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lighthouse lately 
03.24.20
Picture of a sign saying "closed".

Lighthouse closure continues for in-person services 

On Friday, March 13, LightHouse management made the decision to close our offices due to the serious and rapidly changing nature of the current
Coronavirus outbreak. Prior to this, steps had already been taken to cancel group classes and social events. This is also now in compliance with the "Shelter in Place" order placed on eight counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.

All LightHouse staff, apart from those working at LightHouse Industries who are doing essential work on government contracts during this time, are working from home. Using online tools like Zoom, our dedicated teams are devising ways of staying connected with LightHouse students and its community. 

The Accessible Technology department is contacting students to offer help with any of the equipment they would ordinarily come into the LightHouse to have training on.

Online discussion groups on topics such as "what it means to be blind" are being planned by our Community Services department. Online health and fitness workshops, something many people will welcome during this time of having mostly to stay at home are already added to our online calendar, so take a look, and schedule one to fit in to your day.

If the Employment Immersion students thought they were going to get off lightly by only having their classes remotely, they will get a surprise: The Employment Immersion staff aren’t going to ease up – they are just bringing their Employment Immersion boot camp to you.

The braille translators are still churning out those divine dots, and the rehabilitation staff are offering one-on-one telephone and online support to those needing that little bit extra during this time.

We are still very much planning to host all sessions scheduled for Enchanted hills Camp this summer. Some sessions still have space so please go to
The Enchanted Hills Camp website.

To sign up, email Alyah Thomas AThomas@lighthouse-sf.org or to discuss which session will be right for you, call Enchanted Hills Camp Program Director Tony Fletcher 415-694-7319.

The one service we sadly can’t provide online, even though we have it on a state-of-the-art e-commerce website, is the Adaptations Store.

Unfortunately, the ban on nonessential travel means we have no way to support our store until after the ban has been lifted. You can rest assured, however, as soon as we are back, it will be, too.

We would like to thank all our students, our community and our partners for their patience, advice and support. Now more than ever, we all need each other and to stay connected within our networks however possible. At the LightHouse, we are doing whatever we can to establish and facilitate those connection pathways.

Sign Up Now - Two Summer Music Camps at Enchanted Hills

Two men at music camp sitting by the Lake Lokoya at EHC singing into microphones.
Do you have a passion for singing or playing an instrument? Come spend a week at Enchanted Hills sharpening your skills, meeting other blind musicians and jamming and performing. Led by musicians who are blind or have low vision, Music Camp at Enchanted Hills is a joyous session of musical comradery. In between the music there will be interludes of swimming in the pool, hiking in the redwoods, boating on Lake Lokoya and other camp activities.
Sessions are capped off with a concert celebrating a wide variety of musical genres. 
  • Youth Music Camp (for ages 16-25):
    Monday, August 3 through, Sunday August 9Adult
     
  • Music Camp (for ages 25+):
    Tuesday, August 11 through Saturday August 15
For more information call 415-694-7319.

The Brilliance of Braille Challenge 2020

A reading braille during the Braille Challenge
A young student with Perkins Braille machine during Braille Challenge
A student taking Braille Challenge
A student getting ready to take Braille Challenge
Students taking their tests during the 2020 Northern California Regional Braille Challenge held at LightHouse Headquarters. (Photos by Sarika Dagar)
By Christina Daniels

Every four years, there’s a leap day and every three years, the LightHouse hosts the Northern California Regional Braille Challenge. This year, those two events coincided. On February 29. the Braille Challenge titled, Leap into Literacy, took over LightHouse headquarters. 

The Braille Challenge is a North American contest that tests the braille skills of students in grades K-12. Students are drilled in five categories: reading comprehension, proofreading, spelling, charts & graphs, and speed & accuracy. If a student has one of the top scores in their testing level across the nation, they advance to the finals.

This year LightHouse partnered with the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the California School for the Blind to present the challenge for the Northern California region.

The day kicked off with attorney and LightHouse board member Michael Nuñez, sharing how he uses braille on-the-job and how it was vital to his success throughout his education, from elementary school to law school. He explained that braille helped him to master legal terms and concepts in a way that screen readers and human readers could not. “To me, braille provides independence and freedom,” he said during his keynote speech.

LightHouse Youth Employment Services students were runners during the competition: taking completed tests from the examination rooms to the scoring room. They also observed and noted the leadership and decision-making skills needed to put an event of this kind on in order to discuss it as a group later. Frank Welte, Senior Accessible Media and Braille Specialist at the LightHouse, served as a scorer. He said, “I have been a volunteer scorer for many years. I keep coming back because it is an opportunity for me to apply my professional skills as a certified braille transcriber and to express my passion for braille for the benefit of the next generation of braille readers and their families. Besides, the event generates a lot of positive energy, and it’s just plain fun!”

Students entertained their families, teachers and other guests with music and singing while the tests were scored. Afterwards, prizes were awarded. February 29 only happens once every four years, but the Braille Challenge shows one reason of many why braille should be used and celebrated every day.

Board member’s book launched

Ting Siu holding her newly published textbook.
On Sunday March 8, LightHouse for the Blind Board Member Dr. Ting Siu celebrated the publication of her new textbook: “Access Technology for Blind and Low Vision Accessibility.” 

Out now from APH Press. Around 50 people came out for the book launch. Ting is a professor at San Francisco State University in the Program for Visual Impairments in the Department of Special Education. She began teaching as an aide in the Deaf blind Program at the Perkins School for the Blind. After receiving her master’s degree and dual credentials in deaf blindness and visual impairments at the University of Arizona, Ting worked in New York City as a center and home-based early intervention provider, itinerant teacher of the blind and visually impaired, and assistive technology trainer.

