Client Spotlight: Meet Patricia Figueroa

Patricia Figueroa was born completely blind, but it never occurred to her to doubt her ability to do whatever she wanted to do. As a child in San Francisco, she had an orientation and mobility instructor, as well as a certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired.

“My parents always told me I could be whatever I want,” she said. “I never thought about not being able to do things I love.”

Always an outgoing child, she loved talking and never hesitated to talk to people.

“Even when I was still learning to talk, I would always walk into a room saying ‘hola!’”

Patricia moved to South Sacramento at age 10, and at age 14 she learned about our CareersPLUS Youth program.

“When I heard about CareersPLUS, I was like, I’m going,” she said. “It’s such a comfortable environment and it honestly feels like a family. That’s why I keep coming. It kind of wraps you like a security blanket. We all have something to talk about, common struggles, and I love the different guest speakers.”

In fall 2022, Patricia entered Sacramento State as a freshman studying political science who wanted to become a lawyer to help immigrants. She said her first year was an adjustment, but she is proud to now be an ethnic studies major, thanks to encouragement from her CareersPLUS instructors who could tell she was not as interested in political science.

“I still want to be the voice for people who don’t have a voice,” Patricia said. “But I don’t want to be a lawyer. I want to do it another way and I now want to work with people who are blind. I want them to have autonomy and independence, everything Society has given to me.”

Last summer Patricia attended our summer camp for 10 students in our CareersPLUS program. The five-day camp included opportunities to practice foundational blindness skills, from a hotel stay, light rail rides, college campus tour and shopping trips to cooking, karaoke and takeout.

 “For me, camp was a testament to the fact that an independent life does exist,” Patricia said. “It’s a different way of learning versus someone sitting you down and lecturing you.”

She also joined the CareersPLUS team that produced our EyeCanPod podcast.

“The podcast was an interesting experience, and I liked that it gave us all a chance to speak our minds in a way that would make people from the public understand that we’re people too,” she said.

Now age 20, Patricia is taking classes in our Core program, including independent living skills, assistive technology and orientation and mobility. As she returns to Sacramento State for her third year, she said she can feel her CareersPLUS family cheering her on.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot of confidence from CareersPLUS and the people there supporting me,” she said. “I feel accepted for who I am, and I don’t feel like I’m being judged for anything. It’s a safe space to talk and vent.”