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Transportation and Travel

LightHouse News

Family Fun Night with the LightHouse Youth Program

Three youth playing “cotton ball scoop” - a timed game where they had to move cotton balls, using just a spoon in their mouths, from one bowl to another bowl that is placed on a team-mates head. Each player is given 5 minutes to move as many as they can. The team with the most cotton balls at the end of 5 minutes wins.In early March members of our Youth Program and their families from around the Bay Area gathered to participate in the first Family Game Night of 2015. The evening was filled with good old-fashioned fun that had each family working as a team. There was a mummy race, a paper airplane throwing contest, a frozen t-shirt race, a cotton ball scoop race, Tactile Twister and more. The evening finished up with families facing off in the egg drop competition.

If you’d like to learn about LightHouse Youth programs or be included in the next Youth Leaders Summit, as a student or as a mentor, please contact Jamey Gump, Youth services Coordinator, at 415-694-7372 or jgump@old.lighthouse-sf.org.

Did you know we have a Youth Program eNewsletter? If you are a blind or a low vision youth, or the parent of someone who is blind or low vision, you need to sign up for it! 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 blind and low vision youth. You’ll also hear about scholarship and other youth related educational and leadership opportunities. To sign up for our Youth Program Newsletter, or for more information about the program, please contact Jamey Gump, Youth services Coordinator, at 415-694-7372 or jgump@old.lighthouse-sf.org.

LightHouse News

Cycle for Sight Spotlight – Gena Harper

GenaHarper


Please support Gena Harper in this year’s Cycle for Sight by sponsoring her ride.

We are thrilled to have LightHouse Board member and 2011 U.S. National Para-cycling Team member Gena Harper riding again in Cycle for Sight.

Gena is no stranger to triumph in the face of challenge. She was born with limited vision but this did not stop her from becoming Senior Vice President-Wealth Management, and Senior Investment Management Consultant at Morgan Stanley and one of the few blind people in the U. S. investment industry to win a bronze medal in the National Handicapped Ski Championships.

With her strong commitment to volunteerism and philanthropy, Gena is also a champion for Enchanted Hills Camp. She met her husband Mike May at Enchanted Hills Camp, and they married last year under the redwoods at Enchanted Hills Chapel. She got her cycling start as a tandem rider at Cycle for Sight four years ago. This year she will ride the 25 mile route with her son.

Her words of wisdom to blind cyclists? “Just do it. Get a partner and make it happen. There’s always a way. Work hard and be creative!”

Go Gena! Come out to Cycle for Sight in Napa and watch Gena fly by to her next challenge. Support her in this year’s Cycle for Sight by sponsoring her ride. Simply go to our donation page and select Cycle for Sight as your giving designation. You’ll want to put Gena’s name in the “I want my donation to be dedicated:” field.

LightHouse News

A Few Spots Still Open in Our Innovative Introduction to Blindness Group at Our Napa Retreat

1 Commenton A Few Spots Still Open in Our Innovative Introduction to Blindness Group at Our Napa Retreat

Immersion students and teachers pose next to Lake Lokoya on a crisp, chilly dayAre you an adult who is experiencing changing vision? We invite you to join us for this week-long training in the fresh air and verdant grounds of our Enchanted Hills Retreat. You’ll learn a boatload of best practices for maintaining your independence while enjoying this beautiful setting.

In the last three years the Lighthouse has offered the pioneering Changing Vision Changing Life immersion training programs at our Enchanted Hills Retreat in Napa. Each training session brings together up to 25 adult students of all ages, from Northern California and the Central Valley, who are either new to low vision or blindness, or have had a significant change in vision and have requested additional training. We invite adults to join us for this week-long training in the fresh air and verdant grounds of our Enchanted Hills Retreat. You’ll learn a boatload of best practices for maintaining your independence while enjoying this beautiful setting.

These sessions are always free to participants 55 years or older, but you’ll need to make arrangements by calling Debbie Bacon by April 6, 2015.

