by Carly Eden Stokes | May 25, 2021 | Blog, News
A team of scientists announced Monday that they had partially restored the sight of a blind man by building light-catching proteins in one of his eyes. Their report, which appeared in the journal Nature Medicine, is the first published study to describe the successful use of this treatment.
Depicted is a 58-year old volunteer with a genetic form of blindness in an experiment.
Click here to learn more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/science/blindness-therapy-optogenetics.html?action=click&module=In%20Other%20News&pgtype=Homepage
by Carly Eden Stokes | May 9, 2021 | Blog
VLANJ annually serves 1200 people with vision loss and their families.
We provided 871 instructional hours of service through 26 class offerings in 2020.
VLANJ program participants report a 95% satisfaction rate for our virtual classes.
VLANJ was able to translate our live programs and create virtual classes within two weeks of being closed by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Did you know people with vision loss and blindness can use a smart phone or computer completely independently with the aid of magnification or built-in screen reading technology?
by Carly Eden Stokes | May 9, 2021 | Blog
2020 was a year like no other. We are grateful to our donors who continued to support our mission. VLANJ provided virtual support to help our program participants feel connected during an uncertain time. We received over $7000,000 in 2020, an 18% increase over last year, and were able to offer our virtual programs free of charge. We hope the accomplishments of VLANJ this past year are a source of pride for our donors who made this possible.
A special thank you to our Giving Circles donors. Your gifts had a significant impact on our programs! And to our new donors in 2020, welcome and thank you for choosing to support VLANJ!
2020 Giving Circles
2020 Presidents Circle 14 Gifts of $5,000 or more
2020 Benefactors Circle 7 Gifts of $2,500-$4,999
2020 Patrons Circle 17 Gifts of $1,000- $2499
2020 Friends Circle 37 Gifts of $500- $999
2020 Loyalty Circle 155 Gifts of 5 years of consecutive giving
by Carly Eden Stokes | May 9, 2021 | Blog, News
Ming Wu
VLANJ Board Member Ming Wu.
Ming has spent most of her career working in business development and marketing in the legal sector. She has worked for international law firms in the UK and in Hong Kong. She has a BSc (Hons) Psychology from the University of Leeds. Originally from the UK, Ming now lives in New Jersey. In recent years Ming has volunteered for UK based non-profits, The Royal National Institute for the Blind and Wakefield District Sight Aid. Ming has a passion for improving the lives of people living with sight loss and raising awareness of related topics, which she writes about on her blog.
Frank Mortimer
VLANJ Board Member Frank Mortimer.
Frank worked in higher education publishing for over twenty-five years. He was the Director of Marketing, Higher Education, North America at Oxford University Press, a not-for-profit, mission-driven
institution, where he was responsible for all facets of their marketing operations for a $54 million portfolio of print and digital products across the United States and Canada. Frank is currently an adjunct instructor at the Cornell University Master Beekeeping Program, Vice President of the New Jersey State Beekeepers Association, and a Certified Master Beekeeper. Frank is the author of Bee People and the Bugs They Love, (Kensington Publishing, March 2021), which was reviewed by the New York Times, and
he has written multiple articles featured in the widely circulated Bee Culture Magazine. Frank also serves on Ridgewood, New Jersey’s Parks, Recreation and Conservation Board. Frank is married and lives in Ridgewood with his wife and three children.
Dora Meler
VLANJ Board Member Dora Meler
Dora has more than 37 years’ experience in the IT field implementing and running technology and product solutions for financial services firms. After earning a B.S. Degree in Computer Science from Queens College in New York, she enjoyed a full career within the global investment banking industry, working most recently as Vice President/Senior Technology Project Manager at Barclays in NYC before retiring in 2018. Despite being diagnosed with glaucoma in her late 20s and experiencing a slow, steady loss of vision in the years that followed, she has continued to pursue her many interests. These include world travel, learning new language and musical instrument skills, and enjoying the outdoors through camping, hiking, tandem cycling and cross-country skiing, all while following a healthy lifestyle including practicing daily meditation.
by Carly Eden Stokes | May 9, 2021 | Blog, News
Dear Friend,
Kris Marino smiles into the camera.
March 17, 2020 marked the last day VLANJ met in person before New Jersey went into lockdown. We had no idea how long the COVID-19 crisis would last, only that we had to keep our community supported and together. I’d always wanted to offer programs online, and the pandemic became a catalyst. Within two weeks, we pivoted to virtual classes over Zoom.
Over the months, we added programs and enrollment tripled. We now have more students attending weekly than ever before. Virtual programming transcends one of the biggest obstacles people with vision loss face: a lack of transportation options. We continue to develop new programming and prepare for the time we can safely restart in-person gatherings.
As I look back on my 6 ½ years at the helm of this wonderful organization, I am proud of the strides we’ve made. I oversaw the nonprofit’s transition from NJ Foundation for the Blind to VLANJ in 2016, as we stabilized our finances and created more skills-based programming. We hosted nonprofit summits to find solutions to shared challenges. We added occupational therapy and negotiated with Medicare and private insurers to cover the services. And we launched the Technology Learning Lab, planting seeds for more employment-geared training in the future.
My decision to relocate was not an easy one. I am sad to be leaving people who are dear to me, who inspire me daily. I remember touring the nonprofit as part of Leadership Morris years ago. I was so impressed that I applied for the top job as soon as it opened.
I leave VLANJ on a high note, confident my successor will build on the foundation we created. The hardest thing is not getting to say goodbye in person. So here, I bid adieu to everyone in our VLANJ community, and wish you all good health and good fortune. Always remember, we’re the little engine that could.
Sincerely,
Kris Marino
VLANJ President and CEO
