June 2013

Check out our Online LightHouse Calendar

Keep up-to-date on the dozens of fun, educational and interesting community classes, workshops, training courses and events we offer. To learn how to play guitar, backpack with blindness or practice some new Yoga moves, bookmark our calendar at http://bit.ly/lhcalendar.  

 

Want to receive a weekly update of LightHouse activities? Sign up for our Community Services Activities and Events List by emailing Beth Berenson at [email protected] and be sure to read our blog.

 

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Photo collage of some of our past participants. Top Row left to right: 
Shennel Steward-Jacks, Angela Griffith, Mike Peterson, Sara Hadsell 
Middle Row left to right: 
Lisa Gorden-Cushman, Joseph Chow, Lily Esteban, Marc Grossman, Colleen Collins 
Bottom Row: Vita Zavoli, Joe Donaldson, Laurie Van Allen, Steve Canciamilla
 
Beginning in January 2011 we held our first Employment Immersion classes. Since then more than 70 people have graduated from the 10 week course. The program enjoys a placement rate of 34% (a rate significantly higher than that of employment programs for sighted jobseekers). 
 
We're proud that we have produced nine graduating classes of students who are more confident, have grown their skills and are much better equipped to find work in an extraordinarily competitive market. 
 
But the big news is that we have just reached a tremendous milestone in the program, one that has made us all smile from ear to ear. Read our entire article on our blog to find out what is making us smile here at the LightHouse.

Looking for work for the first time? Is it time for you to re-enter the job market? Our next Employment Immersion session runs from Tuesday, August 6 through Thursday, September 26 and will take place at the LightHouse's office at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley. For more information, call Kate Williams at 415-694-7324 or email her at [email protected].
 

The LightHouse is offering week-long day camps at its San Francisco headquarters. Each day your child or teenager will be treated to a fun, interesting and educational field trip that will entertain and enlighten. Working parents will be glad to know that for an additional cost we can also provide before and after care. Space is limited, so register now! 

 

Smiling young girl in mid-air on trampoline, 
with two House of Air staff members spotting her 
 

 

Il Posto Trattoria, a small Italian restaurant in North Napa has invited Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind to take part in Dine and Donate.  Bring in this flyer and 20% of your tab will be donated to Enchanted Hills. Enjoy some delectable homemade pasta, pizza and other authentic Italian cuisine, and support EHC!

 

 Download your invitation and coupon here. 

 

Where: Il Posto Trattoria at 4211 Solano Ave., Napa, CA 94558
When: Monday, June 24th

Lunch is served from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Dinner is served from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Phone: 707-251-8600

Website: http://ilpostonapa.com/

 

 
Young boy swimming in EHC pool

Come experience the magic of Enchanted Hills during the camp season:

 

When: July 27, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

What: Camp Tours, Swimming, BBQ, Paddle Boating, Wine Tasting

Where: Enchanted Hills Camp, 3410 Mt. Veeder Road, Napa, CA

Who: Anyone who loves BBQ, Biking, or Swimming and wants to experience the wonders of Enchanted Hills

Tickets: $20.00 in advance, $25.00 at the door. $10 for those under 21.

 

A bike ride too? Yes! Start the day with a 9:00 a.m. cycle on Mt. Veeder with the Eagle Cycling Club.

 

Buy your tickets now or RSVP to [email protected] or 415-694-7350.

 

 Please join us for a fun filled summer! Remember, for blind or visually-impaired kids under the age of 18 the LightHouse provides an entire session for only a $60 registration fee. 

 

We still have spaces available in our youth sessions:

 

Kids Session (Kids 3rd through 8th grade): July 15 - July 21

Teen Session (Kids 9th through 12th grade): July 28 - Aug 3

Group of young boys fish at the lake

For more information or to download an application, visit the Enchanted Hills Camp 2013 page on our website. For questions please call us at 415-694-7310 or email us at [email protected].

 

Deaf-Blind Session: August 15 - Aug 18 (for information about this session contact Sook Hee Choi, Deaf-Blind Specialist at [email protected] or Video Phone: 415-255-5906.) 

 

 

 

In June the LightHouse of the North Coast will join a panel of local vision resource providers.

 

When: Saturday, June 8 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Where: Humboldt County Main Library, 1313 Third Street, Eureka, next to the Ingomar Club

 

Ali O. Lee, LightHouse Vision Rehabilitation Services Coordinator, will talk about LightHouse services, local resources and how the LightHouse continues to work with the library to increase access to information. Frances Rapin, who is to be the 2013 recipient of the Friends of the Library's Community Service Award, will speak about how, with the help of LightHouse's Vision Rehabilitation Services, her life has changed as her vision has changed. Librarian Rachael Harwood will discuss how people with low vision or blindness can continue to access library services. For more information, call the Humboldt County Main Library reference desk at 707-269-1905.

