As of April 1st, Adaptations, the LightHouse Store will be open for business between 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The store will also be open every third Saturday, from 11:00 am to 3:00 p.m. Don't forget, we're open 24/7 at www.adaptations.com. 

Two women ride on a tandem at Cycle for Sight

There's still time to sign up to ride through the glorious hills of Napa while helping us raise our goal of $40,000 for Enchanted Hills Camp. Ride on your own or with Team LightHouse in Napa Rotary's Cycle for Sight on Saturday, April 20 and support camp. Sign up to ride as a cyclist and enjoy the beauty of scenic Napa and the challenge of a 15, 25 or 50 mile route with 2,000 other cyclists. 

Join Team LightHouse! Interested in piloting a tandem bike for a blind stoker? Or, are you a blind stoker in need of a pilot? Contact Tony Fletcher via email at afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org 

Don't Want to Ride? You Can Still Support our Enchanted Hills Camp Summer Sessions. We've made it easy to raise money for Enchanted Hills. Make a donation here. 

Or even better, drum up support by using this handy letter template that you can personalize and send out to all your friends. 

Don't be cooped up in an office when you can work at beautiful Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa. Sign up to be a summer counselor where you'll revel in the fresh air and sunshine while helping to change the lives of hundreds of blind and low vision youth and adults as they gain confidence, experience new adventures and meet friends at camp.

Spaces are going fast. Sign up today for Transition Summit 2013 where you can learn to be a future leader. Through a referral from your Department of Rehabilitation Counselor, this free weekend of workshops promises to be an enriching and educational experience for anyone interested in learning the skills necessary for vocational, academic, and personal success.

Transition youth listen to outdoor presentation at Enchanted Hills Camp

Have you noticed a change in your vision? Are you finding it difficult to do the simple day-to-day tasks you've always been able to do? If this sounds like you, then perhaps it is time to make a change in your life. The LightHouse can help.

The LightHouse presents a one week immersion at our Enchanted Hills Retreat, for adults new to low vision or blindness. Enjoy the outdoor beauty and warm welcome you'll receive at Enchanted Hills, while learning new ways to continue living your life to the fullest.

Upcoming Changing Vision Sessions:   

April 14 through 19 
June 9 through 14

It's never too late to make a change.

Store Manager Isabel Arreola using Visolux Magnifier

This impressive new 3X lighted stand magnifier is made by Eschenbach.

With the Visolux Magnifier, Eschenbach has provided the perfect solution to a dilemma many of our customers face: "I need a more powerful magnifier but I don't want to lose my field of view." 

Its LED light beautifully optimizes colors, while its super bright bulb increases ease of reading by enhancing contrast. With its 3 inch by 4 inch crystal clear lens (largest lens of its kind in our inventory), you can't help but feel that you are holding a state-of-the-art magnifier in your hands.

So if you are in need of a 3X magnifier with the largest reading width of its kind that has quality and class, give our top-of-the-line Visolux a try. For more information about the Visolux, or if you know this is the right solution for you, just call our friendly store associates at 888-400-8933.

A magnified view of a calendar through the lens of a Visolux

If you've ever wondered where to obtain ASL interpreters, get braille or how to accommodate someone with a disability, look no further. The LightHouse provides exhibitors and designers with access consulting, braille and audio products in order to make their programs more accessible. Blindness and Dog Guide etiquette, Access Technology, human guide training, orientation to travel and GPS Tools are all within our area of expertise.

Fingertips on a tactile map

Creating tours for blind patrons requires skill and imagination, requiring some shifts in point of view, but opportunities do exist for exhibit designers who want to get a chance to show good, creative solutions that are part of the fabric of a design, not an accommodation layered on top. An integrated approach can benefit all visitors, with only a minimal cost impact when principles of Universal Design are assumed from the earliest point in the design process. Complaints, consent decrees, and potential lawsuits may be far more expensive and detrimental to an entity's reputation then folding accessibility solutions in from the start.

Let the LightHouse help you make your exhibition accessible to the 20% of the U.S. population that has a disability. Hiring the LightHouse sends the right message: that your organization makes your blind and visually impaired visitor's needs, safety and right to accessible information a priority.

For more information, or to start making your exhibitions accessible to those with disabilities, please contact Greg Kehret, Director of Access to Information Services, at 415-694-7349 or gkehret@lighthouse-sf.org.

Salome Chamber Orchestra

In March the LightHouse recognized our most active supporters at a celebration featuring a performance by the Salome Chamber Orchestra. It was a chance to bring together the LightHouse community and to share a bit about what the LightHouse is up to - from teaching blind people how to cook using adaptive techniques to helping them launch a career. 

Thank you to all who attended, contributed and made it a delightful event. A most sincere thank you to Mary Bianco, who was directly responsible for bringing the energetic, talented and beautiful Salome Chamber Orchestra to us, and to Linda Ronstadt who overjoyed us with her attendance and generously autographed some of her CDs for the auction.

