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AURORA of CNY’s DAVID DEFRANCIS AND SUSAN GRAY ON WCNY’S CYCLE OF HEALTH
Check out our very own David DeFrancis and Susan Gray in their June 2026 appearance on WCNY (PBS)’s “Cycle of Health!” Watch their segment to hear an engaging discussion with Ophthalmologist Dr. Justin Dexter and host Dr. Rich O’Neill of eye health, vision loss, and the nexus between eye health professionals and the services we provide at AURORA of CNY.
AURORA of CNY Receives Generous $5,000 Donation from Acadia Insurance
June 10, 2026 - AURORA of Central New York, Inc. (AURORA) has supported individuals living with vision and hearing loss for over 100 years. Today, we were the ones receiving support to help us continue providing those services when we were visited by Chelsea Wilkinson and Patrick Miller from Acadia Insurance. They dropped by our office to make a generous $5,000 donation supporting AURORA's work! Chelsea's personal family experience with AURORA drove her desire to nominate us for consideration of Acadia's benevolent gifting:
"I chose to nominate AURORA of CNY because their mission is very personal to me and my family. My daughter is 8 years old and deaf, and we’ve had the opportunity to use AURORA’s services in the past. Having access to their resources and support has made a meaningful difference in helping her communicate, connect, and feel included.
As a parent, you want to know your child has support not just now, but as they grow. Organizations like AURORA provide that reassurance and play such an important role in making sure kids like my daughter have every opportunity to thrive. Supporting their work is something I truly believe in, both because of the impact I’ve seen firsthand and the difference they continue to make for families like ours in the community.."
Thank you to Chelsea, Patrick, and the entire Acadia team for supporting our life-changing work!
AURORA of CNY WELCOMES FULL-TIME CERTIFIED ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY SPECIALIST
Local nonprofit serving those with vision and hearing loss secures highly sought full-time trained professional dedicated to teaching individuals who are blind or visually impaired how to travel safely, confidently, and independently in their homes, schools, and our community.
June 9, 2026 - AURORA of Central New York, Inc. (AURORA) is proud to announce Mark Moniello has joined AURORA as a full time Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS), effective May 26, 2026. A COMS works with clients who are blind or visually impaired of all ages to improve spatial and sensory awareness, instruct on the proper use of travel tools, train clients on safely navigating their environment (crosswalks, public transportation, etc.), and ultimately build independence. Previously, Orientation and Mobility (O&M) services were offered by AURORA on a part-time basis.
Moniello is a recent graduate of Drexel University where he earned his Master of Science in Orientation and Mobility through its Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies. The program teaches professionals how to instruct individuals with blindness or vision impairment to travel safely and independently. Moniello also recently earned his COMS designation from ACVREP, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing professional competency to ensure those who are blind or low vision receive services from highly qualified individuals.
For Mark, his professional O&M journey is very personal. “I would say the people that work in this field are doing it because they want to help people, specifically, with visual impairments. And something usually pushes them. For instance, I had a friend since high school who’s blind. He’s the reason I ended up getting into this.”
When describing his O&M style, Mark takes a very pragmatic approach, ensuring real-world effectiveness uniquely tailored to each individual he serves. “For instance, you’re on the corner of this street and this street, but they don’t necessarily know that. They have to memorize all that – and that’s what we do. We teach them where the bus stops are, how to recognize certain landmarks. The sound of this every time I walk past here, so now I know I’m here. Or maybe they have some limited residual vision, and they can see a pole that’s only in that spot at that time, and that lets them figure out exactly where they are so they can continue getting to where they want to be. The whole idea is to promote independence so that they can do these things on their own.”
“We are incredibly proud to increase our O&M services by bringing Mark on as full-time Certified O&M Specialist here at AURORA,” said AURORA Executive Director Kate Weidman. “The demand for O&M services right here in Central New York is high; investing in this area allows us to rise to the occasion and continue meeting the needs of our community.”
Individuals seeking O&M services - or any of the low to no-cost services AURORA provides to the community - are encouraged to contact AURORA.
Adaptive Easter Egg Hunt
On Saturday, March 28th, Aurora hosted an Adaptive Easter Egg Hunt for children who are blind or low vision, along with their sighted siblings.
This joyful, inclusive celebration was designed to give blind and low‑vision kids the chance to participate independently. AURORA used adaptive Easter eggs that emitted a 'chirp’, allowing the children to locate them on their own. Their sighted siblings also took part in the fun with colorful eggs of their own! It was a heartwarming event for families and a great way to kick off the spring season.
A special thank you to the Jim & Juli Boeheim Foundation for providing funding for the chirping Easter eggs!
Christmas Tree at Ward O’Hara Agricultural & Country Living Museum
Auburn, NY
The CNY Insights peer support group of Cayuga County has been busy creating a blind themed Christmas tree for display at the Ward O’Hara museum this season. There will be over two hundred trees on display, with various themes. It is one of Auburn’s favorite holiday traditions-to stroll through the museum and view all of the creative displays.
