The Utah Foundation for the Blind and Visually Impaired

UFB is amazing I love everything they do for the kids and adults they help and the fun activity that they put together. They also have helped with goalball by taking us youth kids to our nationals in Florida. I'm happy to be with UFB they have made my life better in so many diffrenet ways.

UFB means a number of things to me I've been with them since I was very young and I've learned things. UFB is an amazing organization that helps us visually impaired and bling out a lot they have camps and programs where you are taught how to take care of your self and other very helpful skills. At these camps you get to meet new people and make new friends UFB has helped with that I've made lots of friends cause of all the things UFB does. In my personal experiences with UFB I've gotten to know many useful skills and meet so many kind people everyone works hard and makes everything fun some of my favorite memories come from UFB they help a ton and could do so much more to make others have fun experiences.

When you are newly moved to Utah, don't have friends and your father just past away, this is a struggle in itself. To make matters worse, I was six years old and blind.
They school I was attending did not know how to help. I soon got a teacher for the blind and found friends, but I was struggling with life skills and having a rough time in school. I did not know how to read and I was falling through the cracks of education. Having zero self confidence was a issue for me, but I never wanted to show it. UFB came into my life soon after this, they had monthly and yearly camps to help me learn how to pour water into a glass, put on makeup and also how to stand up to myself in school. I soon started to play Goalball and this is where I started to take off. Having a safe place where everyone understands you and no judgment happens was great. Here I had a place to be great, build my self confidence and have fun. I have traveled all over the states and have had so many opportunities that i would have never had if it wasn't for UFB never giving up on me and bleeding their own lives into mine to make sure i was getting the help needed to succeed in and outside of school. UFB has changed my life for the better.
Madelyn a college student at The University of Utah

I have been associated with the Utah Foundation for the Blind (UFB) as a board member, and more recently as a volunteer, for well over 20 years, and it is my pleasure to write a review. UFB is an incredibly valuable resource for Utah children and youth with blindness and for their families. Utah's public schools and the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind provide basic education and training for these special needs children, but with limited funding and teachers spread thin, the schools can provide little more than the basics. UFB was founded in 1988 by TVIs (Teachers of the Visually Impaired) who realized that these children's unique needs were not being sufficiently met by the education system and that supplemental services were critically needed. Since 1988 UFB has provided education and training during non-school hours-education and training centered around Braille literacy, independent living, career development. orientation and mobility, social skills, and athletic and recreation skills. I urge any reader of this review to check out the UFB website at www.ufbvi.org to gain an appreciation of the varied and extensive programming provided by this non-profit's many volunteers and a part-time executive manager. Over the years I have had the pleasure of watching these children learn and blossom and grow as a direct result of their experiences with UFB, and I have had the satisfaction of watching these children move into adulthood and become productive, self-assured citizens. I enthusiastically support UFB and its remarkable contribution to the lives of very special kids!
Julia J. Kleinschmidt, PhD, LCSW
Emeritus Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
John A. Moran Eye Center
University of Utah