Dear Friends,

INsight Online is a monthly news update from the Greater Detroit Agency for the Blind and Visually Impaired. We're interested to know what you think of the content, or if you have any news or information that you'd like to share. Please give us your feedback at

In this month's issue...

Agency Case Manager celebrates 21 years of putting clients on the path to independence

Ollie Lester always believed that she had a calling to be of service to the community. She wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, so in January of 1988 she began work at GDABVI as a Social Worker in its Rehabilitation Department. Now the agency Case Manager, she has helped thousands of older adults who have experienced vision loss to remain independent.

“As older people lose sight, they need to learn new ways to accomplish things they’ve been used to doing their entire lives,” she says.

Ollie first listens to clients, many of whom experience depression, about their feelings. She helps them adjust emotionally and works with them on establishing a rehabilitation curriculum of living, communication and mobility skills based on the client’s individual needs. Trained Vision Rehabilitation therapists then visit clients’ homes to teach these skills.

“I will always remember one client whose family called me after he had gone blind. They said he was at his lowest point in his life. When I spoke to him, it was clear that had no hope.

“We worked with him to establish new living skills and helped him learn how to advocate for himself. I was eventually able to refer him to the Michigan Commission for the Blind for more training. He became a math tutor, and after that, there wasn’t a time I would see him when he wouldn’t tell me what an impact I’d had on his life.”

Ollie, who herself has been legally blind since birth, also gives presentations to retirement communities, support groups and schools. She is currently the co-chair of the Detroit Department of Transportation’s Advisory Council and the president of the Motor City League of Blind Bowlers. She is also a member of the Greater Detroit Association of Black Social Workers.

“As I always tell clients, life does not end with blindness. You need to think positively and believe beyond what your eyes can see.”

You can now support GDABVI by donating online through Network for Good

Now, by visiting GDABVI.org, you're just a couple of clicks away from supporting GDABVI through the online donation site Network for Good, where you can conveniently make a donation and have all your records securely stored and accessible to you at any time.

More people than ever are making their charitable contributions online. And by using Network for Good, you can easily make a secure contribution while improving the lives of those with severe vision loss.

Please donate now using Network for Good.

Let us come and speak to your group

The Greater Detroit Agency for the Blind and Visually Impaired gives a variety of presentations to schools, organizations and community groups. Our professional staff is knowledgeable on a variety of subjects that relate to vision, including eye health for elders, the developmental needs of children with visual impairments and how people with sight can best interact with those who are blind. We can also tailor a presentation to your group or organization’s specific need.

Oakland County library gets technology grant

Congratulations to the Oakland County Library for the Visually and Physically Impaired, which received a $20,000 technology grant from the Edward T. and Ellen K. Dryer Foundation.

The Detroit News recently did a story on the library featuring one of GDABVI's Accessible Computer Training clients, Dennis Opoka.

Read The Detroit News article for all the details.

Some favor Braille over new technology

On the recent bicentennial of Louis Braille's birth, some users of his reading and writing code fear his system could be waning.

"Braille is to blind people what print is to sighted people," said Dennis Polselli, who has been blind since birth and serves as the disabilities coordinator at Framingham State College. "We would be illiterate without Braille."

Read more from the MetroWest Daily News in Massachusetts.

For the Blind, Technology Does What a Guide Dog Can’t

T. V. RAMAN was a bookish child who developed a love of math and puzzles at an early age.

That passion didn’t change after glaucoma took his eyesight at the age of 14. What changed is the role that technology — and his own innovations — played in helping him pursue his interests.

Read more from The New York Times.