Bryan Bashin thanks Mary Bianco with flowers

We had a wonderful Silent Auction and Raffle at the event. Many thanks to the following generous donors who made this possible:

• Mary Bianco
• Lisa Carvalho
• Coppola Winery
• Kathy Knox
• Max's Restaurant
• Josh Miele
• Plantation
• Luciana Profaca
• Todd Stevenot
• Tante Maria's Cooking School
• Carol Tereszkiewicz
• Dr. Joyce Wu
• Yoga Tree

Check out our Facebook photo album of the event. 

And if you'd like to learn more about Salome, please visit their website at 

www.salomechamber.org.

From jamming on the dance floor to jamming on guitars, the LightHouse believes in fun. Check out our blog post containing great photos and highlighting some of the various happenings here at the LightHouse.

4-H club members form a line, handing off wood chips from person to person

4-H Clubs

On March 17, thirty plus members of the Napa and Concord Chapters of the 4-H Club volunteered six hours of their time to work on our Redwood Grove Theatre, prepared four cords of firewood for the summer campfire season and spread woodchips around our campfire circle. We thank them for their generous commitment of time and their hard work.

Boy Scouts, AGS, EHC Neighbors 

EHC Neighbors paint Lakeside Cabin

What a day! Volunteers from several local groups participated in a volunteer work day and community potluck on March 23rd. With multiple projects going on, the day was super productive. EHC Neighbors gave the lakeside cabins a fresh coat of paint, the Napa Boy Scouts created pile after pile of firewood, trails were mapped and maintained by volunteers from Alpha Gamma Sigma (AGS) Honor Society of College of Marin, gutters were cleared out, the entryway gardens got a dose of love and weed control, and the lighting around the pond was re-wired for night time safety.

Thank you to all of the friends and neighbors who came out to work, socialize and support Enchanted Hills.

Napa Boy Scouts chop fire wood

Volunteers from the Alpha Gamma Sigma (AGS) Honor Society of College of Marin cut brush on the Wing Canyon trail

Come join Karen Kondazian on Friday April 19, for a fun and engaging discussion about her historical novel. The Whip tells the tale of female stagecoach driver Charley Parkhurst, who disguised herself as a man during California gold rush days.

An older gentleman stands in front of San Francisco City Hall, decorated with Giants World Series Champions banners

Do you have a paid-up life insurance policy for coverage you no longer need? 

You can give a life insurance policy to charity and take an income tax deduction for this gift. Make the LightHouse for the Blind the owner and beneficiary of the policy and be eligible for an immediate income tax deduction for the value of the policy. 

You gain the satisfaction of making a significant gift to the LightHouse while reducing your taxes. Alternatively, you can retain ownership of the policy and just name the charity as beneficiary, though no income tax deduction is available for this approach. In both cases, there are no estate taxes on the life insurance proceeds.

Each year, bequests, contributions of life insurance and other planned gifts from individuals like you make up a large portion of the LightHouse for the Blind's bottom line, helping us provide blind and low vision individuals the skills and community support they need to live with dignity and independence. Many people committed to the LightHouse give annual small gifts throughout their life, but are able to give a more substantial gift through their will. Everyone needs a will.  When you are crafting yours, please think of the LightHouse.

If you would like more information on planned giving from bequests to charitable remainder trusts, please contact Development Director Jennifer Sachs at 415-694-7333 or jsachs@lighthouse-sf.org.  

We're proud to announce that LightHouse Employment Immersion program graduate Sara Hadsell was recently hired by the Department of Labor. Read her story on our blog.  

Sara Hadsell sits at her work station at the Department of Labor

For more information on the LightHouse's Employment Immersion program, call Kate Williams at 415-694-7324 or email her at kwilliams@lighthouse-sf.org.

A stream rushes through Enchanted Hills Retreat

Conveniently located on scenic Mt. Veeder, just 8 miles from downtown Napa, Enchanted Hills is a magical place to get your group of 30 to 120 together away from it all. 

Enjoy a campfire under the redwoods, a workshop in our spacious kiva, a swim in the outdoor pool, or a ramble through 311 acres of picturesque countryside. Fresh meals are specially prepared, the Wi-Fi is free and so is the fresh air and sunshine.

 
Experience the magic of Enchanted Hills. To reserve your space or get more information, call 415-694-7310 or go to www.enchantedhillsretreat.com. 

For years the LightHouse has supported our community of educators and the programs that train them. We're delighted to have one of California's preeminent institutions in our back yard, the San Francisco State University program which trains future teachers of the blind. If you or someone you know is interested in a satisfying career, please read the following:

Creative! Challenging! Secure!

Enter a rewarding and exciting field with great people and with many job prospects throughout the country. Find out more about the Teacher Preparation Program in Visual Impairments at San Francisco State University.