MAY 2012

A New Building for Building Employment in the East Bay

LightHouse CEO Bryan Bashin stands with visitors in front of our new building, which is now emblazoned with the name LightHouse for the Blind across one side (left to right: Bryan Bashin; Fred Mendoza - Chairman of the Board, Seattle Lighthouse; Tom Black - Manager, Niche Product Development, National Industries for the Blind; Bob Johnson - Senior VP, Strategic Business Development, Seattle Lighthouse; Pat O’Hara – V.P. Production, Seattle Lighthouse; Kirk Adams – CEO, Seattle Lighthouse and Jerry Bernstein – COO, LightHouse for the Blind)

In the most ambitious building project in a generation, the LightHouse has purchased a massive new employment and training building in the East Bay. When finally built out more blind employees will be working at this single building than at any other building in California. How the LightHouse found, secured and outfitted our new employment building is a study in collaboration and community connections. Read More!

Kayaking/Angel Island Adventure

Kayaking on the Bay and hiking on Angel Island - two quintessential Bay Area experiences. What would happen if you brought the two together? Massive amounts of fun, of course. Join us for this overnight camping adventure on Saturday, May 19, through Sunday, May 20. Deadline to sign up is May 14. Sign up now.

Attention Adult Campers! A Few Places Left for our Enchanted Hills Camp Adult Session

Join us for our June 30 to July 5 Adult Session. We’ve got a full schedule of entertaining social and recreational activities in store including champagne tasting and participating in the city of Napa 4th of July parade. For more information or to register, contact Rich Russo at rrusso@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7352.

Hurry – Last Chance to Make Your Reservation for Provider's Weekend, May 18-20

Don’t miss out on Provider's Weekend, held at our beautiful Enchanted Hills Retreat in Napa. The purpose of this weekend is to bring together a diverse group of professional service providers working in the field of blindness to strengthen our region’s professional interchange. It’s the most affordable and fun way to connect with the region’s training professionals held anywhere throughout the year. Join us!

LightHouse Student Gets Opportunity of a Lifetime or How A Jobsite Conversation Turned into a Real Job

Last fall, Amy Gac was one of a group attending sessions of our Jobsite Conversation Series, with aspirations to find the perfect job. Last November she parlayed this networking opportunity into a full time position as a financial advisor. Read More!

A Tribute to James Macchi

By Lisamaria Martinez
On March 16, 2012, 67-year-old LightHouse friend and senior client James Macchi passed away quietly in his home leaving behind his wife of fifteen years, Marsha Macchi, as well as many close friends. Read More!

Getting Ready for Summer - Volunteer Day at Enchanted Hills

Our volunteers roll up their sleeves to work on several important maintenance projects at Enchanted Hills. Read about the work they did to beautify our already beautiful campgrounds.

Enchanted Hills Retreat - The Perfect Place for Your Meeting or Event

The Gladys Fisher Lodge, one of a group of comfortable and affordable lodgings at Enchanted Hills Retreat

Beautiful Enchanted Hills Retreat is located just 25 minutes from downtown Napa on Mount Veeder Road. Want to hold your family reunion in the summer or fall but your house is too small and hotels are way too expensive? Does your workgroup need to get out of the office for a training or retreat? Is your church, club or organization in need of a place where you can get three bountiful meals and a place to gather for a day or a week? Get more information.

For more information and availability, call 415-694-7310 or email Camp Director Tony Fletcher at afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org.

Adaptations Featured Item of the Month – the iClarityHD Precision Micro Bluetooth Speaker

iClarityHD Speaker

Get amazing room filling stereo sound from this incredibly small, portable speaker that compares favorably with the Jambox but is much more economical.

You can wirelessly connect the iClarityHD Precision Micro Bluetooth Speaker to your Bluetooth equipped iPod touch, iPad, iPhone, Mac, or Smartphone. It also acts as a speakerphone for hands-free calls on the iPhone and for chats on Skype using iPad, iPod touch or your Mac. It also features a 3.5 millimeter input for listening to music from any device with a standard headphone port and includes a charging cable and travel pouch.

Special Discount through May!
The regular Adaptations Price for the iClarityHD Speaker is $90.00, but from now until midnight (PST) on May 31, 2012, we are offering a ten percent discount. Come in to purchase the iClarityHD Precision Micro Bluetooth Speaker, find it online or call our toll-free number, 1-888-400-8933.

The Adaptations store is located at LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and every third Saturday of the month from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Support the LightHouse

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
-- Helen Keller, 1941

Sometimes, confidence is all one needs to take the next step. Our programs teach blind and low vision people practical skills. But more than that, they help build and reinforce confidence - the confidence that enables us all to meet life's challenges and adventures.

We are truly grateful for your continuing support of our programs. Please make your tax-deductible contribution at www.lighthouse-sf.org.

Check Out Our New Look

We’ve updated our newsletter so you can scroll or jump using headers instead of a table of contents. And on our website (www.lighthouse-sf.org) the blog has been given pride of place on the right while blind screen reader users will find a variety of upgrades to the site which will bring greater navigational ease and logic. For screen reader users, the blog is tagged as a heading level 2 and you can now navigate more quickly using landmarks. Check out the new website now.

We want to know what you think! Please give us your feedback on our new e-news and site at feedback@lighthouse-sf.org.

Community Events

A Very Special Printer

LightHouse partner Hoby Wedler, who is a blind doctoral candidate in organic chemistry at U.C. Davis, prompted the purchase of a very special printer by the U.C. Davis Department of Chemistry. The printer creates 3D tactile models of complex molecular structures, enhancing the ability of both blind and sighted students to understand their configuration. Hoby Wedler will be leading Chemistry Camp at Enchanted Hills this May. Read More!

Noteworthy News

Walmart Mail Order Pharmacy Now Offers ScripTalk Talking Prescriptions

Walmart Mail Order Pharmacy is currently doing a pilot program with En-Vision America to offer ScripTalk Talking Prescriptions, which can be read with a small device called a ScripTalk Station. Read More!

Swap Shop

40-cell Handi-Tech Easy Braille Bluetooth refreshable braille device, NEW, never used. Works on PC, Mac, PDA's, Cell Phones. Cables and software included. Cost $4,900, will sell for $2,300. Ships free 2nd day air FedEx from Atlanta GA. 10% of the purchase price will be donated to the SF LightHouse! Please contact Kate Woodford at 404-259-9897 or ktwoodford@gmail.com.