During the month of October, the group hand made ornaments to decorate the tree. Here is a list of ornaments they made:
small stockings with the names of famous blind people on them
small white canes made of white and red pipe cleaners, with tiny pom pom tips and black grips
small guide dogs with mini red vests and black pipe cleaner harnesses
small “blind person area” signs crafted with yellow card stock and black sharpyee markers
lighted tree topper with the Aurora logo attached
Braille ornaments with festive notes, along with the written English translation
small Aurora branded magnifiers
small black sunglasses
red and white colored lights
red and white tree skirt
The museum is located at 6880 East Lake Road, Auburn, NY and is open from November 17th through December 31st, from 10AM-7PM, seven days a week. Hours change after December 31st, so be sure to check the website. Donations are accepted and gratefully appreciated for your visit. There are prizes for the favorite trees, so please come and vote for the AURORA tree!
Aurora of CNY is partnering with Whole Me Inc. and NTID in creating an ASL Internship program for NTID Interpreter students in their last year of coursework. This is a monumental step as both non-profit interpreter referral agencies build programming that provides support and training to new interpreters, introducing them to the CNY Deaf community. Our hope is create opportunity to build the interpreter pool in our area and to eventually attract ASL interns from other college programs.
Estee Lauder launches new Voice-enabled Makeup Assistant for Low Vision and Blind users
Susan Gray, Aurora’s PR and Outreach Specialist, gives her experience of using the newly launched Voice-enables Makeup Assistant by Estee Lauder…
First Line of Sight
Vision loss effects every aspect of a person’s life. Whether one is losing his sight gradually, all at once, or has been born without it, he must adapt his way of life to accommodate for the loss. People experience vision loss at all ages, so adaptations need to be made in homes, schools, places of employment, and around the community where one lives. While access and accommodations have become easier since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, asking for an accommodation is still challenging.
Cayuga Peer Support Social
Anyela’s Vineyard in Skaneateles hosted the Cayuga peer support group on Wednesday, July 19th, for a social outing. The group sampled wine and beer, shared appetizers and spent some much needed time relaxing and socializing.
The group is led by Felipe Rivera, Aurora Board Member, and group members attending were: Trisha Baron with her husband Jim, Susan Gray with her husband Rick, Lance Lyons, Ron Polkovitch, Brian Meis, Carolyn Rice, Judy Spingler with her husband Ron and Fran Watkins with her daughter Lisa.
The Cayuga group is looking forward to many more outings like this, as they are key to the strong bonds that peer support groups facilitate with their members and families. Isolation is one of the hardest issues our peers deal with, as vision loss takes them away from participating in social events. This often happens due to the inability to find transportation, unease navigating unfamiliar places and general discomfort in social settings. It is difficult to order food and drink when menus are not accessible. Anyela’s provided us with a host that read us our food and drink options, described the wines and beers, brought us our orders, and collected our payments-all at our table in a semi private room. They were extremely accommodating and went the extra mile to make our group comfortable.
If you ever find yourself on the west side of Skaneateles Lake, pay them a visit.
A big thank you to our drivers: Rick Gray, Ron Spingler and Fran’s daughter Lisa
If anyone is interested in joining the Cayuga peer support group, please contact Susan Gray at Aurora of CNY at 315-422-7263. meetings are held the last Friday of the month at Cayuga Community College in the NUCOR room from 10AM- 11:30AM. Anyone with vision loss and their families or friends is welcome to join us.
SCAT Van Training
Born out of an uncomfortable experience involving a blind rider and new SCAT van driver, Susan Gray called Sue Van Epp at the SCAT van offices in Auburn to talk about her experience, and offer assistance through Aurora for driver trainings. These trainings are on an annual basis and Aurora goes to the office to talk about the methods to assist a blind rider, including sighted guide and communication. Drivers are then asked to spend a few minutes paired up, practicing sighted guide technique. The trainer then brings the drivers out to one of the vans, and has the drivers put on vision simulation goggles, and with a white cane in hand, attempts to board the van and get seated and belted in. Many of the drivers come back off the van with a new appreciation of the difficulty blind riders experience during this exercise. They express their discomfort or even fear at having to climb the steps and find a seat, not knowing if the seat is already occupied. It is a good illustration of the communication someone blind needs from the driver while riding the van.
For more information on SCAT Van Training click here
Laying the Groundwork for a Healthier Community
AURORA is honored to be selected as a Cabrini Health Foundation 2022 grantee receiving close to $150,000 for outreach to the most vulnerable communities in Onondaga and Oswego County. The project will be called Project HELP which stands for Healthy, Engaged Lives in Progress. The goal is to address barriers to healthcare for underserved individuals in our community who are experiencing poverty, geographic isolation, age or chronic health conditions that affect vision or hearing health. To accomplish this, we will work with other community partners like Emmaus Ministry to offer vision and hearing screenings, health promotional events, aids and devices and make connections to the Liberty-AURORA Eye Center and other healthcare resources in our community.
The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the health and well-being of New Yorkers, bolster the health outcomes of vulnerable communities, eliminate barriers to care, and bridge gaps in health services. Named after a tireless advocate for immigrants, children, and the poor, the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation funds programs and initiatives across New York State that either provide direct healthcare services or address the social determinants of health. For more information, visit https://www.cabrinihealth.org/
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