No one enjoys moving. There’s the packing, the long haul and then the arduous task of unpacking.
For Bob Hayden, there is also the challenge of learning where to find the bathroom, where to lay his head and how to get to the kitchen in his new home.
“I’ll be honest, moving is rough when you are blind,” Hayden said.
Hayden and 30 residents of the former Kagan Home for the Blind moved last week to Friedman Place, a new assisted-living home for blind and visually impaired adults in the 5500 block of North Maplewood Avenue in Chicago.
Hayden is an ambitious man who will celebrate his 54th birthday on Valentine’s Day. His soft and steady hands and long fingernails are his tools for navigating the new 5-story building he calls home. On Thursday, Hayden fell and skinned his elbow after he misjudged the location of his twin bed.
It has been a hectic month for Hayden and his housemates.
The move is behind them, and now residents are trying to grasp a whole new world. They regularly roam the halls searching for any tactile evidence that will lead them to their destination. Meanwhile, the building is filled with activity as administrators prepare for another state inspection.
“I wish my shower had a little ledge where I could put my shampoo bottle,” said Barry Rosen, 58.
Rosen, a lover of crossword puzzles and classical music, lost his eyesight four years ago because of diabetes. He said he has memorized a virtual map of his room and is now working on remembering the rest of the building.
“As I walk across the room, it is a guess as to where I’ll end up,” Rosen said. “It’s all about learning the geometry of the apartment. There’s a lot of growing–or bumping around–pains.”
To create his map, Rosen spends days trying to sharpen his tactile sense. He taps, touches and caresses items. Some residents say they also use their voice like sonar to develop depth perception.
Heddy Newman, director of outreach at Friedman Place, bounced from room to room Thursday in a flurry.
“For a blind person, even the slightest change in their environment is monumental,” Newman said.
Friedman Place, which is sponsored by the Association of Jewish Blind, was purchased after a multimillion-dollar donation in memory of Sidney and Dora Friedman.
Its facilities include a training site for guide dogs, a barbershop and library with Braille books, and it has room for another 50 residents. The facility, whose residents range in age from 20 to 70, is one of only two for blind and visually impaired adults in the state.
Residential communities for the blind such as Friedman Place are on the decline across the country, according to Jim Gashel, spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind.
“Blind people are living more independently and leading normal lives,” Gashel said.
Ann Lagory, the residence’s executive director, said facilities like Friedman Place are an “unmet need in the city and in the country.” There are more than 60,000 people who have a visual impairment of one kind or another in Chicago, she said.
Janet Tadin, 51, said she prefers to live with other visually impaired people.
“We bump into each other a lot. … But we know what each other is going through,” she said.
