Lighthouse International

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Lighthouse Guild International
Motto Maximizing Your Vision for Life
Formation 1905
Legal status Foundation
Purpose/focus Low-vision services
Headquarters New York, New York, U.S.
Region served United States
President Mark G. Ackermann
Main organ Board of Governors
Website Lighthouse.org

Lighthouse International is an American charitable organization, based in New York City, devoted to vision rehabilitation and advocacy for the blind. Its mission statement is "To overcome vision impairment for people of all ages through worldwide leadership in rehabilitation services, education, research, prevention and advocacy."[1]

History

During a trip to Florence, Italy, at the turn of the 20th century, sisters Winifred and Edith Holt learned of a free service that provided concert tickets to blind schoolchildren. Inspired by the notion, the sisters established the similar Lighthouse Free Ticket Bureau in New York City in 1903. The organization incorporated in 1906 as The New York Association for the Blind, Inc., which offered home counseling and instruction program for the visually impaired. Winifred Holt also participated in founding the New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped. In 1912, the association established a workshop on East 42nd Street where visually impaired men could manufacture marketable products, and the sisters opened their home to visually impaired women to create handcrafted items for sale, leading to the organization's motto, "Light Through Work."[2]

That same year, the association created the River Lighthouse, in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, as the first of its eventually several summer camps for visually impaired children. Camp Munger, in Bear Mountain, New York, followed in 1923. A kindergarten was formed in 1925, and the Lighthouse Nursery School in 1933. An affiliation with the Ophthalmological Foundation in 1952 led to that foundation becoming the organization's research arm. The following year, the Lighthouse Low Vision Service was founded to administer to people with partial sight. [2]

The charity became international with the onset of World War I, when Winifred Holt in 1915 established Le Phare de Bordeaux, in France. Other overseas offices opened in Paris; Rome; Warsaw; Canton, China; Japan, the Middle East, India, South America, and elsewhere.[2]

In 1989, The New York Association for the Blind, Inc., became The Lighthouse Inc., and in 1998, the organization was renamed Lighthouse International.

In September 2013 a merger was announced with The Jewish Guild for the Blind. As of January 2014 the new organization is known as Lighthouse Guild International.[3]

Branches and services

New York headquarters

Lighthouse International operates the Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute in New York, and New York Lighthouse vision rehabilitation Services.[1]

The volunteer organization Tennis Serves introduced blind tennis in 2011 at Lighthouse International and at the California School for the Blind in Fremont, California.[4]

Headquarters

The Lighthouse headquarters is the handicapped-accessible Sol and Lillian Goldman Building at at 111 East 59th Street in New York City.[5] This portion of East 59th Street was named Lighthouse Way in 1994.[1] The Jewish Guild headquarters is at 15 West 65th Street.[6]

Percentage devoted to programs

The New York Times in 2002 reported that Lighthouse at the time used 80 percent of its $28 million annual budget on its programs.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Krotz, Joanna L. (November 18, 2002). "Strategy: The Lighthouse Focuses On Donors New and Old". The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Lighthouse History". Lighthouse International. Undated. Retrieved August 23, 2012. 
  3. ↑ Barron, James (September 16, 2013). "Hoping to Raise Awareness, 2 Leading Groups for the Blind Plan a Merger". The New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2013. 
  4. ↑ Lin, Thomas (June 4, 2012). "Hitting the Court, With an Ear on the Ball". The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2012. 
  5. ↑ "About". Lighthouse International. Retrieved September 23, 2013. 
  6. ↑ Jewish Guild (official site)

External links


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