Blind Paralympic Swimmer Makes Strides for the Homeless 

Fifteen-year-old McClain Hermes had a grim prognosis when she was suddenly blind after waking up from emergency surgery. A rare condition caused both of her retinas to detach, leaving her in a new world of total darkness.

But blindness never kept McClain from working to achieve the impossible, like being an Olympian. 

She has won big at competitions and has big faith to match. In fact, her motto is "swim by faith, not by sight" as she represents the United States on the Paralympic Swim team. 

McClain is not only a competitive athlete, she is a philanthropist, too. When she is not swimming she is providing thousands of pairs of shoes for the homeless through her organization, Shoes for the Souls. 

She and her father are working hard to provide shoes just in time for winter.

"My father, Matt Hermes, and I founded Shoes for the Souls in 2009. Shoes for the Souls donate shoes to the Atlanta Mission and we have collected over 15,000 pairs of shoes since we began the program seven years ago," she said. "We are constantly collecting shoes for the mission to be donated each winter."

Right now, McClain is training hard to represent the United States well in Rio. She is 15th in the world but hopes to take home gold.