Lighthouse
International celebrated their centennial with a ribbon-cutting
ceremony and unveiling of the
Sol and
Lillian Goldman Building. Afternoon festivities include a
VIP cocktail party and performance by the Filomen M. D’Agostino
Greenberg Lighthouse Music School at 5:30 pm.
This event served to launch a year-long celebration marking
a hundred years of leadership in overcoming the challenges
of vision loss.
Beginning with its founders, Winifred and Edith Holt, who broke down
barriers by opening their family home in New York City to New Yorkers
who were blind, the Lighthouse has served, and continues to serve,
as a beacon for helping people who are blind and partially sighted
live independently. From the legacy of volunteerism that began with
the pioneering Holt sisters, to the establishment of professional
vision rehabilitation services rooted in a health care model, prevention
of vision loss worldwide – and its disabling effects –
remains a primary focus of the Lighthouse.
Since 1905, Lighthouse International has been recognized
for its pioneering work in vision rehabilitation services, education,
research,
prevention and advocacy, enabling people of all ages who are blind
or partially sighted to lead independent and productive lives. Providing
opportunities for people who are blind to find gainful employment
was Winifred Holt’s key to helping them lead independent
lives. She established a workshop for men to make marketable items
and opened her home to women to make handicrafts, all for public
sale. From this early seed emerged the Lighthouse’s current
programs in the Philip B. Miller Center for Career Services, where
people who are blind and partially sighted receive the latest training
and access to the computer technology they need to take their rightful
place in the competitive workplace.
Advances in technology enable Lighthouse International to reach more
people than ever. Among the organization’s top priorities today
is harnessing the power of the Internet to make it accessible to
people with impaired vision and to the professionals who work with
them, worldwide. The vital tool for doing this is VisionConnection
(www.VisionConnection.org), an accessible online source of information
and support.
During the last 20 years, under the leadership of its President and
CEO, Dr. Barbara Silverstone, Lighthouse International has also played
a central role in defining the term “vision rehabilitation” and
in providing training for professionals. She has led the effort to
seek licensure for vision rehabilitation professionals and is the
principal editor of “The Lighthouse Handbook on Vision Impairment
and Vision Rehabilitation,” the first comprehensive reference
book that defines the continuum from blindness to partial sight and
highlights the interdisciplinary field of vision rehabilitation.
The Lighthouse Centennial Fund Drive is receiving significant contributions
to ensure the future of the organization. As a lead gift to the Centennial
Fund Drive, the Lighthouse received the largest individual commitment
for financial support in its history: a gift from the Sol Goldman
Charitable Trust of $10 million over the next five years to name
its headquarters building, “The Sol and Lillian Goldman Building,” of
Lighthouse International.
This gift will support the organization’s core vision rehabilitation
services for people who are blind and partially sighted in the 21st
century. And, the Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation also made
a generous leadership gift for the Lighthouse Music School as part
of a $1 million funding initiative to support the School. It is now
named “The Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School” in
honor of Mrs. Greenberg who benefited from the Lighthouse Music School
when her vision was failing toward the end of her life. From the
Lighthouse’s earliest days, music classes were offered and,
by 1913, The Lighthouse Music School was officially founded. It remains
today an integral part of the Lighthouse’s vision rehabilitation
programs.
Other “Visionary Leaders” of the Lighthouse include:
Adele Block, Judy Van Nostrand, Robert L. Burch III, Barbara
Saltzman,
The New York Community Trust, The Lavelle Fund for the Blind, Inc.,
and the Estate of Gertrude Sheva Lum. Lighthouse “Corporate
Visionaries” include Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and
Pfizer Inc.
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