Posts Tagged ‘Community’

Important Announcement: Sidewalk Closure at 100 Van Ness (between Fell and Hayes)

When: Starting Monday June 10 and ending June 14, the Van Ness Avenue sidewalk in front of 100 Van Ness (the old AAA building) will be closed between 6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. This closure will continue one week each month through September. The LightHouse will post the dates as they are announced.

Where: 100 Van Ness – The east side of Van Ness (same side of the LightHouse) between Fell and Hayes Streets.

Why: Plant Construction Company will be performing building demolition. For everyone’s safety periodic closures will happen between Fell and Hayes on Van Ness.

Safety: Flag Persons will be stationed on the southeast corner of Fell and Van Ness to prevent street crossing to closed sidewalk. For blind and low vision pedestrians coming from Van Ness Muni Station and walking north towards the LightHouse, Flag Persons will provide human guide assistance for those who want it. Flag persons will guide you west across Van Ness, north across Fell and Hayes and then east across Van Ness.

Napa Italian Restaurant to Donate to Camp When you Dine There on June 24th

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!

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

Have your Group Plan a Get-Together 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 superlative. 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.

First Ever Family Camp for Napa Families Breaks New Ground

Last month Enchanted Hills Camp hosted an intensive three-day/two-night retreat for fifteen primarily Spanish speaking Napa Valley families with blind or low-vision, multi-disabled youngsters. It was the first time the LightHouse specifically sought to have a camp session at Enchanted Hills for families living only in Napa County. The result: incredible community building and support.

The retreat was made possible through a generous grant from the Napa Valley Community Foundation. The LightHouse collaborated with the Napa Valley Unified School District, Parents CAN (a Napa-based family support organization) and Blind Babies Foundation to offer recreation such as hiking, arts and crafts and sports for the children while at the same time offering workshops for their parents.

It was our goal to make these campers feel comfortable while providing information, resources and the chance to bond in the “enchanted” setting of our beautiful camp. It was life-changing for these kids and their parents who live with little connection or support. Almost none of them had ever met a parent of a blind child before, and the community-building was palpable.

LightHouse volunteers and staff, many of whom are bilingual, guided the children as they played and translated presentations for parents into Spanish. Among a number of offerings, San Francisco State Special Education Professor Amanda Lueck talked about how to develop individual education plans (IEP) for the children; Adaptations Store Manager Isabel Arreola made a presentation on adaptive aids; we formed a peer support group for parents to share their stories about raising children with disabilities and Camp Director Tony Fletcher lead a walking tour that focused on the camp’s long history.

While the parents attended the workshops, the children enjoyed activities such as boating on the lake, bowling, archery, horseshoes and arts and crafts. Later parents joined their children for swim time at the Enchanted Hills pool, a demonstration of solar cooking and nature hikes.

Feedback from the families was extremely positive and as the session concluded there were tears, hugs and joy at the connections made. One of the fathers was heard to say, “I’ve been harvesting grapes for forty years, in the vineyards right around the camp. All that time I’ve focused only on my family’s income and making money. I never realized how close I was and how profoundly I would be moved by this beautiful place.”

Tony Fletcher said, “Our overarching goal was to connect families with each other and to services that they might not be aware of, and to also let them see how Enchanted Hills can be an ongoing resource. It was very humbling to be around so many grateful recipients of our services. I felt proud to be part of a LightHouse team that offered this wonderful opportunity for these families.”

Leave a Legacy: Designate it for Enchanted Hills Camp

Did you know that you can specify a planned gift such as a bequest to a particular LightHouse program, such as Enchanted Hills Camp? The LightHouse is able to operate our extraordinary camp in large part because of people like you who have remembered the camp in their will or estate planning. And we’re excited about what magic will be happening in the next 63 years, as well as in the next 63 days.

The 2013 camp season has already begun and this year we’ve extended the camp season to fit in even more transformative sessions of camp for the blind and visually impaired. We launched the season with a group of blind high school students at our Transition Summit, where they learned key leadership skills which will help them through college and advance in their careers.

Then we hosted a session of Chemistry Camp where blind teenagers came to learn hands-on chemistry. Chemistry Camp is led by Hoby Wedler, a blind chemist who was honored by President Obama last year for his accomplishments in science. KQED did a radio piece on the camp entitled, Chemistry by Smell. You can listen to it here.

Hoby thinks science is an ideal career path for the visually impaired. As he says, “No one can see an atom. You have to conceive of an atom.”

And we are looking forward to the remainder of the camp season, with three more family camps, youth camp, teen camp, alumni session (where many of the adult campers attended as children over 50 years ago!) and camp for those with special needs. We are especially excited about the return of the Deaf-Blind session in August, providing a bonding and relaxing retreat for a population that rarely gets a chance to swim, dance and hang around the campfire as a community.

