UPDATED | Lighthouse of SWFL: A beacon of hope
People who are visually impaired, blind, or have vision loss have a strong resource in Lee County.
Southwest Florida, the Lighthouse of SWFL, at 35 W. Mariana Ave. in North Fort Myers, is committed to empowering people of all ages to overcome vision loss and blindness, whether they were born with sight or not.
Dotty St. Amand, executive director, said the facility has provided thousands of people with support and life skills.
“We are the only vision rehabilitation center serving Lee, Hendry, and Glades counties. Which makes our services very important for folks who hear about us. To get the assistance they need,” St. Amand said. “We help out between 350 and 400 clients every year of all ages, the majority of which are older adults with low vision and not born blind.”
Vision impairment is a spectrum. St. Amand said Lighthouse provides instruction based on the client’s needs.
“Some people might need white letters on a black background more than someone else, or someone who isn’t color blind might see a bright yellow,” St. Amand said. “It depends on the person and the eye condition.”
The Lighthouse was incorporated in 1974 as the Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) of Southwest Florida. It served to provide social support for those with low vision or blindness and evolved to include vision rehabilitation
In September 2012, the name and logo were changed to Lighthouse of Southwest Florida to be more easily recognized as serving those with low vision and blindness, as are hundreds of other similarly-named “Lighthouse” agencies throughout the United States.
Today, Lighthouse has 18 staff positions and 20 steady volunteers to go along with many others who volunteer occasionally. About a third of the employees and volunteers are blind or have vision loss.
Among them is Anne Hatton, who has a guide dog with her when she isn’t helping those with low vision use technology for what they want or need it to do, whether it be magnification or text to speech.
“People who come here and are new to blindness are afraid or sad and they see another blind or low vision person doing it and discover there’s hope,” Hatton said. “I get where they’re coming from so we talk about things. At the end of the day, I leave the same way they do.”
Mildred Eads, a certified therapist who also has low vision, works with low-vision adults with the use of devices to help people do what they want to do to stay independent.
“Reading is a key component to stay independent, from reading mail to prescription bottles and communicating with individuals,” said Eads, who has worked with people as old as 106. “Most people I meet with have had declines in vision. The older people I’ve seen have had macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts.”
Gara Kreider, program services supervisor, said she works with many at the beginning of their journey at Lighthouse, many of whom are adults.
“I identify what their needs are and develop a plan with them and connect them with the instructors they need,” Kreider said. “It includes adjusting to blindness counseling for all new people.”
“It takes a lot of courage for someone to walk through the door or call us. It’s important to be here and be responsive to their request for services and giving them that hospitable and warm touch to sit down with them and talk about what’s going on,” St. Amand said. “The first step is to get them to acknowledge and ask or accept services.”
Lighthouse has a variety of programs for not only those who are impaired, but also their families, from infants to adults of all ages.
Lighthouse provides early intervention services for families and children from birth to age 5 with visual impairments. Parents can join an education group, a way to share pertinent information and resources with parents and caregivers of students.
Lighthouse Kids focuses on school-aged children to support their developing independence, learning and experiences. The Transition program prepares young adults for adult life, from work experience to a real job offer. The adult program helps improve lives and assist adults with gaining and maintaining their independence.
Jenny Hazelton has brought her son, Booker, 9, to Lighthouse since he was a baby. Booker was born blind and Hazelton knew there might be an issue when Booker would not make eye contact with her.
Booker was soon was diagnosed as blind. Hazelton learned about the Lighthouse and enrolled him there at 8 months old.
“Booker never had any fear. He just figures things out and the Lighthouse has really helped him,” Hazelton said. “I have never experienced blindness and the Lighthouse has helped me help him navigate his way through life.”
Booker has also learned Braille, which is how blind people read, with bumps designating a particular letter of the alphabet.
“I read with my fingers. I’ve learned to read faster and learned contractions. I like to learn it,” Booker said.
He has also found his artistic side and learned to play the piano at an early age. Quite well, in fact.
Booker has figured out how to navigate his way around the house and even around the neighborhood.
“He’s been taught how to listen for cars and look for the ‘Booker Bumps’ on the road that means a crosswalk is there. It’s usually in yellow for those who are able to see,” Hazelton said.
The person responsible for teaching that is Michael Brust, orientation and mobility specialist. He teaches people how to travel and navigate using a white cane.
“There’s a lot of skill involved. It’s a specialty you can read about and understand it, but you need to do it to become proficient and pick up on the other skills to be safe and effective,” Brust said.
Lighthouse will also aid people in navigating the area via bus or who need to make their way through Edison Mall or the airport or downtown Fort Myers with its popular outdoor dining, Brust said.
Lighthouse of SWFL also provides transportation to those with visual impairment, which is funded by the Florida Department of Transportation.
Lighthouse of SWFL is a nationally-accredited human services agency partially funded by civic, corporate, and individual donors, as well as by the United Way, Division of Blind Services, Florida Agencies Serving the Blind, Lee County and the FDOT.
St. Amand said it costs around $1.5 million to run Lighthouse annually.
Among the events the agency holds annually is White Cane Day, which brings attention to those with poor vision or blindness by having ordinary citizens cross a busy intersection while experiencing blindness. This year’s event will be held on Oct.16 at the Bell Tower.
Its big fundraiser is Dining in the Dark, a unique sensory awareness fundraising event that raises between $30,000 and $40,000 to help continue its mission of providing vision rehabilitation and support services.
For more information on Lighthouse of SWFL, go to lighthouseswfl.org or call 997-7797.
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