VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION CENTER (VRC)

VISIONS residential vocational rehabilitation center (VRC) is a newly built 16,000 square foot, 32-bed, two-story wheelchair accessible building designed specifically for residential programs for youth and adults with vision loss. Located on the 37-acre campus of VISIONS Center on Blindness (VCB) in Rockland County, NY, the VRC offers a state of the art technology and computer center, a fully equipped training kitchen and laundry facilities, classrooms and meeting rooms, dining hall and several lounges promoting informal gatherings.

Residential facilities consist of single and double rooms, all including their own private bathroom, desks, telephone and individual thermostat. Wi-Fi is available throughout the entire building. 

We serves students who are legally blind or severely visually impaired ages 18-21 who have completed high school, are unsure about college and/or withdrew from college after an initial trial period.

Upon graduation from the VRC, students are equipped with the skills necessary to search for, obtain and maintain employment in their chosen occupation. In addition, they will be in possession of a certificate directly related to that occupation, such as Nurse's Aide, Teacher Assistant, Administrative Professional, Web Developer, etc.

• The residential nature of the program offers a holistic college-type experience to help prepare them for their next steps in life.

• The VRC utilizes a specific curriculum with educators who have significant experience working with visually impaired youth; plus:

• The curriculum focuses on the five elements of PRE-ETS, including job exploration counseling; work-based learning experiences; post-secondary education; workplace readiness training and self-advocacy. 

• The teachers have specialized training in Orientation and Mobility; Workforce Development; Independent Living; Assistive Technology and Adjustment Counseling to Vision Loss. 

Our partnership with Rockland Community College and Rockland County BOCES enables students to not only develop skills in the categories described above, but to also achieve professional certificates in programs including, but not limited to: 

• Certified Nursing Assistant (Certification is Reciprocal with other States)

• Certified Teacher Assistant

• Food Preparation

• Mobile Web Development and Webmaster

• Administrative Professional and many more

Each day at the VRC starts with breakfast at 8:00 am and the instructional day extends until 7:30 pm. Depending on the individual certificate courses selected, students may have outside classes until 9:00 pm on designated days. Weekends consist of instructional sessions in the morning and organized leisure time and/or shopping trips in the afternoon.

What makes the VRC program more unique, is our emphasis on emotional intelligence, which impacts the way we offer instruction and measure results. Preparing our youth to the world of work, our staff focuses on projects requiring team work and collaboration, negotiation and project completion.

TO ENROLL AND START the Referral Process with your Counselor contact: Carmen Thorne, VCB PR/Marketing Coordinator 212-625-1616 x107 cthorne@visionsvcb.org

Jennifer Tetefsky, VRC Senior Program Manager - 845-354-3003 ext. 306 jtetefsky@visionsvcb.org