Braille Institute moves classes into a new $10 million center

The structure is brand new and the technology cuttingedge, but the sense of camaraderie and compassion is unchanged. The Braille Institute, which has been serving the visually impaired in Southern California since the 1930s, recently opened a $10 million, 14,735-square-foot facility at the same Dale Avenue location where its former center functioned for almost 50 years. The nonprofit serves some 7,500 clients each year who range from having reduced vision to total blindness. At the Braille Institute, clients learn to master everyday life skills such as using cell phones and computers, cooking, making a bed, crossing the street, taking a bus and reading. Everything that you do at home with vision, we re learning how to do it here, said John Simon, Who lost his sight after a stroke in 2017. And it s great socially and great staff. Cooking classes now take place in an ultra-modern kitchen and computer skills are learned using a variety of software that translatille and vice versa.