WEST HAVEN -- Bill Gibson may be blind, but he can see more potential in people with visual impairments than seemingly anyone else.
The director of the Utah Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired said he won't rest until every blind person in the state has an opportunity to succeed.
Blind since birth, West Haven resident's goal is to serve as a role model for all with visual issues.
"The role-modeling concept is so important with the blind," he said. "When they know that there is somebody else that is successful, it means so much."
Gibson's personal successes include a bachelor's degree from Weber State University, two master's degrees from the University of Utah and a certificate in rehabilitation administration from the University of Oklahoma.
Gibson said he makes sure he carries a cane and uses it as he supervises the 50 staff members who make up his division.
His staff work in training facilities in Ogden, Salt Lake City, Provo and St. George.
Gibson shares story after story of people who were extremely depressed when they found themselves needing services from his division and who left able to care for themselves and others.
"Our goal is to get people employed and make them tax-paying citizens," he said. "For every dollar we spend on client retraining, the state gets $5.64 in state income taxes annually."
Among Gibson's success stories are a blind nurse who works as a case manager at the University of Utah Medical Center.
The woman writes care plans for hospital patients who will require follow-up or home visits.
Another blind woman oversees a licensed practical nurse at the Davis Applied Technology College, traveling regularly to three care centers for her work.
Gibson said he also was especially proud of a man who obtained employment in a complicated automotive repair field.
And Gibson's agency also demonstrates firsthand its preference for hiring the blind.
Gibson said a third of his staff members do not have sight.
"If we're going to talk the talk at the division and say people ought to employ blind people, we've got to walk the walk," he said.
The agency also oversees a program that employs the blind in food-service careers at state and federal government agencies.
"It's a very good employment option for blind people," Gibson said. "We're responsible for contracts, equipment and startup costs."
He said 12 blind employees supervise 100 facilities that provide snacks and food service to government agencies. He said these facilities employ both blind and sighted people.
One of the division's primary missions is to place blind workers in regular jobs throughout the state.
"I think people first of all need to dream dreams," Gibson said. "They need to look at all possibilities and everything that's out there and believe that anything's possible."
Gibson said he and his staff first help their clients work on their dreams.
"They work through them with someone that has the knowledge," he said.
The program requires those looking toward a certain vocation to talk with at least three people in that field. Generally, two of those people are to be without sight.
"When they learn to use adaptive technology, they are going to be able to succeed in their career and be involved with the community and involved with their families," Gibson said, pointing to a long list of ever-evolving technologies that assist the blind.
For instance, a Kurzweil reader program on Gibson's cell phone helps him read his mail. A handful of years ago, Gibson said, a similar device was about the size of a large trunk.
Many of those who benefit from the division are older people who aren't necessarily looking for employment.
Gibson said his division assists more than 3,000 people a year who need help adjusting to lowered levels of vision.
At the same time, Gibson's staff helps more than 550 people a year in vocational rehabilitation services.
They train more than 200 people a year in adjusting to the onset of blindness.
Generally, when people receive adjustment services from his program, they are pretty upset about their condition, Gibson said.
"We show them that there is life after blindness. We show them what's possible."
He said a woodworking class the division offers gives the blind a new perspective.
"We don't train people to go into woodworking," Gibson said. "We train them that they can go home and keep doing things."
A new aspect to Gibson's program is a residential program now in its planning stages.
The program is set to have 20 bedrooms available for those who will stay in the facility while transitioning to new life skills without their sight.
"This will be a real advantage to blind people," Gibson said of the program made possible through stimulus funding.
Organizers will break ground next to the division's Salt Lake City offices at the end of May, he said. It will be finished in October.
The new program is just one way Gibson's efforts have had to evolve over the years.
"This is not the job for anybody that's afraid of change," Gibson recalls hearing from a colleague in a similar role in another state.
"You have to constantly take a critical look at how you are doing things," Gibson said.
He said he's also constantly under scrutiny by Utah lawmakers.
"The Legislature is much more outcome-oriented than they've ever been before," he said.
"They want to know how many people come through my program and are trained. We've got to deliver those kinds of outcomes for them to be successful."
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