Agency Details:

Our mission is to assist people who are blind or visually impaired, and who may have additional
disabilities, achieve lives of dignity and independence.

Description:
The Guild offers a broad range of Clinical Services that address medical, vision, and rehabilitation needs in order to help maintain health and wellness and prevent illness in people who are blind, visually impaired and often multi-disabled. The Guild's approach to Behavioral Health includes a psychiatric clinic, a mental health day treatment program and a developmental disabilities day treatment program.

The Guild's Adult Day Health Care program, known as GuildCare, is offered in five locations in New York State and in Boston. GuildNet, The Guild's Managed Long Term Care program, offers comprehensive health and vision care services to adults living in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx who wish to continue living in their own homes.

The Greater Boston Guild for the Blind (GBGB) is a subsidiary of the Guild that offers programs and services to people with vision loss throughout the Greater Boston area. The Greater Boston Diabetes Society is a GBGB subsidiary that provides services dedicated to promoting the well-being of people with diabetes.

The Guild's vocational rehabilitation programs include The Center for Workplace Technology which is designed for individuals who wish to become computer literate; Independent Living Skills Training for people who want to remain independent in their own homes; The Howard A. Newman Employment Development Program for persons seeking active employment.

The Guild's Rifkin Family/Daughters of Israel Early Intervention Program provides specialized learning environments for babies and toddlers; The Elizabeth L. Newman Guild Preschool is designed for children aged three to five; The Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Guild School works with students between the ages of five and 21 who require a specialized education.

The Children's Vision Health Initiative offers Tele-Support Groups for parents of children with visual impairment.

SightCare is The Guild's vision loss information, education and training program which trains and educates persons who care for persons with vision loss in a variety of settings.

The Guild's Awards Programs include the Bressler Prize in Vision Science which recognizes accomplished vision care professionals whose work has brought about important advancements in the treatment of eye disease or vision rehabilitation. The Guild's GuildScholar Award offers a generous cash scholarship to as many as 15 legally blind high school seniors in the US who have been accepted at accredited colleges and universities.

The Guild's Radio Reading Service, known as InTouch Networks, broadcasts daily readings of newspapers and magazines to a local audience living in the New York metropolitan region and via satellite to blind and visually impaired listeners living in urban centers across the country. The Guild also provides an Internet Reading Service through recordings of these readings on the web site: intouchnetworks.org. An active Hospital Service takes the InTouch broadcast signal into the hospital and directly to the patient's bedside.

History:
The Jewish Guild for the Blind (The Guild),
is a not-for-profit, non-sectarian agency that serves persons of all ages who are visually impaired,
blind and multidisabled. The Guild offers a broad range of programs that include: medical, vision,
low vision, psychiatric and rehabilitative services, managed long-term care, residential services,
day health programs, schools and educational training programs for independent living.
In addition, The Guild's radio reading service, InTouch Networks, and SightCare, its vision
care education and training program, address the special needs of thousands of people
nationwide.

Contact person: Mayya Etis, Volunteer Manager, (phone), (email)

Address:

1170 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14209 (See a map)