The Early Intervention & Children’s Program at Lighthouse will directly benefit from the NCEF grant. Funds from the grant will be used for programs to help children living with blindness and vision loss to function at their highest levels of independence, giving them experiences and skills to achieve social and academic success.
This grant is part of the Vision Initiative, which includes our partner organizations: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and Florida Lions Eye Clinic.
A 74-year-old woman named Ann with wet and dry macular degeneration has been coming to the Lighthouse since 2017. At first, she was wary and distant. She would come to workshops but interact minimally and, some thought, distantly. Ann came across as very unhappy.
Today Ann not only participates in the workshops but she is social and outgoing, commonly smiling and laughing with the group. She has even become active with her Lighthouse peers outside of their group sessions. The members regularly call and check up on each other. Ann is also moving forward with her learning, seeking to become more technologically skilled to stay connected with her new group of friends. She currently uses some of these new abilities to participate weekly in the virtual coffee chat.
