Saavi R.E.A.L. Children Services
SAAVI Services for the Blind Phoenix, 2920 N 7th St, Phoenix, AZ 85014
About
Saavi R.E.A.L. Children Services offers Saavi Saturdays programs where blind students can advocate for themselves as blind students, learn skills to improve everyday life, learn how to use the bus system, play games, and practice skills. The program includes academic tutoring nights where students can work on homework using non-visual techniques. Children also take part in accessible STEM lessons and activities, experience the scientific method first-hand, and join Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning with hands-on activities across the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields, along with real-life coaching sessions in homes or in the community.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Extended School Year sessions in 2025 run on weekdays in June, with additional single-day Saturday STEM2U events and a week-long overnight GENIUS camp
Children Services, also known as R.E.A.L. – Reaching Empowerment and Achievement through Learning, includes an Extended School Year (ESY) program for students in grades K–12 in the Maricopa area. R.E.A.L. program participants receive tools, training and confidence to reach a higher level of success, with Life Coaches and blind mentors working with families, siblings, and students. Programming integrates sighted siblings and friends to promote nonvisual awareness.
The 2025 ESY program starts June 9th and runs until June 27th, every Monday through Friday from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The NFB BELL Academy, which focuses on Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning, runs Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 3:30pm, May 26th through June 6th, 2025, as a two-week program. The GENIUS Program is a week-long overnight residential camp for middle school aged children 11–15, based in Phoenix, running June 22nd through June 28th, 2025, with assistance with transportation as needed. The National Federation of the Blind’s STEM2U Program is offered as Phoenix STEM2U on Saturday April 5th, 2025, 9:00am–3:00pm, and Tucson STEM2U on Saturday June 21st, 2025, 9:00am–3:00pm, with lunch provided at both events.
Saavi Services for the Blind specializes in non-visual training for adults, young adults, teens and children across Arizona who are blind or have low vision, and states the belief that “it doesn’t matter what you can see, it matters what you can do.” The organization states that it expects more of its students, and that students in turn set high expectations for themselves, gaining confidence and non-visual skills that allow them to live independently, return to the work force, pursue secondary education or begin the path towards a new career. Saavi describes its training as empowering students to strive for more and realize their own potential, summarized in the statement that “it is not what you can see… It is what you can do!” Saavi Services for the Blind is a blindness rehabilitation training center, and both its Tucson and Phoenix locations are certified Structured Discovery centers, with all employees, no matter the department, going through basic immersion training.
Saavi offers programming that integrates sighted siblings and friends to promote nonvisual awareness and to support high expectations for families and communities. Saavi works to support the blind community through programs, family events, community service and public outreach, and relies on community partners and individual and family donors who offer financial support throughout the year. The National Federation of the Blind’s STEM2U Program is offered at Saavi’s Tucson and Phoenix locations, and NFB BELL Academy is sponsored by Saavi, with NFB and Saavi partnering in the program.
Roxanne Torres is listed as the contact for Children Services, and Somaya Tarin is listed as the contact for the 2025 ESY program. A student testimonial from Ronald Boyd, a 60-year-old retired manager of a sterile processing department and participant in the Comprehensive Day Program, describes attending Saavi Services for the Blind to learn skills needed to sustain his own food truck business and working toward achieving those goals.
Last updated January 10, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Extended School Year sessions in 2025 run on weekdays in June, with additional single-day Saturday STEM2U events and a week-long overnight GENIUS camp
Children Services, also known as R.E.A.L. – Reaching Empowerment and Achievement through Learning, includes an Extended School Year (ESY) program for students in grades K–12 in the Maricopa area. R.E.A.L. program participants receive tools, training and confidence to reach a higher level of success, with Life Coaches and blind mentors working with families, siblings, and students. Programming integrates sighted siblings and friends to promote nonvisual awareness.
The 2025 ESY program starts June 9th and runs until June 27th, every Monday through Friday from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The NFB BELL Academy, which focuses on Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning, runs Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 3:30pm, May 26th through June 6th, 2025, as a two-week program. The GENIUS Program is a week-long overnight residential camp for middle school aged children 11–15, based in Phoenix, running June 22nd through June 28th, 2025, with assistance with transportation as needed. The National Federation of the Blind’s STEM2U Program is offered as Phoenix STEM2U on Saturday April 5th, 2025, 9:00am–3:00pm, and Tucson STEM2U on Saturday June 21st, 2025, 9:00am–3:00pm, with lunch provided at both events.
Saavi Services for the Blind specializes in non-visual training for adults, young adults, teens and children across Arizona who are blind or have low vision, and states the belief that “it doesn’t matter what you can see, it matters what you can do.” The organization states that it expects more of its students, and that students in turn set high expectations for themselves, gaining confidence and non-visual skills that allow them to live independently, return to the work force, pursue secondary education or begin the path towards a new career. Saavi describes its training as empowering students to strive for more and realize their own potential, summarized in the statement that “it is not what you can see… It is what you can do!” Saavi Services for the Blind is a blindness rehabilitation training center, and both its Tucson and Phoenix locations are certified Structured Discovery centers, with all employees, no matter the department, going through basic immersion training.
Saavi offers programming that integrates sighted siblings and friends to promote nonvisual awareness and to support high expectations for families and communities. Saavi works to support the blind community through programs, family events, community service and public outreach, and relies on community partners and individual and family donors who offer financial support throughout the year. The National Federation of the Blind’s STEM2U Program is offered at Saavi’s Tucson and Phoenix locations, and NFB BELL Academy is sponsored by Saavi, with NFB and Saavi partnering in the program.
Roxanne Torres is listed as the contact for Children Services, and Somaya Tarin is listed as the contact for the 2025 ESY program. A student testimonial from Ronald Boyd, a 60-year-old retired manager of a sterile processing department and participant in the Comprehensive Day Program, describes attending Saavi Services for the Blind to learn skills needed to sustain his own food truck business and working toward achieving those goals.
Last updated January 10, 2026.
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