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. A planned gift for Enchanted Hills helps us have the financial stability to provide unparalleled learning, adventure and relaxation for blind and low vision people of all ages. Enchanted Hills changes lives. At camp people meet mentors, they make friends, sometimes they find love. Won’t you take a moment to make a planned gift to Enchanted Hills Camp to sustain EHC for years to come?

We can help. If you need simple ways to modify your will, or to designate Enchanted Hills Camp for your later giving, we can connect you with other friends of the camp, such as estate attorneys, who have helped us for years. And if you already have designated Enchanted Hills in your will or IRA, we’d love to know about it. For more information or to notify us of your intentions, contact Jennifer at 415-694-7333 or jsachs@lighthouse-sf.org.

Kids Love Enchanted Hills – Are Yours Going?

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

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.

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 EHC@lighthouse-sf.org.

Deaf-Blind Session: August 15 – Aug 18 (for information about this session contact Sook Hee Choi, Deaf-Blind Specialist at schoi@lighthouse-sf.org or Video Phone: 415-255-5906.)

Family Fun Day and BBQ at Golden Gate Park

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 bberenson@lighthouse-sf.org. A hearty thank you to all who attended!

Connect with LightHouse of the North Coast at Library Vision Resources Panel

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.

Register Now for Summer Day Camp – Your Kids Will Love Exploring the Bay Area with the LightHouse

You may have heard of Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind. Now the LightHouse presents a Day Camp led by our experienced staff. This summer, the San Francisco LightHouse is offering three summer day camp sessions for blind and low-vision youth based out of San Francisco.

Each camp session promises to be exciting, educational and fun-filled. Before and after care is also available (see cost below).

Camp Hours: 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Child Care: for day camp participants only, is offered from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. (computer/technology activities and adaptive cooking classes) and 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (creative arts activities).

Space is limited, so register now! Attendance is by RSVP for an entire week of activities. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate single day attendance or drop-ins.

Application deadline is Wednesday June 5, 2013.
$175.00/week for onsite activities and field trips (from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) $275.00/week for onsite activities and field trips plus a.m. /p.m. childcare.
Each child will receive a LightHouse Summer Camp t-shirt.

Payment must be received prior to attendance. To apply or for more information, contact Jamey Gump, Youth Services Coordinator at jgump@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7372 or John Liang, Director of Community Services at jliang@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7334.

Summer Day Camp Schedule

• Session 1: Discovery Camp – Science and Technology for Grades K-8 (ages 5-12) June 10 through June 14, 2013
  • Monday 6/10: Lawrence Hall of Science
  • Tuesday 6/11: The Exploratorium
  • Wednesday 6/12: NASA Ames Exploration Center/Walking tour of Google
  • Thursday 6/13: Lindsey Wildlife Center
  • Friday 6/14: The Tech Museum
• Session 2: Urban Explorer’s Camp for Grades K-8 (ages 5-12) June 17 through June 21, 2013
  • Monday 6/17: Planet Granite and Presidio Bowl
  • Tuesday 6/18: Chinatown/Chinatown Ghost Tour and Dim Sum
  • Wednesday 6/19: Kite Flying at Ocean Beach
  • Thursday 6/20: Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39
  • Friday: 6/21: SF Cable Car Ride and Tour of the Cable Car Museum
• Session 3: Adventure Camp for Grades 9-12 (ages 12-18) June 24, through June 28, 2013
  • Monday 6/24: Six Flags Marine World
  • Tuesday 6/25: Boomers
  • Wednesday 6/26: Lands’ End Hike (walk the San Francisco Water Front)
  • Thursday 6/27: Horseback Riding
  • Friday 6/28: Santa Cruz Boardwalk

  

Cycle for Sight 2013 Team LightHouse – The Biggest Team Yet

Saturday, April 20 blossomed into a beautiful blue-sky Napa day, perfect for wine tasting, food, and most importantly, a good long bicycle ride with over 2,000 other cyclists, all part of the 2013 Cycle for Sight fundraising event for Enchanted Hills Camp. Rotary of Napa hosts the event each year, and proceeds are split between our camp and the Napa Veteran’s Pathway Home.

This year, Team LightHouse had the largest number of team participants of the event, including an astonishing 40 tandems. Those who stayed the night at Enchanted Hills Camp were treated to a carbolicious spaghetti dinner the night before and a hearty breakfast that morning.

After the ride cyclists and their friends and family enjoyed food, drink and music at the Cycle for Sight Wine and Music Festival. LightHouse maintained a table which served as a meeting place for the Team members who shared their camp stories and memories. Lucky raffle winners picked up special hydration backpacks donated by Osprey.

“My family and I rode 15 miles along the beautiful and scenic roads in Napa and had a blast! We were one tandem in a group of forty tandems–plus a handful of single bikes–that hit the rode in a united effort to make a difference in the lives of blind kids this summer in Enchanted Hills Camp. “
–Lisamaria Martinez

We thank the riders and supporters of Enchanted Hills for their enthusiastic participation and for making this year’s event the best Cycle for Sight so far. To see photos from the event go to our Cycle for Sight 2013 Facebook photo album.