For most of us, simple activities like crossing the street, shopping and drawing a picture are second nature. For the visually impaired, these casual activities are just a few of life’s daily challenges.

Share the Vision Ohio is a nonprofit organization designed to support individuals who are visually impaired or are becoming visually impaired, through peer support, resources and raising awareness and advocacy.

Sally Harris, 60, has had macular degeneration since she was 17 years old, which means she has peripheral vision but not straight-on vision, she said.

She created Columbus Share the Vision after two years of ongoing discussion with the director of the original Share the Vision at the Cleveland Sight Center, she said.

“What I had wanted was to lead a network of support and information around Ohio where you could get connected anywhere,” Harris said. “Studies prove how good peer support is. We kind of bridge the gap between doctors and rehab.”

Because Share the Vision does not currently have a grant writer or an administrator, funding has been a continued problem. Because of the lack of funding, Harris has had to cut some of the organization’s support groups, such as the Arts and Crafts Group and the Family Group. The only support group left is the Upper Arlington Support Group at the Upper Arlington Senior Center, which consists of about 15 people, Harris said.

One focus of the organization is to seek out resources around the community the visually impaired would not otherwise know about because of lack of publicity, said William McCully, the president of the board for Share the Vision and space manager for radio station WCRS FM.

“One of the main challenges for Share the Vision has been to investigate what sources are available out there and try to make those more visible to the community,” Williams said.

These resources include adaptive equipment such as watches, computers and recording equipment for the visually impaired, McCully said.

A lot of the energy in the organization is put toward helping individuals get over the transition between the seeing world and the blind world, McCully said.

“What if tomorrow you woke up blind? How would that affect you?” McCully said. “Would you still feel encouraged to move on or would this stop you, slow you down? What would happen to you? It’s a critical question and it’s a critical juncture in a person’s life whenever that happens to them.”

Share the Vision also works to encourage visually impaired individuals to have the courage to still be a productive member of society despite their disability, McCully said.

“We want to help people who are going through this transition or who have been blind all their life to realize that they can still be an asset to the community,” McCully said. “I know people [who] have been visually impaired, and some can’t even talk but have multiple Ph.Ds.”

Although the group lacks funding, it is not apparent in their goals.

“We want to be advocates for any legal changes that help the visually impaired,” McCully said.

Another goal is to continue to improve Share the Vision’s Web site, www.sharethevisionohio.org, by making it more interactive and useful to a global community, McCully said.

Harris said she wants the site to act as a resource guide by providing every related link available to the blind community in Columbus and around the world. She would also like to use it as another form of peer support, she said.

“I do want to have e-mail support. I do want to have chat rooms … and it will have a spiritual section,” Harris said. “I’m hoping what people will do is go in there and learn about each other.”

In addition to the Web site, Harris is developing a cook book for the blind which will include recipes and independent living tips. She said she would also like to write a book about caring for her blind-deaf mother, she said.

Kristen Duwe can be reached at [email protected].