LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL FLORIDA INC

Lighthouse Central Florida's mission is "Charting a course for Living, Learning and Earning with vision loss".

Since 1976, Lighthouse Central Florida has been providing vision-rehabilitation services for persons of all ages who are blind or severely vision impaired and their families. Lighthouse Central Florida is accredited by the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving People with Blindness or Visual Impairment. Lighthouse provides early intervention services for children from birth–5, a transition program for young adults, training in independent and daily living skills, access technology, and self-advocacy education for all ages. Without these services and our caring, highly-trained staff, many visually-impaired individuals might be unable to live full, independent lives. Lighthouse Central Florida is the only non-profit, private organization providing these services in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties.

Lighthouse services include:
• Intake, Assessment and Case Management Services are used to develop an individual service plan and meet the ongoing needs of persons receiving vision rehabilitation services.
• Independent Living Skills Training enables blind adults to learn how to live independently at home and take an active part in community life.
• Orientation and Mobility Skills Training includes critical safety procedures for moving about in one’s environment, navigation of public transportation, special orientation and cane travel.
• Braille Instruction provides a method for reading and writing to those who are blind.
• Access Technology instruction in the use of magnification or speech software to access the computer screen and utilization of specific software taught according to clients’ needs.
• Vocational Rehabilitation Evaluation and training to prepare for, access, and maintain competitive employment. Services include job-readiness training and vocational assessments, etc.
• Early Intervention Program (age birth-5)
• Children's Program (age 6-13)
• Transition Program (age 14-22)
• Veterans Services rehabilitative assistance to those who have lost their vision in service to our country while in active military.

BRIEF HISTORY OF LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL FLORIDA

Lighthouse Central Florida began in 1976 as open courses at Valencia Community College. There, staff taught independent living skills to recently blind adults and educated parents and caregivers of visually impaired children. In 1981 the agency became an independent agency, known as The Center for Independence, Training, and Education (C.I.T.E.) at the time, with a mission to promote the independence and success of people living with sight impairment by offering a wider variety of services. During 1984, as one of 13 charter members of the National Alliance for Technology Access (ATA), the organization developed an innovative assistive technology resource center. In 2000, a change in executive leadership at Lighthouse transitioned the organization toward the current direction of a first-rate professional organization. National recruiting of vision specialists began and management professionals were hired. Within 2 years, the organization became nationally accredited by the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving People with Blindness or Visual Impairment.

In 2011, Lighthouse created a social enterprise initiative: Lighthouse Works, which trained and employed visually-impaired and blind adults in its 4Sight360 call center and its supply chain warehouse. Today, Lighthouse Works has grown to the point necessitating a new facility. Both business lines are running successfully with the mission of a double bottom line:
- Create competitive employment opportunities for blind and visually-impaired working-aged individuals in Central Florida; and
- Drive real business, for real customers, to generate re-deployable net revenue to support and grow Lighthouse Central Florida’s essential vision-rehabilitation programming.

ORGANIZATION QUALIFICATIONS

Lighthouse Central Florida (LCF) remains the only provider of no-cost vision-rehabilitation services in Central Florida that can help this population achieve their goals. LCF partners with local organizations to identify and contract services to our clients. LCF is the designated vendor for the State of Florida’s Division of Blind Services (DBS) for this region and works closely with the local District office to anticipate and meet client needs. Other partners include the Seminole County School System, Orange County Public Schools, Florida Hospital, Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital, and United Cerebral Palsy of Central Florida, among others. Local ophthalmologists and other vision-care specialists also partner with Lighthouse as primary sources of referral to Lighthouse programs.

Lighthouse is a member of the Lighthouse National Vision Rehabilitation Networks, a long-time member of the Florida Association of Agencies Serving the Blind (FAASB), and a charter member of the Alliance for Technology Access (ATA). In March of 2017, Lighthouse Central Florida is pleased to report that it was awarded another 5-year accreditation by the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped (NAC).

Our rehabilitation professionals are either certification eligible or maintain certification with the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Educational Professionals (ACVREP), an independent and autonomous legal certification body governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The ACVERP strives to conduct its certification programs according to standards established by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). It is committed to quality certification programs that meet rigorous recognized standards.

Local Central Florida IMPACT
Essential vision rehabilitation and support services to 852 People.
Adults/Teens Children
Orange County: 385 /115
Osceola County: 153 /18
Seminole County: 118/ 55
Other Counties (Lake & Brevard) 7 /1
Fiscal Year 2019-2020
Essential vision rehabilitation and support services to 706 People.
Adults/Teens Children
Orange County: 301/ 105
Osceola County: 94/ 44
Seminole County: 96/ 49
Other Counties (Lake & Brevard) 9/8
Fiscal Year 2018-2019
Essential vision rehabilitation and support services to 792 People.
Adults/Teens Children
Orange County: 395/ 85
Osceola County: 116/ 29
Seminole County: 133/ 34

In the prior three years, Lighthouse Central Florida has provided services to 2,350 children and adults throughout Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties that has resulted in:
• Developmentally on-target babies and toddlers
• Children who are prepared for entry into a mainstream or other developmentally-appropriate learning environment
• Competitive employment in diverse, integrated workplaces
• Increased ability for older adults to remain in their homes rather than assisted-living facilities
• Greater independence in daily-living and social skills
• Better ability for individuals to self-advocate
• Reduced dependence on public assistance
• Proficiency in the use of public transportation and mobility