  • Dates of our next session: April 12 through 17, 2015
  • Transportation is provided from San Rafael, San Francisco, Emeryville Amtrak and Ashby BART
  • There is no cost to attend if you are 55 or older and living in San Francisco, Alameda, Marin, Humboldt or Del Norte counties.
  • For more information please contact Debbie Bacon, LightHouse Rehabilitation Counselor, at 415-694-7357 or dbacon@old.lighthouse-sf.org

Some of the areas we’ll cover during the week include ways to read printed materials; understanding how lighting, contrast and magnification can help you every day; suggestions for organizing and labeling in your home or office; best methods for taking notes and keeping a calendar; basic cooking skills; traveling and moving safely and confidently in your home and in the community; managing finances; the joys of an accessible computer and other low tech equipment and more. We’ll also make suggestions on how to talk to your family and friends about what would help you best.

While gaining new skills and confidence with changing vision is the overall theme of the week, the experience of coming together with other adults, both students and teachers, who are low vision or blind, to learn or relearn skills, and to get back into the stream of life remains a pivotal part of the week long experience. And it doesn’t stop there – we will also follow-up with you to see how you are doing and help keep you focused on what you’ve just learned.

Our next Changing Vision Changing Life session is April 12 through April 17. Just call or email Debbie Bacon by April 6 at 415-694-7357 or dbacon@old.lighthouse-sf.org for more information. We look forward to seeing you at Enchanted Hills.

LightHouse News

LightHouse High-Tech Navigation Gets National Radio Coverage

bryanbashinhockenberryinterview3_20015Last month Emmy and Peabody award winning journalist and author John Hockenberry interviewed LightHouse CEO Bryan Bashin for his radio show “The Takeaway”. The interview, which was first broadcast on NPR on March 24, highlights the LightHouse’s efforts to help advance blind travel options, including our talking transit maps. The segment begins with a fascinating interview with LightHouse student and blind backpacker Marc Sutton as he takes a journalist on a tour of the BART system using our BART maps.

Listen to the entire segment.

Also on that same webpage, look for the Soundcloud file of another piece of Marc’s interview, or watch Marc as he scales mountains in the LightHouse video “Alive”.

LightHouse News

LightHouse Youth to Explore Blindness at NFB National Convention

1 Commenton LightHouse Youth to Explore Blindness at NFB National Convention

“I was amazed by the forest of [white] canes in the convention hall”.
– Julie Cabrera, who attended last year’s NFB National Convention with the LightHouse Youth Program

What: LightHouse will take select youth to the 2015 NFB National Convention in Orlando, Florida
When: July 4 through July 11 2015

We welcome youth to join our expanding youth programs and attend some of the many local and national blindness events. In July, the LightHouse Youth Program will be taking twelve students between the ages of 16 and 21 to attend the 75th annual National Convention of the National Federation of the Blind, in Orlando, Florida. Students who take part in this trip will have the chance to test their independence, learn new skills and ideas, network with people from around the country and meet role models that can provide life-changing advice. The LightHouse will provide airfare and lodging for participants.

The National Federation of the Blind convention is an annual gathering of 3,000+ blind and low vision individuals who come together to learn about the latest technology, share new ideas with others and discuss issues important to the blind and low vision community. It’s the largest single blindness convention in the world and consequently really worth an exploration. Most who go say that their first convention was a life-changing experience – this is a place where using a cane is cool and reading braille makes you the boss.

Why should I go?
-Gain advice, wisdom and network with blind mentors
-Meet intelligent, charismatic and fun people from around the country
-Share and discuss issues, ideas and perspectives of importance to the blind community
-Learn about the latest and greatest technologies for people who are blind or low vision

Who is eligible to go?
Youth between the ages of 16 and 21
Youth that will be available to attend the entire trip from July 4 to July 11
Our top priority is to introduce first time attendees to the Convention. If you have already attended let us know that you’d like to attend again and we’ll fit you in if we can.
Youth under 18 years old must have parental consent to attend

What do I have to do to attend?
To attend with the LightHouse Youth Program, you must fill out an application and have a phone interview.

Please note:
You must participate in all assigned events and activities during the Convention.
During the Convention you will be matched with a mentor (through the National Association of Blind Students or NABS) who will work with you will introduce you to all aspects of the Convention.

Submit your application no later than May 15 to Jamey Gump, LightHouse Youth Services Coordinator. Click here to fill out the online application. For more information or to ask questions about this great opportunity, please contact Jamey at 415-694-7372 or jgump@old.lighthouse-sf.org.

The LightHouse believes that giving convention opportunities to our blind community is a great way to accelerate understanding about blindness and personal possibilities. After the Orlando trip in July, our Youth Program will enable blind youth to attend the annual convention of the California Council of the Blind in October, in Southern California. Please contact Jamey Gump if you’d like to get on his list for that convention.