 

Are you interested in the services LightHouse of the North Coast can provide? Contact us at 707-268-5646, TTY: 707-268-5655.

 

For the first time ever, local Napa boys enjoy paddling in our lake in paddleboat

 

Two weeks ago the LightHouse, with funding from the Napa Valley Community Foundation, offered the first camp session specifically to families who live in the Napa Valley. Find out how the lives of fifteen families were changed by this session. 

 

Whether reaching your mind-health goal requires a short or a long-term approach, the LightHouse is uniquely positioned to respond with expertise and sensitivity with our new counseling services.

Dr. Connie Conley-Jung

 

Meet new staff member BJ Epsteinwho is bringing her background in architecture and accessibility on the forefront of the Accessible BART Station Map Project.

 

 

 

  

If you are a Braille reader, sit back, relax, close your eyes, and open your mind to the step by step directions of our Braille iPhone Getting Started Manual. With this manual, you don't need to learn how to use a computer to learn how to use your phone. Just rest your hands on the Braille and "Get Started!" 

 

A complete set of directions on how to use your mobile device and much more is intelligently organized into four volumes of interpoint Braille. Braille users will tell you, there just isn't anything better for referencing information than the hard copy. 

 

It's not every day that a mainstream product offers blind and visually impaired users a fully formatted, highly edited and well-thought-out how-to guide. Great for both beginner and intermediate learners. Educate yourself on the great things everybody says your iPhone can do with this excellent Braille manual from Adaptations.

 

The LightHouse is the world's sole authorized producer and distributer of Apple's Braille User Guides. The User Guide must be Pre-ordered to allow time for embossing. We are selling the Braille iPhone User Guide for IOS5 Software by phone at 1-888-400-8933 or online for $29.95 + tax and shipping.

 

Good news for iPhone with IOS6 users: We are working on a Braille iPhone User Guide for IOS6 at this writing and should have it available in three or four weeks. Please call the store for updates. 

 

 

 
                
Kindergartner Mikey Piper has his hand painted by San Mateo County V.I. teacher Shelly Viviani

 

Last month LightHouse and San Francisco Parks and Recreation's Project Insight held a gathering for blind and low-vision youth and their families at Golden Gate Park. Here new families got to mingle with families already a part of our network. The weather was beautiful and kids and adults alike enjoyed activities such as hand painting and competitions such as the one where you race while balancing a cup of water on your head (predictably, this turned into a fantastic water fight). And we congratulate Shahzar Qureshi  and runner-up Melissa Hadiyanto, winners of the freeze dance competition.

 

LightHouse staffers Molly Irish and John cooked hamburgers and hotdogs for the crowd while Project Insight's (Big) Ben Oude Kamphuis and his team contributed a huge salad made of organic vegetables grown in the Project Insight garden. And finally, the teenage contingent, most of them friends from Enchanted Hills Camp, took advantage of the moment to catch up with each other long after the rest of their families were worn out.

 

Did you miss out? Be sure to join us next time. Check the LightHouse website calendar regularly for upcoming events like this, or sign up for Beth Berenson's weekly Community Services Activities and Events List at [email protected]. A hearty thank you to all who attended! 

 

 


Beautiful Lacoya Lake at Enchanted Hills Retreat

Dappled light shines between the line of olive trees as you wind down the driveway. Open sunshine greets you by the pond alive with frogs and a pair of geese and their gosling. Deeper shade makes it cool and quiet under the majestic Redwoods. The qualities of light at Enchanted Hills Retreat explain the name.  Why don't you bring together a group of friends, family, or colleagues in the beauty and quiet of Enchanted Hills?

 

Just 8 miles from downtown Napa, and in the heart of one of the most prestigious appellations of Napa wine country, Enchanted Hills is a great location to get away from it all, without being far away. We've got comfortable cabins, spacious meeting rooms, free Wi-Fi and home-style meals. Everything you need to make your workshop, wedding or reunion an event to be remembered for years to come

 

And the proceeds from renting Enchanted Hills are returned to camp, to make Enchanted Hills a transformative, unparalleled opportunity for blind and low vision kids to explore, create and learn. Experience the magic of Enchanted Hills! To reserve your space for 20 to 120 or get more information, call 415-694-7310 or go to www.enchantedhillsretreat.com.

 

 

 

The Gladys Fisher Lodge at Enchanted Hills Camp
  

Do you love Enchanted Hills Camp? You can be instrumental in making the magic of Enchanted Hills Camp happen, not just for this summer, but for magic summers deep into the 21st Century. Find out how to leave your legacy

 

 


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