Ting is to be congratulated for writing this superb book in the fast-changing arena of Accessible Technology.

LightHouse Online Programs

3.24, 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Yoga for Every Body Goes Online
 
3.25, 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Optimal Health, Optimal You: Virtual Health Class
 
3.26, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Yoga for Every Body Goes Online
 
3.27, 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Yoga for Every Body Goes Online
 
3.30, 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Yoga for Every Body Goes Online

3.30, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

So you Think you Want a Guide Dog Workshop ONLINE
 
3.31, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Yoga for Every Body Goes Online
 
4.01, 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Optimal Health, Optimal You: Virtual Health Class

4.02, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Youth PLUG-In
 
4.02, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Yoga for Every Body Goes Online
 
4.03, 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Yoga for Every Body Goes Online

Save the date

6.21 to 7.19 
YES 2020 Summer Academy

Are you already dreaming about your summer?
Registrations for Summer sessions at Enchanted Hills Camp are open and filling up fast. Visit the Enchanted Hills Camp 2020 Sessions page on our website.

We guarantee there’s a session for everyone.

10.29
LightHouse Gala ‘greater than 20/20’
Venue: Westin St Francis at Union Square.


This is just a sampler of the many events we host. For a complete listing click here for our online calendar or subscribe to our monthly email, LightHouse Monthly.

Cancellations

Please note that all LightHouse face-to-face classes and groups are suspended for the time being. 

Postponed events:
Bay to Breakers has been moved to September 20 2020


Cycle for Sight is postponed until October 2020 – date to be confirmed.

more
info

The LightHouse blog is the place to go for up-to-date alerts on issues affecting our community, including scholarship opportunities, LightHouse news and events. Go to http://lighthouse-sf.org/blog/.

If you are a youth who is blind or has low vision, or the parent of a youth who is blind or has low vision, you need to sign up for our new Youth Program Events List. This is the email that will tell you all about the LightHouse social, recreational and educational outings and adventures we offer each month, just for you. You’ll also hear about scholarship and other youth related educational and leadership opportunities. To sign up for our Youth Program Events List, or for more information about the program, please contact Jamey Gump, Youth services Coordinator, at 415-694-7372 or jgump@lighthouse-sf.org.

HELPFUL LIGHTHOUSE CONTACTS

For any of the above and more, call Esmeralda Soto, our Information Concierge, at 415-694-7323 or email your questions to info@lighthouse-sf.org.

If you are deaf-blind or blind and hard of hearing, find out more about traveling with confidence, accessing computers and telecommunications and how to read braille by contacting Sook Hee Choi at schoi@lighthouse-sf.org or Video Phone 415-255-5906.

To volunteer or request a volunteer, contact our volunteer department at volunteer@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7320.

To order braille or tactile maps for your school, workplace or organization, contact the MAD Lab at madlab@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7349.

To talk to someone about individual or group counseling, contact Dr. Connie Conley-Jung at cjung@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7307.

To sign up for our Employment Immersion Program, contact Employment Immersion Coordinator Wanda Pearson at wpearson@lighthouse-sf.org or call 415-694-7359.

To make an appointment with our specialized Low Vision Clinic, contact the UC Berkeley Low Vision Clinic at 510-642-5726.

To make a donation, click here.

a big
thank you

The LightHouse wishes to thank its devoted friends and community partners who have recently supported us with significant gifts to help our programs grow and reach higher. These generous donors gave over $1,000 during the months of December 2019 and January 2020.

 Alice Phelan Sullivan Corporation - for general support
Sweta Arora – for general support
Jennison Asuncion – for EHC
Judy Barrett – for EHC
Marie Anne Burkhard – for general support
Business Links - for general support
Kirk and Tamara Dittmar – for EHC
Dodge & Cox Investment Managers – for EHC
Ed & Betty Manoyan Foundation – for general support
Signe Erickson – for general support
The Excel Fund – for general support
Nancy Foss – for rebuilding the Foss Cabin at EHC
Judy Howard Giles and Ray Giles – for EHC
Zarah Gulamhusein - for general support
Gena Harper – for building a Sports Court at EHC
Nancy K. Hayes – for general support
Herbst Foundation – for LightHouse North Coast
Dwight Johnson - for general support
Ronald & Susan Kahn – for EHC
Mr. and Mrs. Komala Kailash – for general support
Jerry Kuns – for the Theresa Postello Scholarship Fund
Kurland Family Foundation – for general support
Inez Martini – for general support
One Market Restaurant – for general support
Rachel Perkins – for EHC
Luciana Profaca – for EHC
Fred Ruhland – for EHC
Sharon and Richard Sacks – for general support
Santen Incorporated - for general support
Richard and Monica Schoenberger – for general support
Seema Shams – for general support
Diane and Howard Slater – for OJ Radio at EHC
Richard Stevens and Virginia Behm – for general support
Subaru of America Founation – for Youth programs
Noemi Szabo – for EHC
Telecare Corporation – for Superfest 2019
The Travers Family Foundation – for general support
Patti Birge Tyson – for general support
Marco A. Vidal Fund - for LightHouse Marin
Volkswagen Group of America – for EHC
Carmen Rose Wayson – for general support
Henry and Sandra Wong – for general support
Bonnie and David Young – for general support
Jacqueline Young – for EHC

donate

Donate online or send checks by mail to:

LightHouse for the Blind
1155 Market Street, 10th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103


IRS 501(c)(3) Federal Tax ID: 94-1415317

Charity Navigator Four Star Charity Badge



Many of our supporters like to give a gift to the LightHouse in their will, as a way to have a lasting impact on a cause that’s important to them. Click here to learn more about leaving a legacy.
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