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LightHouse News

LightHouse News

Learn Something New and Discover Your Potential at the LightHouse

LightHouse programs and services help people who are blind or visually impaired to connect with information and education that can enhance their independence. For many individuals, that includes employment.

October is Disability Employment Awareness and Mentoring Month, inspired by the idea of full inclusion and the creation of jobs for those with disabilities, as well as career development opportunities that make that inclusion a reality.

This month, training opportunities available at the LightHouse include a series of “Changing Vision, Changing Your Life” classes for adults 55 and older that provide an overview of options and cover a range of strategies for independent living, and a seminar that will show participants how to get organized using the latest technologies. Classes and events like these not only promote the development of specific skills that can lead to competitive employment, but also offer chances to connect with mentors and friends, new and old.

To learn about all of the classes and activities we offer, visit the LightHouse Facebook page.

LightHouse News

Braille Notetaker Workshop

When:  Saturday, September 25, 10:00 a.m. to noon

Learn how Braille Notetaker consumers are using their devices. The new generation of Notetakers can get on the web, read mp3 and Daisy files, give directions using GPS and much more. Join us at the San Francisco office for this fascinating workshop, which will include the opportunity to see a variety of Notetakers. We’ll have an audience discussion about the devices with consumers who use them.

LightHouse News

Wifi Isn't the Only New Thing at the LightHouse

1 Commenton Wifi Isn't the Only New Thing at the LightHouse

We want the LightHouse to be your third place.

In The Great, Good Place, author Ray Oldenburg talks about society’s third places as being “anchors” of communities that are distinctly different from our “first” and “second” places (home and work) and that facilitate broader, more creative interaction. He suggests that the hallmarks of a third place are that it’s free or inexpensive, offers food and drink, is highly accessible and proximate, involves regulars, is welcoming and comfortable and is a place where friends, new and old, can be found.

We’re working hard to make the LightHouse your third place. Though we don’t have a barista on staff, yet (smile), there’s plenty going on that might make you want to hang out with us:

Free, lightning fast wifi all over the building. You can now visit us and get comfortable with your laptop in the various nooks and crannies of the building. No matter where you are, your signal strength will be strong. Just ask the receptionist for the access code.

Oysters and beer. This month, the LightHouse will kick off its first homebrewing class, where you can make and bottle beer. Classes are fully accessible and all bottles will feature Braille labels. Thanks to Rogue Ales for their support in offering this new class! Additionally, we’re planning a trip to the Hog Island Oyster Farm in October. Participants will learn about Tomales Bay ecology and sustainable oyster farming, and everyone will shuck their own oysters! As we add new classes and opportunities like these, education and access are the top priorities, along with fun. To be a part of these new offerings and programs, learn about them first by subscribing to the monthly LightHouse News. Sign up at www.lbvi.staging.wpengine.com.com.

Friends, fun and fitness. On November 20, we’ll launch Team LightHouse, a group of dedicated supporters who will sign up to walk, jog or run the San Francisco Half-Marathon on February 6, 2011 in support of our Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa. Team LightHouse members pledge to raise $100 for every mile – that’s $1,300 each – to benefit camp. Who needs a New Year’s resolution to get fit? Join Team LightHouse today and work your way up to the half-marathon through the complimentary training program offered by our partner Marathon Matt. Make friends, get fit, raise money. Learn more by visiting http://bit.ly/teamlighthouse.

Meditation. When you’ve had enough oysters and beer and you can’t run anymore, the LightHouse also offers the chance to slow down and breathe deeply. Starting on October 5, every Tuesday evening from 5:30 – 6:30, the LightHouse will offer a Mindfulness, Movement and Meditation class designed to help you relax and keep your mind and body flexible (suggested $5 donation to attend). If you’re new to yoga or meditation, these classes at the LightHouse can be a great way to get comfortable with the process in an environment with built-in access. From here, you can build the confidence to continue your yoga or meditation practice in your own community.

Please Touch Community Garden. Have you ever noticed the vacant, trash strewn lot on Grove Street in San Francisco, in the very shadow of City Hall? Our neighborhood deserves better. Over the next year, this lot will be transformed into a beautiful urban arts garden, to be planted and maintained by LightHouse program participants and members of the blind community. Spearheaded by local artist Gk Callahan, the garden will be unlike any other in the area – unlike any other in the nation. Stay tuned to the LightHouse web-site to keep up with the latest developments.

