Timothy Vernon ‘06 was like countless other high school students when he started his college search. The Mansfield native wanted to find a school where he could pursue his academic interest while engaging in the fullness of college life. As a person who is blind, he knew that would come with additional challenges.
“One of the most important aspects for me to consider was the disability services program, and whether the college had the ability to transcribe documents from professors into Braille,” Vernon said. “Many colleges did not have a Braille embossing program, and some of the ones that did were larger campuses. I really wanted a smaller campus, where I felt like I was a name and not a number, and I could get to know the professors.”
He found that at Fitchburg State.
“Fitchburg State was tremendous. They were more than willing to do whatever it took to make sure I was successful,” he said. “They want students to have that full college experience.”
He recalled meeting staff in the Disability Services Office including Julie Maki and Francine Menendez-Aponte, both of whom are still at the university. “When I knew I needed certain documents, I would take the initiative to reach out to Julie and Fran and say, ‘I know that next Tuesday we’ve got a test; has the professor sent over the test for you to put in Braille?’ It’s being able to work together with people to make sure your needs are met.”
Vernon embraced the fullness of campus life, living in Herlihy Hall and sharing his vocal talent as a member of the choir and by singing the National Anthem at campus sporting events. “Fran and Julie would make sure there was somebody to guide me down to the field or the Rec Center in order to sing,” he said. “We just worked very well together.”
“Tim was so widely known on our campus that when I would walk across campus with him every student we passed would stop us to talk, or just to say hi,” recalled Maki, who has remained in frequent contact with Vernon since graduation.
“Tim’s success at Fitchburg State, and post graduation, is so much more about Tim,” said Menendez-Aponte, who also remains in contact with him. “We are here to support and serve students during their academic career. His advocacy skills and graciousness contributed greatly to his success and resulted in many positive interactions across the campus with faculty, staff and students.”
Beyond singing, Vernon helped organize a speakers series to promote disability awareness, including his own speaking engagements. “That was a great opportunity to improve my public speaking, discuss blindness and take questions from the students, so everybody felt very comfortable interacting with me on-campus and in the community,” he said.
After he graduated with his degree in communications media, however, Vernon faced additional obstacles. Navigating the job search was complicated by widespread misconceptions about the capacity of people with disabilities.
“I think people who have never met someone who is blind are unsure what our abilities are, and so I found it a lot when I was going on job interviews,” he said. “Employers and HR representatives would think to themselves,’ I could never do this if I was blind, so how is this candidate going to get to do it if they’re blind?’ It’s only because they’re not familiar with the tools I’m familiar with.”
Those tools have existed for years, he said, and continue to improve. Advancements like text-to-speech software or Braille type make opportunities reachable. “There are many ways to solve a situation, but I find that sometimes people can’t think outside the box,” he said. “They’ve never seen it before, so it can’t be done, in their eyes. There’s always an opportunity to educate people in a polite and respectful way.”
That was the approach Vernon brought to Eversource, an energy company serving 4.4 million customers across Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire. He was hired by the company in 2008.
“Tim is a treasure,” said Eversource Executive Vice President of Customer Experience and Energy Strategy Penni Conner. “We’re so proud to have him at Eversource.”
Conner said there were discussions within the company about how to accommodate Vernon’s needs, and he showed them the possibilities. “Tim is simply tenacious, and he wanted a job, and he believed he could do this job,” she said. “I give credit to my team and to our HR folks who were so impressed with him that they felt we needed to bring him on. We connected with our IT team and we felt there might be a solution here.”
Vernon said he felt that support from his earliest days with the company. “They’ve been very accommodating,” he said. “When I started, they welcomed a mobility instructor to come in and show me around the office so I could memorize the route from the front door to my desk, or the cafeteria or the restroom.”
Technology has also been invaluable. While talking with customers, for example, Vernon wears a headset wherein he hears his client in one ear while the other receives information translated into speech from the company databases. “I often think how magnificent it is that I’m getting the information for the customer, and the customer has no idea that I’m blind,” he said. “That’s just how you want it.”
Eversource was honored this fall with an award from the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities at a ceremony at the Statehouse as part of Annual National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Vernon was among the company’s representatives at the ceremony.
Conner said Vernon has been a powerful voice at the company, recently addressing leadership at a summit on DEI issues. “Tim is very passionate about identifying other roles that we have at the company and how we can match up potential candidates who may have disabilities,” she said. “Tim has been a real leader for us. We serve everybody in a utility, and it’s important our team reflects the customers that we serve. We’re always asking our team how we can better serve customers, and he’s all about serving our differently-abled customers. This is another opportunity for us to have a better understanding of them.”
Beyond his work, Vernon continues to indulge his love of music as part of the Bristol Chorale. He’s the only member of the company who is blind, so he uses software to convert the written music his conductor provides into Braille. Vernon picks the music up by ear.
“I like the challenge,” he said. “When you can feel satisfaction and a smile on your face, then it was a worthwhile challenge.”