Category Archive

LightHouse News

Free Medical Services at the Oakland Coliseum

 

On March 22nd through March 25th, the Remote Area Medical (RAM) Foundation will be providing free medical services at the Oakland Coliseum including dental and vision services performed by professional dentists. Starting at 3:30 a.m. on each of these days, they will begin issuing numbers on a first-come, first-serve basis and begin calling numbers at 5:30 a.m. Volunteers will then provide medical services, with no questions about insurance, all day long.

Accessibility Out of the Box: A Tech Seminar

Certain technologies can provide intelligent and innovative solutions for people who are blind or visually impaired. Join the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired on Tuesday, April 10, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and learn how to access and enjoy technologies like iTunes, iPad, iPhone and iPod. Learn from experts about accessibility features for your iOS devices, including screen magnification, VoiceOver, settings for high contrast, and more.

This is an in-person tech seminar—our typical live streaming and phone options will not be available. Seating is limited so RSVP now to: rsvp@lighthouse-sf.org.

Location:
LightHouse for the Blind
214 Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94102

Focus Groups for Blind and Visually Impaired Clipper Card Users

Do you have a Clipper Card and have you had trouble using it? If so, please join the LightHouse and Disability Rights Advocates for a focus group of blind users to talk about situations and issues such as the following:

  • Difficulty finding the machines to tag your Clipper Card when riding BART or Caltrain
  • Difficulty determining if you have properly tagged your card
  • Trouble using your Clipper Card on another local transit system
  • Difficulty registering your Regional Transit Connection Card (RTC) on the Clipper Card website

You can participate in the discussion in either San Francisco or Berkeley. To RSVP contact Beth Berenson at info@lighthouse-sf.org.

San Francisco
April 19: 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
LightHouse San Francisco Headquarters

Berkeley
May 8: 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
LightHouse satellite office at the Ed Roberts Campus
3075 Adeline St., Ste. 110, Berkeley

Accessibility Problems with your Citibank Account?

Attorneys Timothy Elder and Scott LaBarre are interested in speaking with any blind business owners or employees who have attempted to open or use a business bank account at Citibank. They are particularly interested to hear if you have had any problems with accessing the website interface for your account or entering your password without sighted assistance. Interested individuals can contact Timothy Elder by email at telder@trelegal.com or by phone at 410-415-3493.

High School Chemistry Camp to be Bigger and Better than Ever – Deadline to Apply is April 5

Would you like to learn how blind people tackle the supposedly visual-only subject of organic chemistry successfully? Do you have a general love for science? Do you want to learn how you can do chemistry as a blind person just as successfully as your sighted peers? Do you want to apply the chemistry you learned to food such as olive oil? Are you interested in how blind professionals use science in their careers every day? Then the 2012 California Chemistry Camp is for you!

Join the LightHouse for the Blind, National Federation of the Blind of California, California Association of Blind Students, University of California, Davis, chemistry department, TPG Capital, and up to 15 blind and low vision high school students for an educational, exciting and fun-filled weekend of science.

Join the LightHouse for the Blind, National Federation of the Blind of California, California Association of Blind Students, University of California Davis Chemistry Department, TPG Capital, and up to 15 blind and low vision high school students for an educational, exciting and fun-filled weekend of science.

Where: Enchanted Hills Camp, 3410 Mount Veeder Rd., Napa, CA 94558
Who: Up to 15 blind high school students ages 14 to 18 will be selected to participate
Cost: There is no cost to apply for the program
Application deadline has been extended to April 5, 2012.

To read more about Chemistry Camp and apply online today, visit http://sixdots.org/2012/02/2012-chemistry-camp/. All applications will be reviewed, and each applicant will be informed whether he or she has been accepted. Travel to and from camp will be provided.

Read about last year’s Chemistry Camp here: http://conta.cc/youthandmentors2011.

Date Change: Volunteer at Enchanted Hills – Now on April 7

PLEASE NOTE: MARCH 17 DATE CHANGED DUE TO RAIN: Our next Enchanted Hills Camp Volunteer Day will be Saturday, April 7, when we will continue to work on a variety of fun camp-improvement projects. From unskilled field cleanup to semi-skilled painting and fire abatement, we’ll match what you can do to the needs of a place beloved in our community. We hope you or your group will join us. For more information or to sign up, contact LightHouse Volunteer Coordinator Don Franklin at dmfranklin@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7371.

