VOP Spring Public 2015

MAKING A DIFFERENCE • IN OUR COMMUNITY •

with vision loss at Orland Park Christian Reformed Church in Orland Park. “On April 4, 1996, we had our first support group session with only four visually impaired adults in attendance,” said Kim. “We named our group “Orland Area Sight Impaired Support (OASIS).” Today, Orland Park Christian Reformed Church continues to open its doors to the OASIS support group. The support group meets at Orland Park Church on the first and third Thursdays of each month from 12:30 pm until 2:30 pm. The meeting room overflows with individuals coping with sight loss. Members of the OASIS support group have lost vision due to macular degeneration, diabetes, retinitis pigmentosa, and glaucoma. Ages of attendees range from 30 to 93. Family members are welcome to attend if the members desire. “At our OASIS support group meetings, we teach our members that even though their vision may be impaired, their lives don’t have to be,” remarked Joe. “We teach our members the importance of having faith in God to help them cope with sight loss and the obstacles they face…. we teach them to walk by faith and not by sight,” said Kim. “In 1998, Joe and I recognized there was an unmet need for rehabilitation services for people who are severely visually impaired in our Orland Park community and in the surrounding suburbs,” remarked Kim. “This unmet need coincides with our

dream of founding a rehabilitation and outreach center for adults coping with vision loss.” On July 17, 2003, OASIS for the Visually Impaired, a 501c(3) was founded. As a result, OASIS has expanded and now provides five core services: 1) Support group sessions, 2) Independent Living Skills training, 3) Information and referral services, 4) Community Education Services and 5) Life Enrichment Activities. OASIS provides free, as well as low-cost, adaptive devices to visually impaired members. Presently, OASIS houses its office in the Kusters’ condo, which inhibits the offering of other crucial services. OASIS for the Visually Impaired has a goal to open an OASISVISION Outreach Center that would provide expanded services. OASIS for the Visually Impaired welcomes donations from those who desire to make a difference in the lives of people coping with severe vision loss. Volunteers are welcomed to provide transportation to and from meetings for adults who can no longer drive due to sight loss; assist members into the meeting room, serve refreshments, read materials to members and provide a kind word of encouragement and are welcome and needed as Board members for the organization. For more information, email oasis.ftvi@att.net, visit their website at oasisvision.org or call 708-460-6573.

Meet Kim & Joe Kuster, two Orland Park residents and founders of Oasis For the Visually Impaired that are Making a Difference in Our Community The Kusters are both visually impaired and have been all of their lives. Joe and Kim married in 1990, raised a daughter, and together shared a common dream of developing and founding a rehabilitation center for adults coping with sight loss in the south Chicago suburbs. The Kusters received encouragement to start a support group for adults coping

www.orlandpark.org | ORLAND PARK PUBLIC SPRING 2015 23