A man with short hair and goatee beard is wearing a light blue dress shirt accented with a multi pastel colored tie. He is wearing a light grey pin-stripped suit. He is standing and smiling toward the camera. To his left sits his guide dog who is looking off to the far left. They are at a baseball field. It is a bright sunny day.

Founder's Story

Jim Jasey was a Senior Inspector for the U.S. Customs Service for 27 yrs. At 45 yrs. old, Jim lost his vision to a car accident in 1999. Being a single parent of two sons motivated him to be proactive in adjusting to his sudden loss of vision. Jim acquired skills that enabled him to continue to be head of household. In Jim's newly found advocacy for blind and visually impaired people, he founded “Beyond the Eyes," and serves as President.

Beyond the Eyes' vision is to form an alliance of individuals who are blind and visually impaired to create awareness of the issues and concerns of all body and mind differences.

Jim Jasey is a member of and has served on various Boards and Committees:

The Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Northern Service Center Consumer Advisory Board
State Rehabilitation Council
National Black Disability Coalition
Board for the African American Employment Conference in 2005 spearheaded by the Department of Human Services.
Board of Directors for DIAL, Inc., Center for Independent Living.

His accomplishments include:

Advocated, successfully, for the- installation of audible traffic lights.
Pushed for assistive technology for the library in South Orange, NJ.
Insisted on the installation of audio described movies at the Clearview movie theater in South Orange.
In 2008 featured in Single Parent (SP) magazine article for raising children as a single father who is blind.