Norma Jean Snell

Wood sculpture is a painstaking process. Beginning with a blunt, raw pieces of wood, the artist must discover the hidden beauty within and bring it to life. But the results and rewards often go way beyond what the artist might have imagined at first. That’s what Norma Jean Snell, graduate of The Carroll Center for the Blind, has discovered since losing her eyesight—and gaining so much.

Coping with her blindness, like sculpture, requires the right tools and skills. At The Carroll Center’s residential rehabilitation program, Norma learned new, nonvisual ways to do everything for herself again in daily life—from cooking and personal grooming to traveling wherever she needs to go on her own using a cane and public transportation. And, on a Carroll Center field trip to an art gallery, she discovered wood sculpture. She has been doing it ever since, even while attending graduate school in social work and interning as a counselor.

“The Carroll Center was my turning point,” Norma says. “I’ve been able to do so many things I might have never tried before. That’s been a real gift.”

Step by step, just as one of her sculptures emerges from the wood, Norma’s life after blindness has taken shape with ever greater confidence, independence and fulfillment—a work of art, still in progress.

A Letter from Norma Jean Snell to the Carroll Center for the Blind

Dear Friends:

When I lost my eyesight, I had been working as a registered nurse for eight years—a job I loved. Suddenly I couldn’t work or do anything for myself. I was depressed. What else would I do with my life? If only I had known then how busy I would be now!

My turning point was going to The Carroll Center for the Blind. It is such a wonderful and supportive environment. You’re surrounded by others who are visually impaired, and together you learn step by step that you can become independent again.

But it’s more than the skills and techniques, as important as those are. It’s the people—the support they give and the confidence they instill. You come out feeling you can take on new challenges, even ones you never tried as a sighted person. For me that included computers and, yes, wood sculpture!

I am also building a new career. I’m now in my last year of a graduate program in social work at Boston University. It’s hard work, writing papers, commuting 3 hours from Cape Cod. But it’s worth it. Last year I interned at a social services agency, counseling individuals, couples and families. This year I’m working at a battered women’s shelter.

I love being able to help people again because I know firsthand what a difference the right help can make in someone’s life. Please, will you help others like me to create new lives after blindness, by sending a gift to The Carroll Center today?

Sincerely,

Norma Jean Snell