Happy Birthday to the Sight Center of NW PA: An 85-Year Legacy of Love and Leadership

2023

Since opening its doors in 1938, The Sight Center of Northwest PA has undergone numerous shifts and changes, including name changes — from Erie Center for the Blind and Visually Handicapped to today’s Sight Center of Northwest Pennsylvania. One thing, however, has remained the same since the earliest days: the agency’s mission. Despite some minor wordsmithing, the mission of the Sight Center is and always has been to prevent blindness and promote independence for those with vision loss and those who are blind.

A Proud History

The Center’s initial organizational meeting was held at the Erie Club on June 23, 1938. Mr. H. L. R. Emmett, manager of the General Electric Co., was elected first president of the charter group. The first employee, Mary Limberg, was hired on July 1 to direct the first program — prevention of blindness screenings. On September 26, the little association became a fully operating nonprofit corporation with the adoption of by-laws and the election of Mrs. Harry Schaal as the first president of the first board of directors!

The Center’s first office was in the “Community Chest” Building, now United Way, until it moved to the Baldwin Building for a few years, and to its own location at 230 East 21st Street in 1955.

During the 1950s, sheltered workshops were a way to provide jobs and income to people who were blind. Center employees earned wages doing piece work for manufacturers such as Inland Container, Erie Brewing Company, and Surrey Bicycle. Additionally, the popular “talking radio” was instituted. Volunteers read news and human-interest pieces over the airwaves, providing engagement, education, and entertainment for blind and sighted listeners alike. This decade also brought cooking classes, chair caning, Friday night dances, and the Golden Age Social Club.

In 1961, a capital campaign funded the building that became affectionately known as “that place on Cherry Street.” When gifts came in over the stated need of $100,000, they were given BACK to donors as the board felt they didn’t want to take more than was needed!

In 1963, young Tyco Swick was hired as executive director. Under his 46 years of leadership, community collaborations were formed and programs for the blind evolved with new trends and technologies. Transportation and vision rehabilitation services took center stage in the effort to keep every client independent and productive. Strong mission bonds were created with the Lions Clubs that continue today.

In 2009, the Board approved Swick’s retirement and appointed Linda (Hackshaw) Moore, then director of Development, as executive director of the agency you now know as the Sight Center. Swick’s affectionate story of Moore’s hiring in 1999 includes the fact that she notified him — with some shock — at her interview, that he had worked at the Center since the month she was BORN (and he hired her anyway). Moore’s affectionate story of her promotion includes that she hired Swick back early in her tenure as executive director to be the Lions Clubs liaison and eye care coordinator. This year marks Moore’s 24th year at the Center, her 60th birthday, and Swick’s 60th year of service to the Center.

To lend perspective to this part of the agency’s story, it is important to understand that the annual turnover rate for executive directors of nonprofit agencies in America is 20 percent. Together, Moore and Swick have provided 60 years of unbroken service to blind and visually impaired residents of NW PA.

Impact

Today, the Sight Center provides services in seven PA counties with a staff of 17 and a fleet of seven vehicles, screens the vision of several thousand of our youngest residents, is the region’s primary provider of services, including technology, to those with low vision as well as blindness, and is one of the nation’s leading presenters of the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP); diabetes is the leading cause of working-age blindness in the United States.

Happy 85th anniversary to the Sight Center of NW PA, happy 60th to leaders Swick and Moore, and happy 60th anniversary to Swick and his wife Sharon too. May the legacy of love and leadership continue on!

Join us for our 2nd annual IMPACT Luncheon & Nonprofit Fair as we not only showcase our area nonprofits but also the contributions of our servicemen and women, with a special presentation on the advantages of hiring veterans to address the growing skills gap.

Guest speaker Brigadier General Maureen Weigl of the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs will present on PA Vet Connect and the importance of nonprofits as well as the Department of Defense SkillBridge program, which is an opportunity for service members to gain valuable civilian work experience through specific industry training, apprenticeships or internships during the last 180 days of service. SkillBridge connects service members with industry partners in real-world job experiences.

Brig. Gen. Weigl was appointed deputy adjutant general for Veterans Affairs on April 12, 2021. In this position, she supervises the administration of state veterans’ programs, reintegration and outreach, and veteran initiatives for more than 700,000 veterans and their dependents. She also oversees the operation of the Commonwealth’s six veterans’ homes. She retired from the Army in May 2016 after serving for 25 years. Since her retirement, Brig. Gen. Weigl has become a small business owner and entrepreneur. She also has served with numerous organizations as a military and veterans’ adviser.

Brig. Gen. Weigl holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and communications from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s in business ethics from Duquesne University, and a master’s in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. She also holds a post graduate certificate in Human Resources from the Pennsylvania State University and completed both the U.S. Northern Command Joint Domestic Operations Course and the Harvard Kennedy School Senior Executive Seminar in national and international security. She is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, project manager, executive leadership coach, and a member of the American Legion, VFW, and Catholic War Veterans. She has served veterans since retirement and has been partnering with clothing manufacturers to make adjustable clothing for veterans and others with prosthetic limbs.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, JULY 19 • 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

LOCATION: MBA Conference Center, 2171 West 38th Street at Pittsburgh Avenue, Erie

COST: $35 Members, $55 Nonmembers (lunch is included)

PRESENTED BY:

PROGRAM:

• Registration begins at 11:15 a.m.

• Nonprofit Fair starts at 11:30 a.m.

• Lunch and keynote address at Noon

• Fair resumes at 12:40 p.m.

REGISTRATION: Call Melissa at 814/833-3200, 800/815-2660 or visit mbausa.org!