, safety gloves,
safer cutting tools, cutting boards and more can be sponsored for
$385 per person with the person receiving the special tools and aids
free of charge.
The tool time program can be sponsored for $295 per
person and again includes a variety of tools that the participant
will receive at no cost.
The health and wellness program features items such
as talking scales, thermometers and blood pressure cuffs along with
other items that are available to participants free of charge. The
program can be sponsored through the ECVI at a cost of $405 per
person.
Dyson explained that in Springfield, she seeks community support and
grants to help provide these programs and will need to do the same
in Logan County. She is hopeful that she will have people who want
to support the programs and also that she will be able to secure
local grants and support so that she can eventually bring all these
programs to Lincoln and Logan County.
A portion of the open house on Monday was a ribbon cut, held in the
dining room at the Oasis. Dyson was featured front and center and
was joined by board members Jack Schoonover, Rosemary Buffington and
Phil Moore. Also joining her behind the ribbon was Mary Carey who is
an ECVI personal vision coach, and Sharon and Larry Krueger. Sharon
was the first one to sign up in Lincoln and was also for a time a
participant in Springfield.
In addition to the ECVI crew, others behind the ribbon included
Lincoln Alder persons Robin McClallen and Dennis Clemons along with
City Clerk Peggy Bateman. There were also volunteers from the Oasis
who were asked to join the group behind the ribbon.
Dyson began saying she wanted to invite Krueger to
speak on a new experience she has had. Dyson prefaced this by saying
that Krueger had purchased a special pair of glasses at a local big
box electronics store. The glasses were not designed for the
visually impaired, but rather for people who did not want to carry a
phone but wanted all the benefits of having one.
Krueger was asked to speak about the glasses, and the
first comment from her was that the glasses had given her greater
independence. It turns out that with the proper instruction, which
was provided through Dyson and the ECVI, these glasses act as a set
of eyes for Krueger. The glasses will tell her specially what she is
looking at, with read instructions to her, such as recipes, can tell
her what kind of canned good she is holding in the grocery store or
from the pantry, will tell her what color something is and will take
photos of what she is looking at when she needs them.
Dyson said that while the glasses were never intended
to be used in this manner, they are a valuable tool that the ECVI is
anxious to help others learn how to use the glasses to their
advantage as a visually impaired person.
Dyson had spoken earlier with LDN and she had noted folks like
Krueger, saying that there were a few who were able, because they
had steady chauffeurs to attend the meetings in Springfield, but she
had noted that for some it was difficult to get from Lincoln to
Springfield, and she couldn’t help but wonder if there were not also
several in the community for whom such a trip was impossible.
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While the ECVI has been in Lincoln only a short
while, the group has already outgrown the boardroom in the Oasis,
and Dyson said a few more members and she would need to see about
moving her meetings into the larger dining room area.
In addition to Krueger, two of the board members present spoke at
the ribbon cut. 
The first was Phil Brooks. By way of introduction,
Dyson said that Phil was the one who started the ECVI and it was
after he lived through his mothers challenges as she was blind and
constantly challenged by daily living activities.
Brooks said to start that when you meet and get to know visually
impaired people you will find that they have “incredible brain
capacity.” He explained that for example they hear how one walks and
can identify a person by the way they stride across a room. He said
they do research and have a tremendous ability to adapt to their
circumstances and utilize their other senses to function. He said
that the services offered by ECVI changed her life with the special
tools and training, and that it also changed his life.
Dyson also talked about how valuable the services were but how that
without funding, she cannot bring these services. She said she needs
grants and donations to sponsor the classes. In addition, she hopes
to hire locally for a personal vision coach for Logan County.
ECVI board president Jack Schoonover also spoke
saying that indeed what the ECVI is doing is important to those who
struggle with daily living. He said even he didn’t realize all the
challenges and the great need for special education and special
tools until he became involved with the ECVI.
Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch was tied up in a meeting on Monday morning
and unable to attend the ribbon cut. He sent a message via Nila
Smith to extend to the Oasis his gratitude for working with Dyson to
bring the new program to the community. He thanked Dyson for
recognizing the need in the community and said that he feels it will
be of help to many more people than we can know. He wished Dyson the
best in this endeavor.
Alderwoman Robin McClallen spoke for the city as well, saying first
that the Oasis was a vital part of our community and much
appreciated for all that it does for the Senior population in
Lincoln and Logan County. She said that the volunteers, a few of
which were behind the ribbon, were greatly appreciated. She
continued by addressing Dyson and the service she is bringing to the
community. She echoed Mayor Tracy Welch in saying that the services
offered by the ECVI are needed in the community and will assist many
of our citizens in living happier more productive lives.
With the speeches concluded it was time for the posed
photo then the snipping of the ribbon on the new group at the Oasis.
After the cut, guests were encouraged to enjoy a light lunch
courtesy of the ECVI. That also offered guests an opportunity to
explore the various tables and check out some of the special
equipment and tools that are utilized in daily life for the visually
impaired.
In addition, for those who are blessed with good
eyesight, Dyson had a variety of special glasses that when put on
mimicked certain visual impairments, allowing all of the guests to
come to a better understanding of what it is like to live visually
challenged.
The Education Center for the Visually impaired has been in
Springfield for several years, and also has a program in Decatur.
Each community is required to find its own financial support. As
illustrated at the various tables, it takes anywhere from a couple
hundred dollars to nearly five hundred to support one person in each
of the programs offered. What is good about this is that through
that support sponsors are assuring that those tools that were laid
out on the various tables are provided to each group member free of
charge.
The ECVI does have a webpage
https://www.ecvispringfield.org/ and an opportunity to donate on
the website via your PayPal account or using a debit/credit card.
When going through the donation process there is an opportunity to
“add a note.” This is where the donor should specify that the money
being provided should be used in the Lincoln/Logan County programs.
Currently the daily life skills program is all that is being offered
at the Oasis. The Magnificent Monday’s group meets on the second
Monday of each month from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Guest speakers for the next four months are:
June 9 – Kevin Schuester with the Illinois Treasurer’s Office will
speak on searching for unclaimed assets via the Treasurer’s office.
July 14th – Dave Jackson will speak on going blind
August 11 – Logan County Master Gardener Stephanie Hall will speak
on micro-greens.
On September 8th Dr. Tom Ewald will speak on his new book “Judas and
the Criminal Mind.”
Nila Smith
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