On October 15, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the first-ever White Cane Safety Day in the United States. Later, in 2011, President Barack Obama declared October 15 as Blind Americans Equality Day. This year, on Sunday October 15, LightHouse is celebrating White Cane Day by walking across the Golden Gate Bridge with approximately 200 members of the blind community and our allies! But what really is White Cane Day? And what does it mean to be visually impaired and use a white cane?
 
Here is some White Cane insight from our LightHouse Staff:
 
“I have been a proud traveler with my white cane for about 50 years. I love to walk. My white cane is an amazingly simple tool that empowers me to independently explore and experience my environment. You might say that October 15, White Cane Day, is my personal independence day. My proudest use of my white cane was to walk independently along every segment of California’s El Camino Real, from the Millbrae BART station, to the California Street Caltrain station near Stanford University in Palo Alto, all during the 13 years that I resided in San Mateo County. Someday, I hope to traverse the entire San Francisco Bay Trail on foot with my cane or guide dog. That’s what independence looks like.” – Frank Welte, Senior Accessible Media and Braille Specialist
 
“My white cane is my right of way. If it is used correctly, the long white cane alerts drivers, it detects obstacles and it clears the crowd. I use various types of long, white canes in different environments. For example, I use a lightweight cane in familiar indoor settings such as my workplace; I use a heavy-duty cane with a roller tip for San Francisco streets, and I have a spare ID cane that is always packed in my backpack when I’m out and about. In addition to the many benefits the white cane provides, I do not have to explain myself when I request a pre-boarding on a plane. The white cane gives me the privilege of getting first in line for amusement park rides or at concerts I attend with family and friends, which they love me more for it. I call it the ‘VIP’ treatment, which I define ‘VIP’ as ‘Visually Impaired Person’ or for others, ‘Very Important Person.’ Either way, I’ll take both!!” – Divina Carlson, Braille Instructor
 
“When I was a boy in Pennsylvania, I used to carry a long aluminum tube with me when I went walking in the woods near our house. I would poke it into holes in the ground, reach up into trees, and blow bubbles in the creek. I had fun with it! When I was first introduced to the white cane at a Changing Vision Changing Life workshop at Enchanted Hills Camp, I felt a little surge of recognition, and said to myself, ‘I can make friends with this cane!’” – Jeff Buckwalter, Access Technology Specialist   
 
“I was diagnosed with Stargardts Retinal Disease when I was 14 and received my first white cane when I was 18. With my level of low vision, my cane is not a tool I use daily, but it has been there for me when I’ve needed it most. I love to travel, but reading street signs, informational screens, or directional signals is very difficult–especially when I’m navigating my way through a new city or crowded airport. This is when my trusty white cane comes into play. When I travel with my cane, I have the confidence to approach people to ask for help or directions. My cane indicates to others that I have low vision, so rather than point their finger into an abyss of blur and confusion, I am often given descriptive and helpful directions or assistance. My cane also acts as a reminder to the sighted world that blind people can be as independent as any other person.” – Caitlin O’Malior, Communications Specialist
 
Here’s some White Cane Tips (pun intended) from LightHouse Orientation & Mobility Specialists:
 
Dakota Disk Cane Tip
Going to the beach with your cane? Worried about sand getting stuck in your roller tip? Try out the Ambutech Dakota Disk Cane Tip, made of light, durable plastic that easily moves over uneven ground. It gets its name from the state in which it was designed, North Dakota, and also works well in snow, slush, mud, and grass. (It’s not designed for prolonged use on cement.)
 
Roller Ball Tip
The roller ball tip is made of nylon and has a bearing on the inside which allows it to rotate left to right and measures about two inches in diameter. Due to the size of this cane tip, it tends to roll over rocky and uneven terrains well. 
 
Jumbo Roller Tip
The jumbo roller cane tip is disc-shaped, resembling a semi-flattened marshmallow, with a build-in protected bearing and rounded outer edge designed to roll left to right. The tip is made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene material and is about 2.5 inches in diameter. This tip rolls over rough terrain and does a good job on grass as well. 
 
All white canes and white cane accessories are 10% off at our Adaptations Store through the end of October.

Please note: The event has been postponed.

LightHouse is proud to once again be partnering with Vision Zero SF to bring conversations and efforts to increase pedestrian safety in San Francisco in the limelight! Next month, on Thursday, November 2, join LightHouse CEO Sharon Giovinazzo and autonomous vehicle experts as we discuss pedestrian safety and the future of safer transit options for San Francisco visitors and residents. This will be a hybrid event; participants may attend in person at the LightHouse HQ or virtually. For those who would like to attend virtually, a link to access the forum will be emailed the day prior.
 
This forum is made possible by generous funding from the San Francisco Public Health Foundation and the City and County of San Francisco.
 
More About Vision Zero
The City and County of San Francisco adopted Vision Zero as a policy in 2014, committing to build better and safer streets, educate the public on traffic safety, enforce traffic laws, and adopt policy changes that save lives. The goal is to create a culture that prioritizes traffic safety and to ensure that mistakes on our roadways don’t result in severe injuries or death. The result of this collaborative, citywide effort will be safer, more livable streets as we work to eliminate traffic deaths.

Every year, National Industries for the Blind (NIB) holds their annual Training Conference and Expo just outside their headquarters city of Alexandria, Virginia, in Washington D.C. During this five-day event, NIB affiliated agencies, like LightHouse, come together to showcase the products and materials they produce and the services they provide, as well as build relationships, strengthen our community, and breakdown employment barriers—at an individual level through education and empowerment, and on a national level through public policies and advocacy.

