My Nonprofit Reviews

Losing ones' vision ranks as one of the hardest disabilities to overcome. Reasons for this includes isolation due to ones ability to independently travel, difficulties finding peers coping with similar issues, and a multitude of other issues.

Now imagine your are a twenty something year old Soldier with a wife and family back at home. Your day to day activities while deployed involves conducting patrols and other combat operations in Iraq. Additionally, you possess a general idea and some personal and professional goals for you and your family for when you return. Now imagine that you just sustained an injury that renders you visually impaired. Who can you turn to for peer support... Where can you turn to for help...

Well This is a story that I and others in the Blinded Veterans Association were ffaced with and lived through. In my particular story, I continued to serve in the Army for seven years following my injury. While this alone may be an awesome accomplishment, those seven years were very difficult, as I would not be introduced to the Blinded Veterans Association until my final year in. For those six other years, my wife and I felt very isolated, as we did not have anyone to turn to that would understand many of the issues visual impairments present. I struggled with depression and anger, as I tried my hardest to live life as I intended to prior to my injury. Many kind hearted people expressed their sympathies, but what we really needed was a peer support group living with similar issues.

My adventures with the Blinded Veterans Association started in 2011, when my wife and I attended their national convention. For the first time, my wife and I were surrounded by other visually impaired Service Members, Veterans, and their families. We learned for the first time that we were not alone in our daily struggles, and even how to overcome many of them.

Since attending the convention, I participate with a faction of the BVA known as Operation Peer Support. This group comprises of Service Members and Veterans who sustained a visual impairment as the result of actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. I also assist other visually impaired Veterans in my community through the local regional group. Additionally, I recently received the opportunity to travel with the BVA to meet with visually impaired Veterans from the UK, through Project Gemini.

My family and I cannot express our gratitude towards the BVA enough for showing us that hope is out there. The BVA made my transition process from the Army to the civilian world very easy, along with assisting with creating my new set of personal and professional goals.For the first time in a long time, my family and I are comfortable with who we are and what we desire to become.

More Feedback