What else can we do to make us your third place? Better coffee or more of it? More places to sit? More classes? What kinds? Let us know at rrusso@old.lighthouse-sf.org. We want to hear from you!

LightHouse News

Wifi Isn’t the Only New Thing at the LightHouse

1 Commenton Wifi Isn’t the Only New Thing at the LightHouse

We want the LightHouse to be your third place.

In The Great, Good Place, author Ray Oldenburg talks about society’s third places as being “anchors” of communities that are distinctly different from our “first” and “second” places (home and work) and that facilitate broader, more creative interaction. He suggests that the hallmarks of a third place are that it’s free or inexpensive, offers food and drink, is highly accessible and proximate, involves regulars, is welcoming and comfortable and is a place where friends, new and old, can be found.

We’re working hard to make the LightHouse your third place. Though we don’t have a barista on staff, yet (smile), there’s plenty going on that might make you want to hang out with us:

Free, lightning fast wifi all over the building. You can now visit us and get comfortable with your laptop in the various nooks and crannies of the building. No matter where you are, your signal strength will be strong. Just ask the receptionist for the access code.

Oysters and beer. This month, the LightHouse will kick off its first homebrewing class, where you can make and bottle beer. Classes are fully accessible and all bottles will feature Braille labels. Thanks to Rogue Ales for their support in offering this new class! Additionally, we’re planning a trip to the Hog Island Oyster Farm in October. Participants will learn about Tomales Bay ecology and sustainable oyster farming, and everyone will shuck their own oysters! As we add new classes and opportunities like these, education and access are the top priorities, along with fun. To be a part of these new offerings and programs, learn about them first by subscribing to the monthly LightHouse News. Sign up at old.lighthouse-sf.org.

Friends, fun and fitness. On November 20, we’ll launch Team LightHouse, a group of dedicated supporters who will sign up to walk, jog or run the San Francisco Half-Marathon on February 6, 2011 in support of our Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa. Team LightHouse members pledge to raise $100 for every mile – that’s $1,300 each – to benefit camp. Who needs a New Year’s resolution to get fit? Join Team LightHouse today and work your way up to the half-marathon through the complimentary training program offered by our partner Marathon Matt. Make friends, get fit, raise money. Learn more by visiting http://bit.ly/teamlighthouse.

Meditation. When you’ve had enough oysters and beer and you can’t run anymore, the LightHouse also offers the chance to slow down and breathe deeply. Starting on October 5, every Tuesday evening from 5:30 – 6:30, the LightHouse will offer a Mindfulness, Movement and Meditation class designed to help you relax and keep your mind and body flexible (suggested $5 donation to attend). If you’re new to yoga or meditation, these classes at the LightHouse can be a great way to get comfortable with the process in an environment with built-in access. From here, you can build the confidence to continue your yoga or meditation practice in your own community.

Please Touch Community Garden. Have you ever noticed the vacant, trash strewn lot on Grove Street in San Francisco, in the very shadow of City Hall? Our neighborhood deserves better. Over the next year, this lot will be transformed into a beautiful urban arts garden, to be planted and maintained by LightHouse program participants and members of the blind community. Spearheaded by local artist Gk Callahan, the garden will be unlike any other in the area – unlike any other in the nation. Stay tuned to the LightHouse web-site to keep up with the latest developments.

What else can we do to make us your third place? Better coffee or more of it? More places to sit? More classes? What kinds? Let us know at rrusso@old.lighthouse-sf.org. We want to hear from you!

LightHouse News

Macular Degeneration: Vision Education Seminar

Join us today as the LightHouse hosts the “Be Informed” Vision Education Seminar on Macular Degeneration.

Click here to listen via web streaming , or visit http://www.lbvi.staging.wpengine.com.com/listen.m3u. The call in conference number is 888-275-8713, guest code 258

Dr. Robert Greer, O.D. and Chief of Low Vision at the UC Berkeley Low Vision Clinic will be joined by Dr. Shirin Barez MD, Ophthalmologist and faculty at UC Berkeley School of Optometry; Dr. Marlena Chu O.D. and panel of LightHouse Vision Rehabilitation Specialists and peers with macular degeneration. Together they will discuss the implications of macular degeneration, current treatments, and benefits of a low vision evaluation and training.

LightHouse News

Dialogue with the Director

LightHouse CEO Bryan Bashin has established a regular time to personally hear from any community member about LightHouse services and opportunities for our organization.

