The Vision Resource Center enhances the lives of adults and children living in the Cape Fear Region who are visually impaired by: advocating for their needs, identifying and sharing information about community resources, providing education, skill development and socialization opportunities.
Assistive technology gifts were delivered to our youth just in time for the holidays. All of the tech savvy items will equip them with much needed resources for school and home. We truly appreciate the commitment and financial support from our generous donors. We couldn't do it without you.
COVID-19 didn’t stop us from celebrating Valentine’s Day! Our youth received Valentine’s Day goodie bags which included treats and a recipe for them to create their own sweet goodness!
VRC's youth (ages 6-18) and Limitless (ages 19-29) groups spent a fun-filled, relaxing day creating their own custom artwork during our virtual paint party. Thanks to a very generous donor, participants were provided with a boxed Subway lunch and all the art supplies needed to express their creativity. Kudos to our art instructor Patty Speights (and her assistant, Lisa), and our dedicated staff and volunteers for working together to make this a special day!
We successfully hosted our first virtual family meeting, and boy was it fun! Members were able to hear about upcoming virtual events and get engaged by sharing their feedback. We are so grateful to have another interesting and fun way to connect members. Our time together was amazing!
VRC on Wheels was on the move once again. We realize transportation is critical for many of our members. So it warms our hearts to know we can offer this service to provide access to COVID-19 vaccines at the Crown Coliseum. We appreciate Cumberland County Health Department, volunteers & medical staff at the coliseum, and VRC's staff and volunteers. It couldn't have been planned better!
VRC New Beginnings (A Note From Our Executive Director, Terri Thomas)
The VRC is springing into gear with new programs and sustaining creative virtual activities for our youth and adults. The VRC radio reading program is coming soon. We will be partnering with the Triangle Reading Radio Service in Raleigh, NC, to provide 24/7 news and information service for people who are blind or print-impaired. We plan to have the service fully operational by the beginning of our 2021 fiscal year (July 2021). Many virtual programs with our youth; they had the opportunity to bake a cake or cookies at home for Valentine's Day, and they sent the VRC pictures of their outcomes. Our VRC program manager, Monica Turner, delivered baking packages to each family for the kids to bake at their leisure. Assistive Technology Packages were given and made possible by a beautiful Trust in the community. The kids need this equipment to help them enhance the sight they have left to perform day-to-day tasks we take for granted. We also had virtual paint parties that were a HUGE success. We have some very talented youth. Our 1st VRC got talent over ZOOM for our adults, which provided a fun and inspirational program of displaying skills and discovering talents we didn't know many of our members had. VRC was on the move with a stop at the Crown Coliseum to get COVID shots for our members. Our VRC staff made check-in calls to ensure everyone was doing well afterward.
We appreciate the Cumberland County Department of Public Health, Dr. Greene, her team, and volunteers for excellent service. We thank Board Chair Charles Evans for his desire to ensure the safety of the blind and guiding us in the right direction to make the shots possible logistically and Duane Holder, Assistant County Manager. United Way of Cumberland County, Abney Chapel Church, Cumberland Community Foundation's 40 years of Giving helped us deliver over 466 packages to our VRC participants home alone and in need in 2020. VRC on wheels keeps going in 2021; the deliveries continue, and our members are happy and satisfied.
COVID may have stopped our momentum for all of our in-person gatherings, but it allowed the VRC Team to get more innovative, and for that, we are thankful. We are grateful to continue our mission in the community. Our goal for 2021 is to help the community know what blindness and vision loss ARE NOT!!!
Stay Tuned. Love and Blessings, Terri, Executive Director VRC
VOLUNTEERS 🙌🏼
The VRC could use your help! We always need volunteers, so if you are looking for a way to give back to your community, try the VRC. We invite you to join us and find out just how fulfilling and FUN it is to be a part of this great organization! More about volunteering can be found here: Volunteers Needed
Much love and many blessings,
Until next time
Terri and the VRC family
Executive Director
Vision Resource Center
…..Serving the Blind and Visually Impaired
#80years1939-2019
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