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A Light In the Dark
“Everything has its wonders,” Helen Keller once said, “even darkness and silence.” Darkness affects many of our Central Florida residents who are living with vision impairment. Imagine not being able to see the look on your son or daughter’s face this Christmas, having difficulty finding a rewarding career or even having difficulty reading this blog post. Lighthouse Central Florida is a non-profit organization that is looking to correct these things and ensure that there are still wonders to be experienced in both light and darkness for our vision-impaired neighbors.
Lighthouse Central Florida’s (LCF) mission is to promote the independence and full integration of sight –impaired persons throughout the community. LCF is the sole provider of nationally accredited comprehensive vision rehabilitation services for persons of all ages who reside in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Sumter and Marion Counties by nationally certified professionals. While there are no income requirements to receive services, most services are provided without charge to the consumers who tend to be low income. Services help persons with low vision or blindness excel in independent living skills, succeed in school, train for/obtain and keep living wage jobs, and give the ability to participate fully in community life.
LCF evolved from the Center for Independence, Training and Education (CITE) as two open campus courses at Valencia Community College offering training and support to parents of young children with severe vision impairment and independent living skills training and support to adults who had recently lost a significant amount of vision. In 1984 the staff and alumni of CITE created the non-profit organization that today makes up Lighthouse Central Florida.
LCF currently provides services to 750 sight-impaired persons and their families each year. They also provide sensitivity training and technical assistance to over 10,000 people throughout the community.
Our community depends on the hospitality industry and LCF has created a brand new program that provides training and job development/placement services to sight impaired adults who are interested in working in this industry. They also work with the employers to ensure that they have tools and resources that they need in order to effectively employ persons with sight-impairment.
Their programs are not only limited to helping adults find work. They also help children & teens get the services they need in order to succeed in school and be able to go on to higher educations and vocations. LCF has state-of-the-art low vision services that enable person with residual vision to maximize that ability. In addition, they provide sensitivity training to schools, employers and civic groups to begin to understand the impact of vision loss and other disabilities and what a difference the concepts and practice of universal design can make for a community.
How You Can Get Involved
Lighthouse Central Florida’s inaugural Careers in Hospitality Service class is graduated on November 20, 2008 at 3 pm at Lighthouse and was open to the public to attend (*check out The Community Guide online for video from the graduation). They also have a very special “touchable” Christmas Tree in the Orlando Museum of Art’s Festival of Trees again this year. “Can, Too!” the school-aged children’s program is endeavoring to raise money for the increasingly costly transportation of adults to and from services at Lighthouse through a project called, “100 Rides.”
Lighthouse needs more support to be able to keep up with the growing demand for services. Sight impairment is increasing rapidly due to 1) the epidemic of diabetes which often leads to diabetic retinopathy, 2) the prevalence of macular degeneration, and 3) blindness due to glaucoma. As the sole provider of these services, we must continue to increase awareness, support and strategies for success.
Lighthouse Central Florida is making a difference in the daily lives of people living with vision-impairment. They help our community residents experience many of the everyday joys that we take for granted. We hope that you will support this amazing organization and learn more about how you can help your neighbors step out of the darkness!
Patrick O’Brien
To Learn More
Lighthouse Central Florida
For Volunteer Information
407.898.2483
For Services or Information
Lighthouse Central Florida
215 East New Hampshire Street
Orlando, FL 32804
Phone: 407-898-2483 (Orlando)
352-348-3677 (The Villages)
Lighthouse Central Florida’s (LCF) mission is to promote the independence and full integration of sight –impaired persons throughout the community. LCF is the sole provider of nationally accredited comprehensive vision rehabilitation services for persons of all ages who reside in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Sumter and Marion Counties by nationally certified professionals. While there are no income requirements to receive services, most services are provided without charge to the consumers who tend to be low income. Services help persons with low vision or blindness excel in independent living skills, succeed in school, train for/obtain and keep living wage jobs, and give the ability to participate fully in community life.
LCF evolved from the Center for Independence, Training and Education (CITE) as two open campus courses at Valencia Community College offering training and support to parents of young children with severe vision impairment and independent living skills training and support to adults who had recently lost a significant amount of vision. In 1984 the staff and alumni of CITE created the non-profit organization that today makes up Lighthouse Central Florida.
LCF currently provides services to 750 sight-impaired persons and their families each year. They also provide sensitivity training and technical assistance to over 10,000 people throughout the community.
Our community depends on the hospitality industry and LCF has created a brand new program that provides training and job development/placement services to sight impaired adults who are interested in working in this industry. They also work with the employers to ensure that they have tools and resources that they need in order to effectively employ persons with sight-impairment.
Their programs are not only limited to helping adults find work. They also help children & teens get the services they need in order to succeed in school and be able to go on to higher educations and vocations. LCF has state-of-the-art low vision services that enable person with residual vision to maximize that ability. In addition, they provide sensitivity training to schools, employers and civic groups to begin to understand the impact of vision loss and other disabilities and what a difference the concepts and practice of universal design can make for a community.
How You Can Get Involved
Lighthouse Central Florida’s inaugural Careers in Hospitality Service class is graduated on November 20, 2008 at 3 pm at Lighthouse and was open to the public to attend (*check out The Community Guide online for video from the graduation). They also have a very special “touchable” Christmas Tree in the Orlando Museum of Art’s Festival of Trees again this year. “Can, Too!” the school-aged children’s program is endeavoring to raise money for the increasingly costly transportation of adults to and from services at Lighthouse through a project called, “100 Rides.”
Lighthouse needs more support to be able to keep up with the growing demand for services. Sight impairment is increasing rapidly due to 1) the epidemic of diabetes which often leads to diabetic retinopathy, 2) the prevalence of macular degeneration, and 3) blindness due to glaucoma. As the sole provider of these services, we must continue to increase awareness, support and strategies for success.
Lighthouse Central Florida is making a difference in the daily lives of people living with vision-impairment. They help our community residents experience many of the everyday joys that we take for granted. We hope that you will support this amazing organization and learn more about how you can help your neighbors step out of the darkness!
Patrick O’Brien
To Learn More
Lighthouse Central Florida
For Volunteer Information
407.898.2483
For Services or Information
Lighthouse Central Florida
215 East New Hampshire Street
Orlando, FL 32804
Phone: 407-898-2483 (Orlando)
352-348-3677 (The Villages)
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