Posted 9:50 pm Sunday, January 29, 2012
Lighthouse Empowers Blind To Take Control Of Destiny
By CASEY MURPHY
Business Editor
Business Editor
While most people think of nonprofit organizations as charities, East Texas Lighthouse for the Blind is a business.
Since 1976, Lighthouse has empowered blind residents through rehabilitation, education, training and employment. Blind people make up 90 percent of its staff.
Horizon Industries is part of Lighthouse and manufactures products for federal and state agencies.
"We do $22 million a year and there's a blind guy running it," Lighthouse President/CEO David Huffman said. "I don't think there's anyone in town who could do a better job than he does."
Lighthouse Graphics will sell $500,000 in printed apparel this year, Huffman said.
And the Low Vision Aids Store, an adaptive equipment aids store fitting the needs of people with low vision or who are blind, is more than a year old.
Now, the local organization that serves 46 East Texas counties is planning a new $1.2 million project, which will turn an old vacant building into a state-of-the-art rehabilitative services and educational facility.
Huffman began working with Christina Fulsom, executive director for PATH (People Attempting to Help), on the new Saving Sight Program, which provides eye exams and eye glasses for needy Smith County residents.
Ms. Fulsom asked Huffman if he would like to rent an 8,000-square-foot building PATH had for lease. He didn't want to rent a facility but asked if she would sell it. He took the idea to the Lighthouse Board of Directors and received approval.
"We're talking about a really, really big project here," Huffman said while laying out the plans on Wednesday.
In August 2011, Lighthouse acquired the building that was donated to PATH in 2009 by the Retail Merchants Association, a commercial credit reporting service that formed in the 1920s.
The building, at 411 Front St., was constructed in the 1970s and has sat vacant for many years. It was not ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant, had asbestos issues and had to be completely gutted. The facility also did not have enough electrical service to fit the technology needs of Lighthouse.
'CHANGING THEIR WORLD'
The new building will house three distinct, separate businesses.
The Low Vision Aids Store and its stock room will take up 2,500 square feet in the center of the building, moving from its current location in a leased space at 727 E. Front St.
The store will resemble and have the feel of an Apple store, Huffman said.
"We are so driven by technology for the blind," he said. "It's changing their world."
One such product that will be available at the store is ZoomText, a computer program that automatically "zooms up" a computer screen for the user.
He said the 71 blind people working for Lighthouse talk about Apple Apps all of the time, making Braille almost a thing of the past.
"This is unsurpassed anywhere in the U.S. ... people don't just do what we do," Huffman said of the store that offers a range of adaptive technology and personal support for the blind and visually impaired.
Lighthouse also has plans to take its Low Vision Aids store online by the end of the year.
The west wing of the new facility will house the Rehabilitative Services division, which helps blind and visually impaired people learn everyday skills to improve their quality of life and to mainstream back into society and the workplace.
The 2,200 square foot space will have its own lobby and waiting room, and will include a fully functioning apartment, complete with a couch, television, stove, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer, closet, bathroom and a bed where the blind and visually impaired will "learn how to do everything they need to do," he said.
Low vision exams, as well as exams for prosthetics, also will be done there by appointment. And a general area will include the Orientation and Mobility services, which has certified instructors who teach people how to "get out and navigate around."
Huffman said Lighthouse's goal is to mainstream people back into competitive employment and to get blind people proficient to go out and get any job.
The east wing of the building will take up 3,300 square feet and house Educational Services. It will have a big community room where board meetings will be held, as well as teachers training seminars and other events. The "Learning Place" also will have two high tech classrooms and a call center training classroom.
He said call center training is important because it is ideal work for blind people, who he said are tech savvy.
The east wing also will have a testing lab, break room and support offices.
The key component for the "Learning Place" will be the RET -- Rehabilitation, Education Training program, designed to mainstream qualifying blind and visually impaired high school graduates into the workforce, vocational school or college with specialized training. The program is free and scholarships are available to provide room and board for out-of-town kids.
Lighthouse also does distance learning out into its 46 counties and works directly with students through their computers.
"We're going to be very aggressive because this is not just Smith County, this is East Texas," Huffman said.
IDENTIFYING A NEED
Huffman has lived in Tyler for 21 years and became chief executive officer of Lighthouse three years ago, when the organization was not doing any rehabilitative services programs. His job was to get everybody back on track to Lighthouse's mission.
"This is a business," he said, adding that although Lighthouse is a nonprofit organization, it is not a charity.
Out of its 117 employees, 71 are legally blind. Huffman said people who are blind and visually impaired are all considered legally blind. Some of them couldn't find a job anywhere else and have since excelled in their jobs at Lighthouse.
"We're identifying this huge need out here," Huffman said. "This need has been here since there have been blind people ... The opportunity wasn't here to make these programs happen" until now, Huffman said.
Lighthouse's Job Readiness Training provides blind and visually impaired people with the needed skills to be successful in the global market.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2009, 75 percent of people with vision loss are identified as "not in the labor force."
A big part of that need Lighthouse has identified is school children who need education and training to transition. He sees some kids who basically have "timed out" of school and really have no computer skills.
Lighthouse offers Microsoft Office skills training.
He said they now also do job shadowing with high school students.
CREATING JOBS
Construction on the former Retail Merchants Association building is expected to be complete June 1 and it will take about two months to get moved in and settled before a dedication ceremony takes place.
After the new facility is open, the Low Vision Aids store will need two more employees and as class sizes increase, more instructors will be needed.
But the new facility will create many more jobs than that.
"We really see this as creative job employment for blind people, disabled people," Huffman said.
Once trained at the call center, people can get jobs at Suddenlink or other call centers nationwide that need workers.
He said by educating and training them, they will be creating hundreds of jobs.
Businesses also need to be educated to create more business opportunities for the blind and visually impaired, Huffman said.
About 2 percent of the U.S. population is legally blind or will go blind, he said, adding that they estimate about 54,000 people in the 46 East Texas counties Lighthouse serves would be eligible for its services.
People need to understand that when blind people go out and become gainfully employed, they add to the tax base and help the local economy., Huffman said.
He said the $1.2 million needed to pay for the new facility was generated by labor workers at Lighthouse and is now being invested back into the community with the new building.
Eubanks, Harris, Roberts and Craig is providing the architectural/engineering services for the $1.2 million renovation project while Sentry General Contractors is providing the demolition of the interior and construction of the new facility.
