Her vision: better skills for visually impaired

Published 1:05 am Friday, February 7, 2014

Covington County native Wanda Sasser-Scroggins may be blind, but she has plenty of vision when it comes to helping locals with little or no sight better their lives and communities.

Among the many hats Sasser-Scroggins wears is that of coordinator for CCVIP, or Covington County Vision Impaired People, a group that meets to learn new ways to enhance their lives, and subsequently the lives of those around them.

CCVIP members, from left, Rachael Taylor and guide dog Boris, Dirk Price and seeing eye dog Nuri, and Wanda Sasser-Scroggins and leader dog Harley met as part of skill workshop Thursday at Andalusia Public Library.

CCVIP members, from left, Rachael Taylor and guide dog Boris, Dirk Price and seeing eye dog Nuri, and Wanda Sasser-Scroggins and leader dog Harley met as part of skill workshop Thursday at Andalusia Public Library.

Thursday, CCVIP members met at Andalusia Public Library for a day-long workshop covering skills ranging from transportation to technology as it relates to the vision impaired, but that is just a blip on the radar of activities the group has ahead of them, Sasser-Scroggins said.

“We will be meeting again Thurs., Feb. 20 at 1 p.m., this time to talk about gardens and having your own vegetable garden,” she said.

Sasser-Scroggins, who also works with Extreme Experience Group coordinating events like an upcoming retreat at Blue Lake and a trip to Birmingham in March for a National Federation for the Blind meeting, said she couldn’t do what she does without the support of the community. But she says more help is still needed.

“We’re so thankful, like today, for Verizon for furnishing door prizes and to 2 Guys Pies for the pizza,” she said. “But we are always in need of help financially and with transportation. For our trip to Birmingham, we are looking for someone that might be able to furnish us with a van to get there.”

Sasser-Scroggins said her group will furnish gas for the trip, which is planned for Fri., March 7 through Sun., March 9.

In addition to her already busy schedule, Sasser-Scroggins said she is also working on a new form of civic work Lions Club International that is geared towards vision-impaired people.

“It’s called the VIP Lions Club and we will meet Thurs., Feb. 13,” she said. “It’s actually done over the phone so people with vision issues can be a part of that.”

Thursday, despite the cold weather, Sasser-Scroggins said she was happy with the turnout.

“We had 24 people here,” she said. “We just worked on skills that people may lack and worked to learn them together.”

For more information, or to donate to CCVIP or other organizations that benefit the visually impaired, Sasser-Scroggins can be reached at wareeaglewanda@gmail.com.