Newsroom

Saturday, January 30, 2016
12:30 to 5:30 PM
Iowa Department for the Blind (IDB)
524 Fourth St., Des Moines, Iowa

A grant given to the Iowa Department for the Blind will help agency staff provide services to Iowans with vision loss. On November 9, 2015, the Hilker-Pedretti Charitable Foundation generously awarded the Department a check in the amount of $16,300.00 after a grant application was submitted by the Independent Living Program Administrator Kimberley Barber. The foundation was set up through the generosity of families of Lois and Clarence Hilker and Alma Pedretti.

We are saddened to inform you of the passing of Bob Martin, a long-time Iowa Commission for the Blind board member in the 80’s and 90’s. Bob was a strong supporter of the Iowa Department for the Blind's programs, and was truly a man who led by example. He educated many about blindness just by living his life as an active member of our community. During his tenure as Commissioner, Bob made many friends in the Des Moines area and around the state.

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Established in 1925 as the Iowa Commission for the Blind, many Iowans still refer to the Department as the “Commission.”

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OVERVIEW

In Iowa, about 54,000 people are low vision (Vision Problems in the U.S. 2012, Prevent Blindness America), and of this number, just over 8,100 are registered with the Iowa Department for the Blind.

The Iowa Department for the Blind, nationally recognized as a leading provider of services to the blind and low vision, believes that Iowans who are blind or low vision can lead active and fulfilling lives at home, at work and in their communities.

The last couple of months have brought new faces to the Iowa Department for the Blind’s (IDB) staff and seen two people transition to different positions in the organization.