A sample article from Focus 360
Valley Center for the Blind: The power of adaptation
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When the unimaginable happens, many look for help or assistance from some kind of specialized community agency. But what happens when you learn the agency offering to help is itself on the precipice, in need of help of its own to even survive?
That was the question facing Ken Warkentin back in 2011. What happened is a story of tragedy, hard decisions, and renewal, leading to a brighter future for many throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
Overcoming tragedy
Many in Fresno are familiar with how the story began. On March 8, 2011, a car carrying two of Warkentin’s daughters was hit from behind at an intersection. The accident left one of his daughters — 16-year-old Shaela — blind.
Without medical hope of regaining her sight, the Warkentin family was approached by a local agency whose mission is to help people adapt to loss of sight: the Valley Center for the Blind.
As Shaela recovered during her two-month hospital stay, the Center began to assist with Shaela’s adaptation, inviting her to a two-week youth camp scheduled that summer. And while Ken was grateful for the Center’s invitation, his first impression upon visiting was less than positive.
“It was not at all what we were anticipating or expecting. It was an older office complex. Dingy, dark, not very organized,” Ken recalled. “There was only one child other than Shaela there, and the two-week camp really consisted of sitting at a table and them asking us what we wanted to do.”
But Ken said his daughter came away with a different impression. “She fell in love with it,” he said. “She thought of how cool it was that other people completely understood what she was going through. The inspiration they gave her — that being blind didn’t mean life was somewhat over for a 16-year-old girl — helped to keep her going early on.”
During Shaela’s recovery, Ken deepened his involvement with the Center, accepting a volunteer position on the Center’s Board of Directors. But a couple of months later, he learned the organization was at that time in dire straits. “There were huge financial issues going on,” Ken recalled. “They were more than $50,000 in debt, and seeking a loan to make payroll.”
With Ken’s experience in business — he’s been self-employed for most of his career and successful in a number of businesses, including an aftermarket auto-accessories company — the organization’s need for a loan to make payroll raised a red flag. “There was no plan for how to pay it back, and no plan for making the following payroll,” he recalled. “I objected, because I didn’t think the loan was a wise business decision.” As time went by after the objection, the board eventually asked him to bring his business experience to bear for the Center as its Executive Director.
Ken accepted the position on April 1, 2012, a date “chosen with intent,” he says. “I had no experience running a nonprofit, or with the world of blindness,” he said. “That being April Fool’s Day, I figured one way or another either I’d be a fool to do the job, or they’d be the fool for asking me to.”
Blood, sweat and tears
Five years later, the Valley Center for the Blind is thriving. They’re in a new building, undertaking new projects to help the blind and visually impaired become more independent, and looking to create jobs for them to become self-supporting right here in the Valley.
How did this happen? “Everyone at the Center gave a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” Ken said, rejecting personal credit for the turnaround. But much like the people it serves, the Center had to go through an adaptation that was sometimes painful. “We had to make some difficult changes and difficult choices to not follow the status quo,” Ken said. “We’ve completely reformatted and changed our programs so they’re meaningful and measurable to the people we serve.”
Included in the Center’s offerings for the blind and visually impaired are orientation and mobility training, specialized independent living skills for those without sight, training in the use of cutting-edge assistive technology, and teaching of standard Braille, which Ken says currently only 10 percent of the blind read proficiently. “We’re paid by the state of California for rehabilitation training, which is where a large portion of our funding comes from,” he said.
But the future is moving in other directions, according to Ken. One of the Center’s goals now is to create jobs; not special jobs that only the blind or visually impaired can do, but rather jobs representing competitive and gainful employment for those the Center serves. “The unemployment rate for the blind is around 70 percent, and employers are reluctant to hire because they don’t understand how much blind people can do with the right accommodations,” Ken said. He’s seen this concept successfully implemented by similar agencies in other regions through the federal government’s procurement process, and says that he wants the Center “to bring lots of jobs to the Valley, both so blind and visually impaired people who want to work will have the opportunity, and so we can be a model to other businesses to show how it’s done.”
What does Ken want people to remember about the Valley Center for the Blind? “Losing your eyesight is a devastating occurrence in life. People come in here and they’re broken,” he said. “The Center helps people learn to be open-minded about learning how to live life in a different way.” With independence and successful adaptation, the ultimate goal is about helping people to help themselves.
People like Shaela. Six years ago she was in the midst of the unimaginable. Today she’s in her fourth year at Fresno State, studying psychology, navigating campus and taking classes with great independence. Ken says she’s happy, doing well, challenged, and moving ahead.
It goes without saying that she’s making her father very proud.
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