Earle Baum Center training for some blind seniors threatened by loss of funds

For three decades, glaucoma has slowly robbed Sandra Angel of her sight, a side effect of taking steroid medication for her asthma for years. Her peripheral vision is all but gone, and at times the things and people directly in front of her appear as if behind parchment paper or a lace veil.

But other times, the world within her field of vision is crystal clear, and the 72-year-old Santa Rosa resident marvels at blue sky and green trees.

Her ability to see is fickle and fluctuates, but training she has received at Santa Rosa’s Earle Baum Center of the Blind has helped her come to grips with her disability and face with optimism a new chapter in her life.

“I used to be in denial about my sight,” Angel said. “But the courses at the center have grounded me, and I need to look at what is happening, to look at how I can function.”

At the center, Angel and other seniors receive training on safe travel, fall prevention, crossing intersections and general instruction how to adjust to the loss of vision, including how to cook, clean and care for themselves. They also get training on how to use technology, such as computers and smart devices, to send and receive email, pay bills, access the internet.

But state funding for that training - roughly up to $200,000 for 75 people at the center - is set to expire next summer because of a change in federal law that no longer considers “homemakers” like Angel and other blind seniors as a valid workforce category. Statewide, the change affects about 1,000 blind people.

The pending loss of funds has the center scrambling for other sources of income that will allow it to continue serving these seniors. That means ramping up fundraising efforts, searching for private donors and seeking other government and private grants. The loss is a significant chunk of the center’s $1.2 million budget, which funds services for about 450 people primarily in Northern California.

“It’s clear there’s an ever-diminishing source of government funding, so the center needs to figure out how to continue providing services by diversifying revenues and seeking additional support from the community,” said Dan Needham, the center’s CEO.

The center’s primary fundraiser, the annual EarleFest, this year headlined by Lucinda Williams, is happening today at 1 p.m. at SOMO Village in Rohnert Park.

The loss of state funding for blind homemakers is the state’s response to the new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which was signed into law two years ago and makes significant changes to vocational rehabilitation and independent living programs across the United States. The act eliminated the previously approved category of homemaker as an employment goal, said Jennifer Lim, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Rehabilitation.

“Service providers who received funds for providing services to train the ‘homemakers’ with independent living skills will no longer have that funding source available,” Lim said.

Lim said the federal act’s requirements and regulations, which apply to all states with vocational rehabilitation programs, eliminated the homemaker category as of August. The 1,000 people who are already in a “homemaker individualized employment plan” have until June 30 and possibly beyond, depending on the client, to complete their services, she said.

“Those folks in current homemaker plans, we’re going to be with them the whole way through - that’s what the law provides for,” said Lim, adding that the state DOR estimates it will spend about $7 million to help its visually impaired seniors complete their homemaker plans.

But Lim said Congress made it clear in the federal act that vocational rehabilitation should be focused on employment. She said there are other “pots of money” available for assisting seniors who are blind, including the state’s Older Individuals who are Blind program, which provides services that promote independent living and empowerment, as well as services provided at 28 independent living centers located throughout the state.

Lim said the Department of Rehabilitation will continue to fund services for blind seniors who are seeking employment.

But Needham said many blind seniors are well past the stage in their lives when they can be fully employed.

Angel, a retired office worker and educational assistant who has been going to the center for training since June, said the loss of state funding for blind homemakers sends a harsh message to seniors losing their sight.

“Seniors have contributed so much,” said Angel. “Federal funds will be stopped for people like myself, who are seniors and who aren’t able to go anywhere else except the Earle Baum Center.”

Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, who toured the center in March, said it provides “incredibly valuable” support services, particularly for seniors losing their vision.

“Through the center, blind or visually impaired people share their unique knowledge and experience to help their community,” he said. “Budget cuts that reduce services to blind seniors need to be addressed and restored as soon as possible.”

State Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, said he would work to make sure the services are funded some other way.

“It’s really unfortunate that the federal policies have changed and we are going to continue to work with the center to ensure their amazing clients get the services they need to thrive,” he said.

Sharon Worland, a 77-year-old retiree from Point Reyes Station with macular degeneration, said blind senior citizens are still valuable members of the local community. Until two years ago, Worland and her partner operated the Surfer’s Grill at Stinson Beach through a concessions contract with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Worland, who was diagnosed with her condition in 2009, said the loss of her eyesight has been getting worse in the past few years.

Worland, whose partner drives her from Marin County to the center a couple times a week, said the center helps her and others feel like they still matter. She said the loss of funds tells her that she and other blind seniors don’t matter anymore.

“You are no longer of value, is almost what they’re saying,” she said. “I just don’t think they should do this to senior citizens, especially when they’re losing their eyesight.”

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.