Photo Caption: Sight challenged Jamie Taylor uses a Merlin desktop electronic magnifier that helps her read and better view images at home.
MOHAVE COUNTY — Helping sight challenged people improve their quality of life is the goal of the Mohave County Low Vision Support Group. Board President Jamie Taylor said the non profit organization is attempting to make a comeback.
“It actually started about 15 years ago, but then during COVID it obviously kind of imploded and a lot of the leaders of the group at the time passed away, unfortunately from COVID,” Taylor said. She said the Kingman-based organization rebooted about a year ago, has grown to twelve participants and wants to reach out to Colorado River communities for inclusion opportunity.
Taylor said the group works to provide information, guidance and tools to help vision-impaired citizens better navigate their world.
“There’s a lot of resources out there that most people aren’t aware of. I wasn’t,” Taylor said. “Right now I’m wearing a pair of loaner glasses that have prisms that are turning my peripheral vision, which is all I have right now, and using it so I can see and with these glasses I’m actually able to walk in the street without a white cane.”
Taylor said a magnification unit projects images of enlarged text that allows her to read.
“I thought I was done reading,” she said. I thought I’d only be able to do audio books, but I can actually read now.”
The group meets at 2:30 p.m. the last Thursday of each month at the White Cliffs Senior Living facility on Western Avenue. Speakers and shared experiences are part of the meeting mix.
Taylor said the organization draws upon professional resources from Las Vegas and Phoenix. She said additional support comes from the Mohave Eye Center in Kingman and that Bill Shilling will help with grant writing efforts.
Taylor said more information is available on the Mohave County Low Vision Support Facebook page. She can be contacted by telephone (928-530-2056).
