Jenny Wood is an Envision Dallas employee in our Interface Call Center Department. Jenny is blind, having lost her vision at age 13. She is also a wife and mother of two kids. After taking some time off from the workforce to raise her kids, she found it quite difficult to job search. Let alone being a woman and a mother, also having a disability made it very hard for Jenny to be given a chance, and she felt like she wasn't seen, heard or appreciated. Now, Jenny is thriving providing for her family and leveling up in her career, and was just announced a winner of the 2023 Employee of the Year Award for indirect labor.

"I don’t have to justify what I am capable of, because people here just get me. I don’t have to take on the role of ‘the blind person.’ I blend and fit right in, and everyone accepts me for who I am.” - Jenny Wood

Rich Yamamoto has been involved in Envision community programs since the age of three after being diagnosed at birth with Norrie Disease, a degenerative genetic condition which causes blindness immediately or soon after birth in males. He attended the Envision Level Up Program for the first time in middle school. Through the assistive technology training offered through the program, he was able to learn many skills that helped him to be successful in the classroom, and became a mentor for the high school program after graduating. Rich is now in his third year of college pursuing a degree in special education to be a teacher of students with visual impairments.

“Envision has done so much for me, it’s hard to put into words. I feel like without the programs and services that are offered, I wouldn’t be nearly as confident in my abilities as I am now." - Rich Yamamoto