Health
A High Quality of Life, Despite Having Low Vision VRS connects individuals across northwest Georgia with vision impairment resources and tools
By Lindsay Field Penticuff
I
magine losing your sight and thinking you’ll never be able to read again, use your computer again, or drive again. It may sound unlikely, but individuals who are visually impaired — and for whom there’s no way of ever regaining their sight — face these challenges every single day. This is where Katherine “Kay” Eller and her team at Vision Rehabilitation Services (VRS) of Georgia Inc., come in with a helping hand and some incredible resources
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and tools for individuals who are visually impaired. VRS was founded 38 years ago in Smyrna by the late Sarah Frances Sentell Scott. While in her 40s, she began to lose her sight and had trouble finding accessible options for assistance, as the closest help was in downtown Atlanta. With support from friends and her church family, Scott established Cobb Services for the Blind, which is now known as VRS
and serves between 350 and 500 people annually from 34 counties across north/ northwest Georgia. “We train and assist individuals living with low vision or blindness so that they can function independently in all environments, from work, school, to home and in our community,” says Eller, who serves as executive director of VRS and was first introduced to the organization in 2006, when she helped raise money
