Breaking boundaries: Camp Happiness offers services to visually impaired

By Kevin Penton

Asbury Park Press

Staff Writer February 12, 2009

For many years, Dorothy Lee recalled seeing people with vision impairments make their way past her Middletown house toward Camp Happiness, a center for the blind in the Leonardo section of the township.

Several years later, Lee lost most of her vision as well.

"I would go nuts if I didn't have this place," said Lee, 67, who attends the center four days a week. "Coming here gives all of us a chance to vent."

Run by the state Blind Citizens Association, Camp Happiness serves as a community center for people in the Monmouth County area who have vision problems, said Douglas Scott, its executive director.

From Mondays to Thursdays, at least a dozen people each day spend about four hours at the center, arriving either by taking public transportation or by getting a ride with someone they know, Scott said.

The center organizes different activities, such as crocheting, bingo, computer programs, arts classes and exercising, he said.

But, perhaps most importantly, it brings together people who are dealing with having lost their vision, said Mike Weite, 54, a Middletown resident who is in the process of losing his because of complications from diabetes.

For part of the day, people sit next to each other, munching on bagels and sipping coffee as they chat.

"People here understand what you're going through," Weite said. "They know how terrifying it can be."

Lee not only attends the center but volunteers in its office as well, doing tasks such as mailing letters and answering the phone. When newcomers begin attending the center, Lee said she sits them down for a couple of hours so she can answer their questions.

"Get that walking stick and get used to it before you lose more or all of your vision," Lee says she advises newcomers.

The center works closely with the Middletown Lions Club, which regularly organizes fundraisers to help cover its annual operating cost of about $200,000, Scott said. Even so, the struggling economy may be one reason outside contributions to the center have begun to dry up in recent months, he said.

"It's gotten very, very tight," Scott said. "We're trying real hard to stay afloat."

Attending the center is free. More information is available by calling (732) 291-0878 or by visiting www.njbca.org on the Web.

"Coming down here has changed me a lot," Weite said. "It feels more like a family than anything else."