The Sustaining Love of Family: Meet Damicha

Damicha has experienced blindness, homelessness and a challenging custody battle, yet she says, “Honestly, I can’t complain because my family support system has always been awesome.”

Born and raised in Vallejo, Damicha had vision loss from birth and experienced some teasing at school, but it could never compare to the support she felt surrounded by her large family, including her mom’s 10 siblings and many cousins.

“When I meet other people with vision loss, they always say how lucky I am,” she said. “I can’t believe some of the things other people have gone through with their family.”

After the birth of her first son 23 years ago, Damicha’s vision decreased some, but she was still able to move with him to Kentucky to be closer to her sister and niece. By the time she moved back to Vallejo, she had a second son and rapidly decreasing vision. She moved in with her mother but then went through what she calls a “homeless patch” before finding housing in Fairfield where she has lived ever since.

While getting back on her feet, she also was battling for custody of her youngest son who was diagnosed with autism. She said her oldest son, who is now 23, has always been very supportive and helpful, and she’s grateful that her younger son, now 12, is more in tune with her vision loss than he used to be. For his last birthday, they took the train to Sacramento and took Paratransit to the Arden mall arcade.

“He was able to help me navigate, and we didn’t run into things even though it was really busy,” Damicha said.

In fall 2025, the 43-year-old mom decided it was time to sharpen her technology and mobility skills so she could find a career path.

“I need to be able to support my family, buy a house and have something for my children when I leave this place,” Damicha said.

Despite having worked with numerous blindness programs over the years, she was grateful to find Society for the Blind.

“Nothing has been like my experience at Society for the Blind,” Damicha said. “It was the best choice ever. The team there is awesome, and I really feel like I’m getting a lot.”

Through our Core program, she is grateful to be honing her orientation and mobility skills, particularly with public transportation. She used to travel on her own but lost those skills after meeting her second child’s father, who did not want her walking or taking public transportation.

She also is learning assistive technology skills, as she wants to work in an office setting for a school or other organization that works with children. She now knows most of the Microsoft Suite and can research and find answers to questions. She also started learning braille and finds herself now opening her braille mail instead of immediately throwing it out in frustration.

“The training I had received before wasn’t as intense or structured, and I just do better learning in this setting, especially in person instead of remotely,” Damicha said. “I look forward to seeing different people. I really draw my inspiration from them, especially my teachers with vision loss who are younger than me and already have their careers going. It’s really motivating.”

Damicha plans to take as many classes as possible at Society for the Blind and hopes to find a preschool or other setting where she can volunteer to get some experience.

She also is excited to be able to do more things with her youngest son, like take walks around the block, help with homework, cook and play games.

“He discovered Uno around Christmastime and really took a liking to it, and fortunately for us, they make braille Uno,” she said. “Now we can actually play a game together, and I can keep up.”

She said she is much more confident after starting at Society for the Blind and really enjoys both the learning and leisure activities. She recently had the chance to attend a Sacramento Kings game watch party using the new OneCourt assistive technology device to experience the game with other Society for the Blind students and staff. 

“All of my experiences with Society have been epic,” she said.

With her family always being her biggest support, Damicha was touched to receive a special phone call from her mother and oldest son recently.

“They called just to tell me how proud they are of me for being so dedicated to my classes at Society for the Blind,” she said. “We all went out to dinner the other night and my family was amazed at how much I’ve grown in my skills as I used my phone to read the menu and walked with my cane. They were so proud of me and wanted me to know they recognized that.”

With the skills she has learned at Society for the Blind, Damicha knows she and her family have a bright future ahead.