Braille Institute in Rancho Mirage moving and downsizing

William Knight, who is legally blind, has been a client at the Braille Institute on Ramon Road in Rancho Mirage for the past six years, using the library, receiving therapy, and making close friends.

“Braille was a godsend for me, because not only did I have classes, and good training, but I had teachers who care,” said Knight.

Knight, a veteran, and his wife Carole say they recently received a letter in the mail, informing them about the facility closing.

Since then, he has learned half the staff at the facility, about six people, including instructors, have been laid off, one of them a good friend.

“They taught me how to walk outside, they taught me how to be in an enclosed space, and to walk to and protect my face and my head,” said Knight.

The Braille Institute’s Vice President for Marketing and Communications at the nonprofit’s headquarters in Los Angeles tells us the agency is currently negotiating a lease for a new undisclosed location along Highway 111 in Palm Desert.

While acknowledging cost savings associated with the changes, Sandy Shin says the move to a major valley thoroughfare “will improve accessibility to services”, even though the agency’s free shuttle services will no longer be offered.

“It isn’t a perfect solution for everybody, but we are trying to make sure we are helping students transition,” said Shin.

For the roughly 800 clients who use the Rancho Mirage site, the new location will offer a reduced level of services, focusing on what Shin calls “core services”.

We are told the building in Rancho Mirage provides more than 30,000 square feet of space. The new location in Palm Desert offers less than half that amount.

As part of the changes, the Braille Institute is opening a new “Neighborhood Center” in Riverside, which they describe as an area having a “high concentration of need”.

The Braille Institute owns the building at the current location on Ramon Road, and they tell us no decision has been made with regard to whether they might sell the building or lease it out.

News Channel 3 will report the exact address for the new location as soon as we receive that information.