by Kim Crawford
(Reprinted from “The Flint Journal,” January 19, 2002.)
After a lifetime of vision problems, there was definitely something in Francia Malone’s eyes when she went up to accept an award in Lansing from the Michigan Commission for the Blind last month: tears of joy and pride.
Malone, 29, of Flint Township was picked as “Rehabilitant of the Year” for the commission’s region that takes in Genesee, Saginaw, Shiawassee and Lapeer counties and part of Michigan’s Thumb. She was nominated by her social worker, Debbie Wilson, who works in the commission’s office in Flint.
“Oh yes, I was crying,” Malone says. “I’ve been truly blessed.”
As a child growing up in Flint, she was diagnosed with an uncontrollable movement of her eyes called nystagmus but not with the condition called ocular albinism that was the underlying cause of her vision problem. One doctor told her mother there was nothing that could be done; once they were told that Francia “would grow out of it.”
But there was no growing out of her vision problem. Sadly, it would not be until she was in her mid-20s that she learned of an array of services, training and aids that would help her function in the work place and live independently.
For although Malone is legally blind, she can see up to a point, a condition experts call “low vision.” Her eyes are extremely sensitive to light and her vision is poor enough that she can’t drive. She experiences “tunnel vision,” has poor peripheral vision and has even lost her sight entirely for brief periods.
“I got through school by the grace of God,” Malone says. “I was constantly straining, turning, doing whatever I could to try to see the blackboard.”
Among friends and family, Malone would sometimes hear the word “albino,” spoken in hushed tones, in reference to herself. In the African-American community, she says, this is a word loaded with stigma and negative connotations. Yet the reality was that both her parents were genetic carriers of albinism and that the condition had shown up in different generations in both sides of her family.
After graduating from Northern High School in 1990, Malone took a break from school, eventually starting classes in a gerontology program at Mott Community College and trying to work at different jobs. She was, however, completely dependent on family members to give her rides.
Some wondered why she was bothering with trying to go to college and work. Since she was legally blind, they said, why didn’t she just sign up for monthly Social Security payments and forget about the rest?
Malone says she wondered about whether that’s how she would have to live for the rest of her life.
“It was very depressing,” Malone says. “I was very tired and frustrated. By the time I was 26, I was really feeling like there was no hope at all.”
But Malone says she began to read up on albinism at the Mott library and made an appointment at the Low Vision Clinic in Burton. As she grappled with whether she could ever live independently and make a career, she was referred to the Michigan Commission for the Blind, a part of the Family Independence Agency. There she met social worker Debbie Wilson, who also has albinism.
“She knew I had that potential to succeed,” Malone says. “She suggested I go to the commission’s training center in Kalamazoo.”
The six-week experience was life-changing.
“I met some remarkable people, some with impaired vision, some totally blind,” she says. “When I saw what others were doing, I knew that I could do it too.”
Cooking, using special talking computer programs, coping, job skills, “It was awesome,” Malone says.
With the support of the commission and the Visually Impaired Center of Flint, Malone was able to get an apartment, more computer training and set herself up as a one-woman respite care provider.
With subsidized transportation service for the visually impaired provided by Vet’s Cab, Malone’s full-time job now is taking care of Marian Foster, an elderly woman who can stay in her own home thanks to Malone and other care providers. She’s also an active volunteer at the New Jerusalem Baptist Church.
“I don’t drive and I don’t see all that good,” she says. “But I can help people. I think I exemplify my abilities, not my disabilities.”
Her social worker, who is the state spokesperson for the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation, is thrilled by Malone’s accomplishments.
“I’m so proud of her,” says Wilson. “She’s done so much.”