Stephanie Mitchell has had problems with her eyesight since she was a child in Mount Vernon, N.Y. Ms. Mitchell, 68, was diagnosed with myopia — nearsightedness — at age 2. Her first pair of glasses were lime green with really thick lenses.
As the years passed, Ms. Mitchell’s vision got worse. Doctors detected glaucoma. Among the few effective treatments are eye drops administered each day to reduce the pressure.
After getting an associate’s degree in business administration, she held various jobs, mostly in banking. Then she started having trouble seeing well enough to perform financial transactions and had a few accidents while cooking in the kitchen. She realized that things would have to change.
Ms. Mitchell went on disability for a while, and, in 2012, was forced to retire. She had to relearn daily activities, and she relied on assistance from family and friends. She became depressed and gained weight.
“I went from being in charge of my life to now depending on other people,” Ms. Mitchell said. “It’s a big adjustment.”
She didn’t give up, though. To help ease the painful stress on her arthritic knees, Ms. Mitchell had a gastric bypass. She lost more than 100 pounds, regained her self-esteem and felt ready to deal with the lifestyle changes that had initially scared her.
“I lost my sight,” she said. “I didn’t lose my mind.”
But Ms. Mitchell still needed help. In 2017, she reached out to the Westchester Jewish Community Services, a beneficiary of UJA-Federation of New York, one of the eight charitable organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. The Westchester agency’s Project Time-Out provided her with an assistant to help with errands like laundry or food shopping. This year, $680 in Neediest funds were used to help pay for her electricity bills.
Ms. Mitchell takes training courses a few times a week for computer skills specifically for the visually impaired and soon hopes to be placed in a part-time job. Smartphones and laptops equipped with features that would help make her life easier are too costly, so she has to make do with her flip phone.
She can’t watch movies anymore, but she enjoys listening to audiobooks and getting her hair done about twice a month. Recently, she attended her 50th high school reunion and reconnected with some friends. “Any opportunity to get out of the house, I’m gone,” she said.
In addition to UJA Federation, the charities that receive donations from the Neediest Cases Fund are Brooklyn Community Services, Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York, Children’s Aid, the Community Service Society of New York, FPWA (formerly the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies) and the International Rescue Committee. To help, send checks payable to The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund to the fund at P.O. Box 5193, New York, N.Y. 10087. Donations may also be made with a credit card at (800) 381-0075, or at gofundme.com/NYTNeediestCases/.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
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Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | ‘I Lost My Sight; I Didn’t Lose My Mind’
Opinion | ‘I Lost My Sight; I Didn’t Lose My Mind’
Stephanie Mitchell has had problems with her eyesight since she was a child in Mount Vernon, N.Y. Ms. Mitchell, 68, was diagnosed with myopia — nearsightedness — at age 2. Her first pair of glasses were lime green with really thick lenses.
As the years passed, Ms. Mitchell’s vision got worse. Doctors detected glaucoma. Among the few effective treatments are eye drops administered each day to reduce the pressure.
After getting an associate’s degree in business administration, she held various jobs, mostly in banking. Then she started having trouble seeing well enough to perform financial transactions and had a few accidents while cooking in the kitchen. She realized that things would have to change.
Ms. Mitchell went on disability for a while, and, in 2012, was forced to retire. She had to relearn daily activities, and she relied on assistance from family and friends. She became depressed and gained weight.
“I went from being in charge of my life to now depending on other people,” Ms. Mitchell said. “It’s a big adjustment.”
She didn’t give up, though. To help ease the painful stress on her arthritic knees, Ms. Mitchell had a gastric bypass. She lost more than 100 pounds, regained her self-esteem and felt ready to deal with the lifestyle changes that had initially scared her.
“I lost my sight,” she said. “I didn’t lose my mind.”
But Ms. Mitchell still needed help. In 2017, she reached out to the Westchester Jewish Community Services, a beneficiary of UJA-Federation of New York, one of the eight charitable organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. The Westchester agency’s Project Time-Out provided her with an assistant to help with errands like laundry or food shopping. This year, $680 in Neediest funds were used to help pay for her electricity bills.
Ms. Mitchell takes training courses a few times a week for computer skills specifically for the visually impaired and soon hopes to be placed in a part-time job. Smartphones and laptops equipped with features that would help make her life easier are too costly, so she has to make do with her flip phone.
She can’t watch movies anymore, but she enjoys listening to audiobooks and getting her hair done about twice a month. Recently, she attended her 50th high school reunion and reconnected with some friends. “Any opportunity to get out of the house, I’m gone,” she said.
In addition to UJA Federation, the charities that receive donations from the Neediest Cases Fund are Brooklyn Community Services, Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York, Children’s Aid, the Community Service Society of New York, FPWA (formerly the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies) and the International Rescue Committee. To help, send checks payable to The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund to the fund at P.O. Box 5193, New York, N.Y. 10087. Donations may also be made with a credit card at (800) 381-0075, or at gofundme.com/NYTNeediestCases/.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
Source: Read Full Article