“I just want to say thank you for the opportunity to support the LightHouse for the Blind last weekend. Our students enjoyed their experience, and we greatly appreciate the transportation and lunch you provided.” — Chad Zibelman, buildOn

Editor’s note: If you know of a company team with skills in contracting, electrical, heating, plumbing or other construction expertise, we’ll always find important work for them to do to help our blind community. At camp they can stay overnight, enjoy nature, and bond with each other and our staff. Please contact Tony Fletcher at 415-694-7319 or afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org to see how the skills your company might take for granted could be of enormous help for our camp and facilities.

Scholarship to Attend NFB Convention in Dallas – Apply by March 16

The East Bay Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of California is granting $500 to a lucky somebody to help get them to their first national convention of the National Federation of the Blind, NFB. The convention will be held in Dallas, Texas, from June 30 to July 5, 2012.

If you are blind, at least 18 years of age, a legal resident of California and have never been to an NFB national convention, then you may qualify to receive $500 to go to your first one. (Minors will be considered only with the understanding that they MUST be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian and that there will be no additional grant funds to supplement the additional individual.)

How to Apply
The grantee will be selected by the board of the East Bay Chapter and notified thereafter. Submissions must be received/postmarked by March 16th, 2012. Electronic submissions should be emailed to nfbceastbay@gmail.com. Please include “Grant for Dallas” in the subject line. Print or braille submissions are also welcome and should be mailed to Serena Olsen, President, NFBC East Bay, 34904 Herringbone Ct., Union City, CA 94587.

Please provide your name, address, phone number and email. In 50 words or less, write something fun or interesting about yourself and in 250 words or less, answer the following two questions:

  • Why is attending national convention important to you?
  • What kinds of things do you hope to learn from the national convention experience?

If selected, preliminary expenses (airfare, registration, etc.) must be covered by the grantee. Grant funds will be disbursed upon arrival at the convention. By accepting the grant, you are committed to attending the rookie roundup, general session, banquet and a local chapter meeting immediately following convention to share your experience.

About Convention
Every year, 3,000 people from around the country—and even from around the world—attend the NFB national convention. The convention agenda is action-packed and filled with workshops, seminars, division meetings and great speakers on just about any blindness-related topic you can imagine. From sports and recreation to education, from lawyers to guide dog users, from cane travel to braille, from assistive technology to employment, you’ll find students, working blind professionals and mentors and make lasting friendships and connections. To learn more go to http://www.nfb.org/nfb/national_convention.asp.

American Action Fund Free Braille Books Program

The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults (AAF) is making its free braille books for blind children available online as downloadable BRF files.

Since 1997, the AAF has provided popular and award-winning children’s books, including titles from popular series, to blind children throughout the United States, as well as to libraries and other organizations that serve blind children.

The books have been and will continue to be distributed by mail, but now readers and libraries will be able to download them from the American Action Fund website. The BRF files are ready to be used on braille notetakers and other braille-aware devices.

For more information visit their site.

16- to 24-Year-Olds Will Learn How to Work and Play on a Team at This Year’s Transition Summit

As part of our new Future Professionals Training Program, the LightHouse is proud to present Team-Building and Effective Communication, the first of three Transition Summits for 2012. We are really interested in finding youth between the ages of 16 to 24 who are enrolled with the Department of Rehabilitation. Please join us at beautiful Enchanted Hills Camp for Transition Summit 2012.

This exciting three-day workshop promises to be an enriching and educational experience for anyone interested in learning the skills necessary for vocational, academic and personal success. Participants will explore, discuss and engage in a wide variety of adventurous and interactive activities covering such topics as:

•        Team-building
•        Ways to build group cooperation
•        Effective verbal, non-verbal, written and aural communication
•        Effective problem-solving
•        Conflict resolution
•        Leadership skills
•        Strategic planning
•        Goal-setting
•        Networking
•        Time management

Transition Summit 2012 is a fun-filled event including activities such as “Survival Hike,” Role Playing, Evening Team-Building Ropes Course, Tug-of-Wits (variation of tug-of-war) that you won’t want to miss!

When: Friday, May 4 through Sunday, May 6, 2012
Where: Enchanted Hills Camp, Napa, California
**Space is limited to 20 participants
Deadline to apply: April 15, 2012
 
There is no cost to apply for the summit; however, a referral and authorization from your Department of Rehabilitation counselor must be submitted with your application. 

Read about last year’s Transition Summit here.

For more information please contact John Liang, Director of Community Services, at jliang@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7334.