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As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, three recommendations remain constant: wash your hands frequently, maintain physical distance from those who do not share your household with as much as possible, and wear a mask over your mouth and nose to minimize potential viral transmission via vapor and droplets produced when you breathe, cough, or sneeze. We’re going to cover your options for DIY no-sew masks made from items you already have around your house that you can fall back on in an unexpected maskless moment. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Scissors
• A clear flat work surface
• Mask 1: a lightweight cotton t-shirt; long sleeve is preferred, short sleeve may also work.
• Mask 2: an odd cotton sock you don’t mind cutting.
• Mask 3: a short sleeved, cotton t-shirt you don’t mind cutting up.

Note that these are not masks taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. If you are a blind stitcher and/or would like to do some extra credit, you can access the CDC’s sew and no-sew homemade mask alternatives. For a deep dive on the who, what, when, where, how, and why of cloth masks to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, visit COVID-19: Considerations for Wearing Masks at the CDC website.

To RSVP and for Zoom access info, contact Adult Program Coordinator Serena Olsen at SOlsen@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7316.

RSVP is required at this Eventbrite link for Jo Elizabeth Pinto on parenting blind.

LightHouse San Francisco is a proud partner with Senior and Disability Action and other Bay Area community organizations to bring you the Disability Book Series, highlighting the talents, wisdom, and experience of disabled authors. Join Bay Area Blind Mom Lisamaria Martinez in conversation with author Jo Elizabeth Pinto for the wit, candor, and sass that comes from being a parent who happens to be blind.

Jo Elizabeth Pinto, author of "Daddy Won't Let Mom Drive The Car" and "The Bright Side of Darkness," was born in Chicago in 1971 and grew up in Brighton, Colorado. She was part of the first generation of disabled students who integrated the public school system in the late 1970’s. In 1992, Pinto graduated from the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley with a degree in Human Rehabilitative Services. While teaching disabled students how to use adaptive computer technology, she earned a second degree in 2004 from the Metropolitan State College of Denver in Nonprofit Organization Management. Blind since birth, she is currently self-employed as a braille textbook proofreader.

As an author, Pinto knows the importance of entertaining her readers while also giving them food for thought. Whether she writes fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, she draws inspiration from her own experiences to show her audience that hope is always just an action away.

Pinto currently lives in Colorado with her husband Gerald and her daughter Sarah, her yellow Labrador guide dog Anlyn, two cats named Sam-I-Am and Andy, and a parakeet called Rocket.

"Daddy Won't Let Mom Drive The Car" and "The Bright Side of Darkness" are available on Amazon in paperback and for Audible and Kindle download, and the latter was recently added to National Library Services (DBC 13147).

About the Disability Book Series:

The intent of this book reading series is to highlight authors with disabilities, disabled writers, and to interrogate ableism and societal conceptions of disability. We welcome any and all suggestions for future authors, free venues in San Francisco, and feedback as to how our events can be more accessible, inclusive, or generally better at DisabilityBookSeries@gmail.com.

RSVP for the September 26 event with Jo Elizabeth Pinto.

Collaborating Partners:
Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco (ILRCSF)
LightHouse for the Blind & Visually Impaired San Francisco
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC)
San Francisco Senior and Disability Action (SDA)