Brenda Stockton
Peggy McGee
After a summer hiatus, the Green Valley Chapter, Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), will start off the fall season with a luncheon on Sept. 21. The event will be held in the El Dorado Room on the second floor of the La Perla building on the La Posada Campus. The social period will begin at 11:30 a.m. with lunch being served at noon. The cost will be $23.
The guest speaker will be Brenda Stockton, Visual Impairment Services Team (VIST) coordinator at the Southwestern Blind Rehabilitation Center, located on the VA Hospital campus in Tucson. The Center, founded in 1994, provides services to veterans from several Southwestern states.
Besides training and counseling for blind veterans, the VA also provides vision-enhancing devices and technologies for the veterans with an emphasis on making better use of other senses. The veterans relearn how to communicate through writing and using the computer. One does not have to be legally blind to receive help. For example, the VA also provides assistance to those with macular degeneration.
Brenda’s areas of responsibility include four VA community-based outpatient clinics in Casa Grande, Green Valley, Northwest, and Yuma. Brenda maintains her active certification as a low-vision therapist from the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation & Education Professionals.
After graduating with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and criminal justice and a master’s degree in blind rehabilitation, Brenda served an internship in rehabilitation teaching at the VA in Hines, Ill., and then began her position as a low-vision therapist at the Tucson facility in 1995. Prior to assuming her current VIST duties, she served as a supervisor/team leader and as low-vision subject matter expert between 2007 and 2017.
Brenda is committed to the local VA community and Tucson as a whole. Brenda still works with many veterans she previously assisted as an instructor in the days when the VA grounds were sparsely built and filled with jackrabbits.
Brenda looks forward to meeting you and describing her resources. Because this information may be pertinent to all veterans, this program is open to all who served in the military. To learn about menu options and to make a reservation, please contact QC resident Peggy McGee at [email protected] or 520-207-6188 by Sept. 18. For more information about MOAA, please visit their website greenvalleymoaa.org.