Tina Goree joined Society for the Blind’s Senior IMPACT Program, which empowers seniors with vision loss to stay independent. Photo courtesy of Kristin Thebaud

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - Tina Goree was 59 years old and managing a Wing Stop in Sacramento in 2018 when she decided it was time to change careers as she continued to age. She signed up for a class at a career skills center and was ready to begin a new chapter.

The next morning, the Citrus Heights resident woke up blind. She had no pain but her right eye was completely dark and her left eye could only see a blur.

“I thought, oh my gosh, I think I’m blind. I wonder if this is temporary,” Goree said.

Goree called her daughter, who took her to the emergency room. Doctors determined that hypertension had caused a stroke in her right eye and it had also affected her left eye. She was legally blind.

“You want to cry and break down but you can’t,” Goree said. “I immediately went into the mode of thinking, well, this is what is happening to you, so now you have to figure something out.”

Refusing to lose her sense of humor with her vision loss, Goree spent three days in the hospital joking and laughing with family and friends. Yet when she came home, she felt lost, barely able to even use her flip phone.

“I was getting ready to start a new career and now I didn’t know what to do,” Goree said.

Fortunately, Goree’s family signed her up for Social Security, ordered her a cane and connected her to the Department of Rehabilitation and local nonprofit Society for the Blind, which empowers people of all ages with vision loss with tools to maintain their independence.

Unfortunately, Goree’s skepticism began to grow. She remembers sulking at the Society for the Blind orientation, thinking there was nothing they could do to help her.

Goree refused to attend Society for the Blind classes after that but she did join its weekly Coffee and Connect support group calls for a couple of months. Once the pandemic hit, she stopped calling in.

“I never broke down and cried but I did kind of feel sorry for myself,” Goree said. “I kept sitting on the couch doing nothing and letting people lead me around.”

In September 2022, four years after losing her vision, Goree decided it was time for a change.

“I said to myself, you cannot live like this; you are not this type of person,” Goree said. “My life isn’t over and I need to do something with it. I have no direction.”

In early 2023, Goree’s family was surprised when she announced that Paratransit would take her to Society for the Blind and she had coordinated the ride herself.

“I felt like a kindergartener on the first day of school as I rode the bus,” Goree said. “I didn’t know what to do, where to go or who I was going to meet. It was a new beginning for me. They took me to Society for the Blind and my life began.”

Goree joined Society for the Blind’s Senior IMPACT Project, which empowers seniors with vision loss to stay independent. As she began talking with other Senior IMPACT Project participants, it became clear they wanted to hear more from her and that helped her regain confidence.

“I’ve shed tears several times when people say they want to call me because they like the confidence I have,” Goree said. “It makes me feel worthy. It makes me feel like those are skills I had before I lost my vision. That’s what made me become a manager.”

Now at 65, Goree’s main goal is to secure a job, so she has joined Society for the Blind’s Core program, which includes assistive technology and living skills classes. She has been especially surprised at her ability to pick up on new technology, including her iPhone and Victor reader. She will soon begin Core orientation and mobility classes and she hopes to finish within a year so she can work with the Department of Rehabilitation on finding employment.

“I don’t yet know what I want to do but I know I want to be useful and involved in my community,” Goree said. “I’ve worked since I was 17 years old, so I’m confident that no matter what job I get, my supervisor skills will take over. I’m pretty sharp at figuring things out and troubleshooting.”

Goree plans to stay at Society for the Blind after classes are over. She rejoined Coffee and Connect and participates in its Black Americans Senior Support group. She organizes independent outings with her Society for the Blind friends, including a train ride and a luncheon with 22 other individuals.

“I told everyone we can do this,” Goree said. “It was so heart-filling to see people who haven’t been out in a couple of years trusting me and this group. We’ve had a lot of fun.”

Goree says connecting and networking has become even more important since losing her vision.

“I love connecting with everybody and spreading the good news to people with vision loss who are afraid to go out,” Goree said. “I’m willing to step out with someone just because they want to step out and people know that.”

This summer, Goree and four other women with vision loss went to the National Federation for the Blind conference in Florida for six days. They navigated their way around 2,700 participants. Goree proudly used the skills and tools she learned at Society for the Blind. Goree said she is even more confident now and that the skills feel almost automatic.

But if it were not for her decision to take that big step and go to Society for the Blind, Goree said, she would not be here.

“Coming to Society for the Blind gave me courage, a sense of being and a reason to keep going,” Goree said. “I was introduced to myself again.”