Did you know we have a Youth Program Events List? This email will tell you all about the LightHouse social, recreational and educational outings and adventures we offer each month, just for blind and low vision youth. In addition to upcoming events, you’ll find out about scholarship and other educational and leadership opportunities.

To sign up for our Youth Program Events List, or for more information about the Program, please contact Jamey Gump at 415-694-7372 or jgump@old.lighthouse-sf.org.

LightHouse News

Accessible BART Station Maps are Now On Sale at Adaptations

The Bay Area is full of wonderful opportunities for entertainment, outdoor activity, shopping and so much more, much of it available to residents and tourists alike by using BART and other facets of our public transportation system. We all know a good map is key to understanding how to get around efficiently but if you are blind or have low vision you will likely find printed maps less than helpful. That’s why the LightHouse has created maps of BART stations for blind people: maps that convey information through touch and through sound.

Hand holding smart pen on accessible BART mapFor the first time a person who is blind can look at a map in their office, at school or at home and orient themselves to the BART station they plan on visiting, plan a path of travel from the entrance to the turnstiles, to the platform, and then off the train and to the bus stop. The LightHouse has mapped all 44 BART stations; three views each – street, concourse and platform; because you want to know not just where trains go, but how to get in and out of, and around stations. And these audio-tactile maps talk with the aid of a Livescribe Smartpen.

Here’s how it works: Imagine you have an Accessible BART Station Map in your hands. You feel the raised lines and braille symbols. A “b” inside an orange oval represents a bus stop; a “t” in a red triangle represents a taxi stand; there are distinct symbols for stairs, elevators and escalators. Say you want to learn more about that bus stop. Tap it with the Smartpen and you hear “Bus stop on the East side of Mission Street. Buses from this stop: Muni 14, 14L and 49″. That’s far more information than could be squeezed, as braille, into the 5/8″ oval on the page. And the map is printed on a piece of paper that fits into a standard binder.

The Smartpens for sale at Adaptations are pre-loaded with software that makes these maps speak. The key to map symbols sells for $12.00, the Smartpen is $119.00, and each station map ranges in price (depending on its size) from $6.00 to $20.00. You can purchase a binder that includes every BART station map, or buy stations individually as you need them.

For more information, call Adaptations at (415) 694-7301 or stop by our store at 214 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays.

Do you need our experts in advanced blind design to improve the accessibility of your work place? Contact LightHouse for the Blind at 415-694-7349 or madlab@old.lighthouse-sf.org.

LightHouse News

Blind Immersion Training Week Jump-Starts Eleven Students to Success

Immersion students and teachers pose next to Lake Lokoya on a crisp, chilly dayLast month students from the Bay Area and North Coast came together for Changing Vision Changing Life Immersion week at Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind. The Immersion is a week-long session where students have a real workout on the skills that will keep them as independent as possible with changing vision, whether it be improving their use of the technology that brings the print world to them or walking with confidence through our beautiful campgrounds.

Why come to Changing Vision Changing Life Immersion? As one student said, “It was time for me. Time to learn how to do things differently, time to become more independent, time to start living.” Each day during Immersion is a long one, but highly fulfilling. Guided by our talented teaching team, participants work individually or in small groups. Bonds of peer support develop, some lasting well beyond the week. The days are punctuated by delicious, healthy meals and bookended by morning yoga and late night walks in the fresh air of Enchanted Hills. The Immersion program is powerful, propelling people forward in their lives, like a rocket booster into the future.

Rocky Camp and his sister, Jane Micks, both have low vision caused by the same eye condition. Rocky told us, “I felt tremendous trepidation before I arrived at camp…But from the moment I arrived, I felt as if I was with my compatriots; those who, from their own personal experience, shared my journey. Your staff was amazing. Right from the very beginning there was just this wonderful lightness, a sense of humor, which really made me feel comfortable. I learned so much…my assessment of the week can be encapsulated in one phrase; life changing.”

The days during Immersion are filled with opportunities for connection. Our new mentor trainers, Gail McGaster and Jeff Buckwalter both have low vision and they shared their experiences and learned from the students’ stories. Six of the students, all who have changing vision due to retinitis pigmentosa, found this commonality led to good conversations and rapport. And LightHouse Board member Jerry Kuns, who was at camp for another project, stopped by to share his experience. The group found it heartening to hear about some of the challenges this seasoned and successful member of the blind community still deals with, reminding us that this journey towards independence is ongoing and ever enriching.

