02-04-2025
Dept. for Blind celebrates 100 years aiding blind and low vision Iowans
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department for the Blind is celebrating 100 years on Wednesday by inviting the public to learn more about their services.
The Iowa Commission for the Blind was first established by the state on April 2, 1925. In the 1980s, it was renamed the Iowa Department for the Blind.
Their agency is located in downtown Des Moines and has called the same building home since the 1960s. However, Chief Information Officer, Connie Mendenhall, says many Iowans don't know about their department or the work they do.
'We no longer want to be the best-kept secret in Iowa, so we want everyone to come in the doors and see what we do here,' she said.
While Mendenhall now works for the department, she first started as a client.
'I lost my sight about almost exactly 10 years ago,' she said. 'I've worked in the insurance industry in Des Moines from the time I was 18. All of a sudden, your world shifts and changes.'
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Their mission is to empower blind and low vision Iowans. During the 2024 calendar year, the department helped approximately 6,000 Iowans ranging all age groups.
'Blindness should never be a reason for a person's life to stop. Blindness should never be a reason a person cannot live independently, achieve their goals, become whatever they want to become, and live their best life independently, empowered, and successful,' said Mendenhall.
Downtown Des Moines residents and visitors may recall seeing low vision Iowans walking the streets of downtown with their white canes. This is part of the Iowa Blindness Independent and Empowerment Center, where the department offers classes teaching folks how to live independently.
Mendenhall said clients work with teachers to develop adaptive skills that can help them in day-to-day life, even if their world changes. For example, clients may start college or move to a new city, but the skills they learn at the department can be transferred to other places.
The program lasts around six months.
One class they offer is on reading Braille, which is a tactile writing system of raised dots that can be read with the fingers.
'I, myself, have been an avid reader my whole life and I cannot imagine a day in my life without a book,' said Mendenhall.
The department is home to the The Iowa Library for the Blind and Print Disabled, which provides thousands of books and other materials in alternative formats to Iowa residents who are unable to read standard print materials.
Library services are available at no cost to Iowans of any age who cannot read traditional print materials because of a visual disability, physical disability, or physically based reading disability.
The Department for the Blind also hosts the Braille Challenge in their downtown agency, where blind and low vision students participate in a national competition. In February, the department hosted its 25th annual regionals.
Another class they provide is on home economics. Karly Prinds is a teacher in this field. She helps clients learn how to cook and feel confident in a kitchen. They teach clients how to use all types of kitchen equipment in case the client moves to a new home and has new appliances.
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Amanda Sesker is a client at the department who lost her eyesight in her 30s and started the program in September.
'We pretty much went into surgery, came out, and they put me in a wheelchair with no cane and sent me on my way,' she said. 'We had no idea that this place even existed.'
After doing research, Sesker found the department and joined the program without hesitation. Now, she is near the end of her program and is an expert on all of the classes.
'It's given me an opportunity to be a person, an independent person, and not feel like I have to rely on other people,' she said.
One of her favorite skills that she learned is cooking. Through the classes, she learned how to cook efficiently, and she can now make Thanksgiving dinner for 20 to 40 people again, like she once enjoyed doing.
Clients also learn how to travel. They are taught how to use a white cane.
Mason Armstrong is another client at the department. He said white canes are generally the height of a person's nose. The purpose is to extend almost a whole body's length ahead of the individual.
He demonstrated that the most common way to use a white cane is the 'ten-two method.' Under this method, when a person's right foot moves forward, the cane swings to the 'ten-o'clock position,' or in front of the body to the left. Then, when a person's left foot moves forward, the cane swings to the 'two-o'clock position,' or in front of the body to the right.
Many clients practice traveling with their white cane on the streets of downtown Des Moines.
Another class they participate in is woodshop, where clients are taught to build any furniture or decorative piece from scratch. They use the same tools sighted people use, they just rely more on their sense of touch.
'It's not really that much different than doing it sighted,' said a client working in the woodshop class.
Most of the clients can see light and shadows, but all of the classes are completed with masks over their eyes. Mendenhall says this encourages clients not to rely on lights and shadows but to instead rely on their other senses and the skills they learn in the program.
The department's ultimate goal is to help clients acquire skills to find employment opportunities.
'I can do everything that I did before I lost my eyesight,' said Sesker.
On the Department for the Blind's 100th anniversary, representatives for the agency are hoping to share their purpose with Iowans so everyone knows the available services.
They are hosting a Centennial Celebration on Tuesday from 3-6 p.m. at their department. All members of the public are encouraged to attend.
The Iowa Department for the Blind is located at 524 4th Street in Des Moines.
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