From Wesley Community Foundation’s “Mission Matters”
For many people, one of the most challenging aspects of aging may be vision changes. These changes can negatively affect the hobbies and communications that seniors enjoy. Writing letters, reading, crafting, navigating the internet or completing crossword puzzles becomes too difficult. Wesley Community Foundation helps bring words into focus.
Vision reader
At Wesley Lea Hill, the low-vision support group recently researched “enhanced readers” and requested the purchase of the Merlin Elite Pro Enhanced Vision Reader for the Andrews Library. The residents did their homework. They knew in advance what they wanted before asking Wesley Community Foundation to purchase the reader and reader desk. Now, all residents have the opportunity to use the vision reader. It’s so beneficial. Daily tasks of reading medication labels, cell phone emails, the community menu and more is so much easier!
Barbara Whorton, a retired professional librarian, loves working with the Library Committee volunteers to organize and operate Lea Hill’s library. She and others can be seen nearly every day acquiring, sorting, cataloguing, displaying, shelving, organizing and managing the library’s books, magazines and subscriptions. Barbara, who worked many years in Boeing’s technical library, teaches people how to use the reader.
Primarily, the vision reader makes printed material accessible by magnification of the text. It gives residents the ability to change text and background colors for easier visibility. It also uses reading markers to help residents read horizontal or vertical lines without losing their place. The reader also has text-to-voice capability. It can read to residents if they prefer that type of assistance. With flexible movement, residents can also put oddly-shaped documents on the screen and easily find a comfortable reading format.
Though Barbara loves Wesley Lea Hill’s residents most of all, she says the library is a close second! She’s proud of how popular the library is. It’s comfortable and welcoming. Says Barbara, “With the help of Wesley Community Foundation, I’m very pleased that this library is exactly what it should be for our community.”
You can make a positive difference in the lives of older adults and their families — and the staff who care for them — by supporting Wesley Community Foundation. We thank you for your gift.