Changing Lives By The Dozens

Ed Bible is director of employment and training at the South Carolina Commission for the Blind. He’s also a living example of the freedom and independence that a Fidelco guide dog can bring to a person’s life. Ed and his guide dog “Colt” have been together only a short time but, as Ed says, “I absolutely love him and I love the way we are together.” It’s important that Ed convey a sense of independence and confidence. “When I’m trying to convince a company to hire visually impaired employees, I have to show them independence. I have to be the ultimate example of a well-trained, ready-to-work person.” In a very tangible way, Colt helps Ed demonstrate to the business leaders he meets with, that he is strong and independent, someone whom you’d want on your team.

When Ed lost his vision, he was in sixth grade, an avid sports player who loved to play baseball. His teachers first noticed that Ed had trouble following the chalkboard and his printed materials. Before he knew it, he was diagnosed with rod cone dystrophy and macular degeneration. Ed’s sight deteriorated quickly. He says, “It was traumatic. My life dramatically changed.

I couldn’t play baseball anymore and I grieved from twelve to sixteen years old. My parents had to force me to go to school. I hated it. Kids teased me. Then I’d just come home, go to my room and listen to music.” At 16, his father was relocated to upstate New York where Ed met a girl named Kathy. Ed says, “Kathy asked me to a school dance.

I said ‘no’ of course. My dad overheard the conversation. He told me I had to go [to the dance] and that he didn’t want to see me until midnight.” His life began to change that night, “Kathy introduced me to her friends. She never said a word about my blindness. That was the beginning of my life as a blind person.”

Kathy moved away and Ed lost track of her. But she set into motion a life that would change others’ lives dramatically. After graduating from Syracuse University, Ed tried to become a teacher. This was 1974 and he quickly learned that doors were not open to him. “No one wanted to hire a visually impaired person,” Ed says. He decided to rely upon himself to make his living, selling soap and cleaning products. He found he had a knack for sales and public speaking.

Ed moved to South Carolina and began sales of a different kind. As a headhunter, he found applicants for large companies like Carnation and Proctor & Gamble. Ed says, “I enjoyed that for seven years. I used a closed circuit television to read the applications. Most people thought it was just a computer and didn’t know I was visually impaired.

I didn’t bother telling them.” His success at placing people caught the attention of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind. The head of that agency approached Ed and said, “You are blind. You find jobs for people. Why not find jobs for blind people?”

Despite the nearly 30 percent drop in salary moving from the private to the public sector, Ed took the challenge. He said, “I had found my own niche. I knew the challenges I had faced. I thought I could help others find their niches.” Frustrated by the slowness in placing each individual in a single position, Ed had a brainstorm. Why not set up a training center to teach computer skills that would be directly relevant to large employees? Rather than placing a single employee at a time, he could place dozens at a time.

Ed forged a partnership with a large rental car company. They would provide a training center that Ed would use to train visually impaired individuals to fill their customer service call centers. This was a startling revolution in job placement for individuals with visual disabilities. Ed says, “I can tell you all day long that a blind person can do it. But you have to see it.” The training center allows future employers to see it, on a large scale. Ed now finds himself fielding calls from other states and other companies who are interested.

“The word is spreading. I have students coming in from other states who pay a small tuition. We train them and put them to work,” say Ed. “We just placed a woman who has never worked in her life at Wells Fargo. We trained her, gave her mock interviews, and taught her about business dress and resumes. Sometimes people feel like they never had a chance because employers didn’t believe in them. My job is to give them that chance.”

His former approach of working with individual human resource managers, IT managers, and floor managers to place a single individual who was blind is a thing of the past. “Now, I can simply go into a company and place people by the dozen.” As he was revolutionizing job placement for individuals who are blind, Ed’s sight began to deteriorate further as his retina collapsed. He became proficient with a cane but didn’t like the “the bump and adjust” method. There didn’t seem to be an alternative to the cane because he didn’t have four weeks to leave work to train with a guide dog. He laughs, “Even taking a day off is hard. Have you heard the phone ringing while we’ve been talking?”

Then one of his students from Florida told him about Fidelco. In October, John Byfield came to Lexington, South Carolina and introduced Ed to Colt. Ed says, “Colt is so impressive. He has a presence. Together, we’re smooth. We go right where we need to go. I like the feeling of it, the feeling of freedom.” If there’s one thing Ed regrets, it’s that he didn’t find Fidelco sooner. “I wish I had done it a long time ago,” he says, “I can never see myself without a guide dog again.”  (Editor’s Note: Colt was raised by the Jamaitus Family.)