At LightHouse’s Sirkin Center in Alameda, we manufacture the highest quality eco-friendly cleaning products and tissue packets. These products, which serve communities and companies around the world, provide the utmost utility to clients, and demonstrate the strength and caliber of our facility. In addition to producing industry leading and two time EPA Safer Choice award-winning cleaning products, Sirkin Center provides employment and fosters the opportunity for our employees to gain valuable experience to advance their careers in customer service, shipping and receiving, inventory management and light manufacturing. Today, over 70% of the direct labor is provided by staff members who are blind or have low vision.

LightHouse is proud to be in the presence of other NIB partners whose missions to promote independence, community, and equity created by and with blind and low vision people reflect our own.

But, of all the incredible workshops, training sessions, and fireside chats, the highlight of the NIB Conference and Expo is honoring the dedicated and impactful individuals who have been voted to represent their agency as an NIB Employee of the Year. For LightHouse, we spent the last several days honoring and celebrating LightHouse Sirkin Center employee, Alex Flores!

Alex was first introduced to LightHouse in 2014 as a young adult when he attended the Hatlen Center for the Blind in San Pablo. Originally from the San Diego area, Alex traveled to the Bay Area to further his education and Independent Living Skills. It was at this time that friends and fellow Hatlen Center students told Alex about LightHouse. In the summers of 2018 and 2019 Alex found himself working at Enchanted Hills Camp, first as a counselor then a Recreation Area Leader the following summer. With the encouragement from EHC Camp Director, Tony Fletcher, Alex eventually found himself applying for a position at LightHouse. In June of 2020, when the world was faced with a global pandemic and so many businesses closed and people stayed home, Alex went to work as a Warehouse Assistant at LightHouse.

We sat down and chatted with the Employee of the Year to learn more about his time at the Sirkin Center, his current role, and what’s in store for the future.

What has it been like working for the Sirkin Center since your start in 2020?

I would say it has been a consistent path of growth. I went from being a quiet person, doing my own thing in the corner of the warehouse, and progressed overtime— especially as we began shifting to production in the new Alameda location. As part of the move, I began taking initiative and learning as much as I could about the machinery, and learning from my co-workers, Tino and Chris, who I also knew from our days working together at EHC. Once the move to the Sirkin Center in Alameda from the warehouse in San Leandro was complete, I began working more closely with the machinery and began learning under Chris Peterson. Overtime, I was able to operate the machinery independently. That shift happened between 2021 and 2022, which led me to transition into a leadership position. In 2023, at the beginning of the year, the position for Chemical Production Line Leader opened up. I applied for the position and got the job.

Walk us through a day as Chemical Production Line Leader at Sirkin Center…

My day starts at 6:30 AM. I like to come in early and set up the machinery, because that does take some time, and depends on what product line we are working on and what product we are filling that day. Set up usually takes 30 minutes to an hour. In that time, I verify that the machines I cleaned the day prior are still ready to go, I organize all the materials needed for that day—labels, caps, bottles, sprayers, whatever we need— then I begin reassembling the machines that get taken apart after the last time they have been used. Then I hook up the machines to our chemical totes. The totes are between 250 gallons to 310 gallons, depending on the product. Then we start filling and testing for quality control and making sure the machine is running smoothly. That’s all within the first hour—it may sound like a lot but once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty smoothly. 

What do you enjoy most about your job at Sirkin Center?

The thing I feel most rewarded by, really, is being able to engage with my coworkers as I move up and down the line throughout the day. To me, being able to interact with my coworkers and help them out where they need it, or sometimes have them tell me what it is they need from me to help make their job easier or more efficient, that’s the most rewarding part.

When were you told you are named Employee of the Year, and what does that mean to you?

I think I was told around the end of August. It means a lot to me. It means that somebody somewhere has a lot of trust in me to do what it is I need to do. It means a lot to be recognized because I do work really hard. I really enjoy the work and I believe in the mission to provide opportunities to work and grow as part of LightHouse. And that’s my overall goal—to be there as a leader to support everyone who works along beside me. 

Where do you see yourself in the future?

In the short term, I hope to continue to grow with the team I work with. I want to help some of them reach their own personal goals as far as working with different departments or growing within the warehouse. So, I really just hope to grow my leadership skills. I still have a lot to learn and a lot to grow, and I’m glad I have the opportunity to do it with LightHouse.

Members of the public are invited to attend the Thursday, November 2 meeting of the Board of Directors of San Francisco’s LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. This meeting will be a hybrid meeting and runs from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm Pacific.
 
30 minutes will be reserved for public comment, and members of the public will have up to three minutes to comment. If you would like to reserve a slot to speak, please complete the LightHouse Public Comment and RSVP Sign Up form. Please submit your comments as far in advance as possible. Comments must be received before noon Pacific on Wednesday, November 1 to be included in the agenda.
 
If you wish to attend this meeting in person, it will be held at LightHouse San Francisco headquarters at 1155 Market St. 10^th Floor, San Francisco.

Get directions to LightHouse San Francisco.
 
If you are attending virtually, please fill out the LightHouse Public Comment and RSVP Sing Up form. Whether you plan to have a public comment or not, you will need to fill out this form to get the Zoom info. Zoom information will be emailed to you closer to the date of the board meeting.