After decades of hearing loss and progressive peripheral vision loss from Usher syndrome, 68-year-old Peggy Mitchell uses a cane, tends her garden and serves as an ambassador for the Foundation Fighting Blindness while walking to raise funds and connect with community resources.
Mitchell is an ambassador for the Foundation Fighting Blindness and is participating in VisionWalk to raise money and to connect people with resources.
Mitchell continues daily activities—walking around her neighborhood, gardening and social engagement—while acknowledging moments of sadness and focusing on research that could change outcomes.
Peggy Mitchell, 68, lives in Pierce Township, Clermont County, Ohio. She has long-standing hearing loss and lost most of her peripheral vision decades ago. Her diagnosis is Usher syndrome, a genetic condition that causes combined hearing and vision loss. Mitchell uses a cane named Jalapeno when she is outside, tends a garden at home, and serves as an ambassador for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. She will walk in VisionWalk to raise funds for research and to connect with a community focused on vision impairment.
Mitchell joined VisionWalk, organized by the Foundation Fighting Blindness, to support research into diseases that cause vision loss. She says there is currently no cure, and that research is essential. Beyond fundraising, the foundation's VisionWalk aims to connect participants to resources and community. Foundation staff describe VisionWalk as more than a fundraiser and say the events help remake public spaces and connect visually impaired people to supports.
The local VisionWalk event mentioned begins at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27 at Theodore Berry Friendship Park, 1135 Riverside Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45202. Nationally, Foundation organizers report that VisionWalks have raised more than $74 million since the first event. Mitchell is participating as both a walker and an ambassador to raise awareness and funds.
Mitchell spends time in her garden pulling weeds she can still see and walks around her neighborhood, taking care to look both ways before crossing streets. She acknowledges the broader problem that public spaces were not built for blind or visually impaired people and appreciates the connections VisionWalk produces. She says blind community members often get overlooked, and she considers herself fortunate to retain some sight for tasks such as gardening.
Mitchell's approach blends practical coping—using a cane, hearing aids and neighborhood routines—with public engagement through advocacy and fundraising. Her participation in VisionWalk is driven by the need for research and by the social and practical benefits of connecting with other people facing vision loss.
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