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Miriam moved into her Jewish Blind & Disabled flat in 2018. She said: “Initially in the early 70s, I had a detached retina and couldn’t really see with that eye anymore. And then in 1991 I was registered partially sighted because I was starting to lose the sight on the right eye with macular degeneration and then followed glaucoma. Now, I have got no sight at all.

I contacted Jewish Blind & Disabled, having recently become single. The thought of just going into an ordinary flat and having to answer the door when I couldn’t see made me feel very vulnerable and quite scared. It is very challenging because when you are blind, you must have your wits about you every second that you are awake, otherwise you could drop something, walk into something or you accidentally turn on something that shouldn’t be on. Sometimes when I’m cooking, I’ve got to make sure if I’m using the front hob that it is the front hob, and I haven’t accidentally also put the back hob on. When I heard about JBD, I thought that might be my best option.”

In Miriam’s flat, she has a range of aids that help her on a day-to-day basis and the pull cords that come as standard in every Jewish Blind & Disabled flat.

“I have a talking book player – the sonic player, speech on my computer, a smart speaker, and there’s the talking lift which helps me find my way to and from my flat. I know if I need to, I can get hold of a house manager quickly, using the pull cords or there’s a button on the actual alarm box where I can talk to somebody. Twice a day, the house managers call me to make sure everything’s okay. This makes me feel secure and I know that if I didn’t answer, somebody would come up to my flat and check all okay.

Living in my Jewish Blind & Disabled flat has definitely changed my life and made me feel good about myself as well. It’s very important to me that I can be as independent as possible – I can cook when I want, have a shower when I want to and generally do whatever I want, whenever I want. I like to be like that; I prefer to do things as far as I can for myself.

I knew that I wanted to be in a Jewish environment; I am fairly Orthodox, and I like to celebrate the festivals. It was nice to know that I was coming into a place that kept traditions and there is always something going on in the lounge that I can get participate in if I want to.

People here care a lot about each other and apart from having the support of the staff, there are people who always say: ‘don’t forget if you need me, I’m here, call me anytime.’

If I didn’t move here, my life would have been difficult. It is still stressful being blind, no matter what. But it’s a wonderful feeling getting up in the morning and knowing that I am safe in my own lovely flat. Despite my sight loss, my life thanks to Jewish Blind & Disabled is the way I would like it to be and I hope it carries on for a long time. I am so grateful that they have given me the independence and peace of mind that will enable me to live my life to the full.”

Find out from Jewish Blind & Disabled here.