The San Francisco Chronicle June 3 2018 / Reporter Lizzie Johnson / Photo credit to Jessica Christian.
The classroom was full of students, all of them blind or visually impaired. Their canes were propped in the corner, their guide dogs asleep under a table. It was time, so Patricia Jefferson began reciting from a list of 21 questions.
Do you know where the fire alarms are in your home? Do you know where the gas shut-off valve is? Do you have an orange vest? Extra dog food? What about Braille labels?
The dozen adults at the Earle Baum Center in Santa Rosa were given emergency backpacks, and they sifted through them, gingerly touching the contents: AM/FM radios, foil blankets, water purifiers, freeze-dried food.
The students were planning for a worst-case scenario, in a class this spring funded by a $40,500 donation from the Redwood Credit Union, based in Santa Rosa. Many had barely managed to flee October’s Wine Country fires. If a friend or family member hadn’t been home that October night — well, they don’t like to think about it.
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