Is your vision changing? Are you ready to make a commitment to yourself, to be the director of your journey? Our next Changing Vision Changing Life Immersion Training at Enchanted Hills is Sunday, April 12 through Friday, April 17. To participate, contact Debbie Bacon at 415-694-7357 in San Francisco; Janet Pomerantz at 707-268-5646 in the North Coast or Jeff Carlson at 415-258-8496 in Marin. Immersion students come from all over Northern California. Join us!

 

LightHouse News

Open House – Spring into Training with the LightHouse Connect Series

1 Commenton Open House – Spring into Training with the LightHouse Connect Series

For our third installment of the LightHouse Connect series, we’re having an Open House to showcase all the ways you can become more independent and successful as your vision changes. If you’ve been interested in finding out more about our programs including technology training, cane travel training, cooking, braille, our Youth Program, Enchanted Hills Camp and more, our Open House is a great opportunity to chat informally with our friendly staff. As a special bonus attraction, Adaptations will be open late and we’re offering a 10% discount on store sales during Open House hours.

When: Thursday, March 26, 2015 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Where: LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters
Light refreshments will be served

For more information and to RSVP, please contact Lisamaria Martinez at info@old.lighthouse-sf.org or 415-431-1481.

LightHouse News

Construction Beginning on Civic Center BART/Muni Station

A message from BART that may impact visitors to the LightHouse:

Starting February 2015, as part of the Civic Center Station Modernization Improvements, work crews will begin to install the new bike station and add bike racks at various locations inside the station.

The main work on the bike station will require partially closing a section of the corridor on the south side of the station at concourse level which provides access between the 7th Street and 8th Street entrances. The barricade will extend approximately 16 feet out from the wall and 128 feet along the wall. An approximately eight feet wide section of the corridor will remain open and accessible at all times. There will be some minor changes to pedestrian access routes, please look for signs and/or barricades. The work will take approximately six months to complete with estimated completion by July 2015.

All construction work will take place inside the Civic Center Station; however, temporary fencing and/or barricades may be placed on the plaza level to protect you and the construction. Although all work is planned to be performed during daytime hours, there may be times when work could be done on nights and weekends.

We do not expect to block the entrances to the station; however if it becomes unavoidable, signs will be posted to assist you and we will keep you informed of any changes through additional passenger bulletins and station announcements.

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

You can get automated BART Service Advisories (BSA) on your phone. BART offers both email and text options. To sign up for BSAs, please visit us at www.bart.gov/alerts.

For on-demand service information, you can use our mobile site m.bart.gov or request BART real time departures, service advisories and more via text message. To get started text “BART go” to 468311 or jump right in and text “BART” + your station name. We’ll text you back in seconds. Follow us on Twitter @sfbart for news or @sfbartalert for automated service advisories.

 

 

LightHouse News

Mobility Skills and Transit Training for All

Some New, Free Mobility Skills and Transit Training Opportunities

LightHouse Orientation and Mobility Specialists have been training people who are blind or have low vision to become independent travelers for decades, and we continue to provide this essential training.

Perhaps you didn’t know, but we also provide route and transit training to seasoned travelers at no charge. No matter how confident a traveler you are, the LightHouse offers several no cost ways to ensure that you can “boogie” through the Bay Area with ease.

  • If you are a seasoned traveler, 18 years or older, and want to learn new routes on SF MUNI, BART and Cal Train, we can provide training at no cost through July 31, 2015.
  • If you are a non-seasoned traveler, 55 and over, living in the counties of San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, Humboldt or Del Norte, you can receive orientation and mobility training from the LightHouse at no cost, through September 30, 2015.
  • If you specifically want transit training throughout Alameda County, the LightHouse, in partnership with the Center for Independent Living (Mobility Matters Program), can also provide skills and route training at no cost, through September 30, 2015. This special training is available to teens (with parental consent), family groups and adults. The only caveat is that you cannot be receiving services from the Department of Rehabilitation.
  • If you are interested in mobility training and don’t fit into any of these categories, call us any way

To register and get started, contact Debbie Bacon at 415-694-7357 or dbacon@old.lighthouse-sf.org.

A LightHouse student uses a white cane to detect yellow detectable warning strip on a Muni platform