Join us on Tuesday, October 12, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

We’ll offer light refreshments and a chance to spend an hour or two with Bryan, brainstorming, listening and thinking together. All topics and all community members are welcome. Bring your ideas, your passions and your community connections.

To reserve your place in the dialogue, please call Chuck Godwin at 415-694-7348 or email him at cgodwin@old.lighthouse-sf.org by 5:00 p.m. Monday, October 11.

LightHouse News

Live from Taipei, Part Two

Richard Rueda, Director of Community Services, is visiting Taipei, Taiwan, as part of a delegation of leaders in the blind community.

On the second day of our Taipei leadership excursion, the contingent of presenters attended a Taiwan Digital Talking Books Association (TDTB) meeting at TDTB headquarters in downtown Taipei.

Upon arrival, all presenters met with Mr. Jerry Wang, TDTB President, and were greeted with gifts from Taipei. We later discussed the critical mission of the organization and employment trends of the Taiwan blind community. After a conference briefing and a quick tour of the TDTB agency, we walked to a nearby favorite lunch spot, where we feasted on seafood soups and various rice noodle entrees.

During lunch, Mr. Wang and I discussed possible partnerships between TDTB and the LightHouse. Mr. Wang and Ludy Lee, his associate, would like to assist the LightHouse in achieving its goal of reaching out to the Chinese blind community by donating some talking books in Mandarin. Additional employment-related briefings were held to assist both organizations in understanding and best serving the global employment needs of the blind community.

Other guest presenters attending this international conference included blind leaders from Hong Kong Society for the Blind, a blind leader from Japan and Robert Turner from Bookshare.org in Palo Alto, California.

We spent Monday afternoon going over the conference agenda for the next two days, followed by another business dinner in the heart of the Taipei tourist and business district.

The TDTB conference started Tuesday. I was the keynote speaker with a presentation on best practices of employing the greatest number of blind and low vision persons. The conference was expected to attract more than 200 rehabilitation officers and members of the business sector hoping to learn about and increase their working knowledge on employment and job retention of the blind and low vision community.

Writer’s note: At the time I wrote this post, I didn’t have the complete name and title of each guest presenter. Additionally, I apologize for not including pictures; my iPhone isn’t working with the WiFi so they may have to wait until I return to the office next week.

LightHouse News

Live from Taipei

Richard Rueda, Director of Community Services, is visiting Taipei, Taiwan, as part of a delegation of leaders in the blind community.

I arrived in Taipei City, Taiwan, with Sam Chen and Rob Turner (from Bookshare.org) early on the morning of September 12 via direct flight from SFO.

After a nearly 13-hour flight, Rob and I were met at our hotel (The Guesthouse) by two docents who provided us with a daylong tour of Taipei City. This city excursion included visiting the very popular Forest Park (similar to Golden Gate Park), where families and their children played in the playground and others meditated. There was also an international festival being set up in another pocket of the park.

Another section of the park included a 50-yard stretch of pavement with stones the size of tennis balls affixed to the sidewalk. The arrangement of these round, smooth stones was for brave folks who dared to take off their shoes and socks to walk on and between the surface (the idea being that walking one’s bare feet over and in between these stones would apply pressure to sore areas, thus creating a massage that ultimately would begin to reduce foot stress). Rob and I both took the challenge and walked part of this stone pathway. And, indeed, it was an exhilarating and foot-awakening experience.

Our tour continued from there as we next headed to a temple where the worship of five gods was a common practice. The temple visit was followed by a ride on the local Taipei mass transit bus system to a restaurant where the group tried octopus, fried radish cakes and other local samplings from a platter of snacks.

In the early afternoon we enjoyed a visit to see the changing of the guard at a nearby memorial site, complete with a 10-minute ritual ceremony.

Wrapping up the day, we headed to downtown Taipei, where we were joined by more conference presenters and guests totaling 15 persons. We lined up to eat dumplings and soup at a very popular restaurant that is known throughout Taiwan as the place to eat at. Each dumpling was handmade by the restaurant staff.

As you walk into this four-story restaurant, you pass rows of staff dressed in black and white, frantically assembling trays of dumplings for patrons. Originally famous for selling cooking oils to the community decades ago, they later learned that their calling was in pastry and dumpling production. Later, the restaurant stopped selling oil and focused on pastry and dumpling sales. Had we not had our special reservation, which is difficult to get, we would have stood in line for over two hours.