Lighthouse Guild is an American charitable organization, based in New York City, devoted to

vision rehabilitation Vision rehabilitation (often called vision rehab) is a term for a medical rehabilitation to improve vision or low vision. In other words, it is the process of restoring functional ability and improving quality of life and independence in an indivi ...

and advocacy for the blind. Its mission statement is "To overcome vision impairment for people of all ages through worldwide leadership in rehabilitation services, education, research, prevention and advocacy." Formerly known as Lighthouse International, it merged with Jewish Guild Healthcare and as of January 2014 became known as Lighthouse Guild International, with the name eventually shortened to Lighthouse Guild.

History

During a trip to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, Italy, at the turn of the 20th century, sisters Winifred and Edith Holt learned of a free service that provided concert tickets to blind schoolchildren. Inspired by the notion, the sisters established the similar Lighthouse Free Ticket Bureau in New York City in 1903. The organization was incorporated in 1906 as The New York Association for the Blind and offered home counseling and instruction program for the visually impaired. An early meeting for the board and the public, including blind men and women, was held at the

Waldorf-Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schult ...

hotel. Also in attendance were Secretary Miss Winifred Holt, Recording Secretary Miss Edith Holt, President

Richard Watson Gilder Richard Watson Gilder (February 8, 1844 – November 19, 1909) was an American poet and editor. Life and career Gilder was born on February 8, 1844 at Bordentown, New Jersey. He was the son of Jane (Nutt) Gilder and the Rev. William Henry Gi ...

, Vice-President Helen Keller, with honorary vice presidents Dr.

Nicholas Murray Butler Nicholas Murray Butler () was an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the deceased Ja ...

and

Samuel Langhorne Clemens Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

. The advisory board consisted of Dr. Felix Adler, Joseph H. Choate, John Farley, Bishop David Greer, Dr. William H. Maxwell and Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst. Winifred Holt also participated in founding the New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped. In 1912, the association established a workshop on East 42nd Street where visually impaired men could manufacture marketable products, and the sisters opened their home to visually impaired women to create handcrafted items for sale, leading to the organization's motto, "Light Through Work." Lighthouse became international with the onset of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when Winifred Holt in 1915 established Le Phare de Bordeaux, in France. Other overseas offices opened in Paris; Rome;

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

;

Canton, China Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kong ...

; Japan, the Middle East, India, South America, and elsewhere. That same year, the association created the River Lighthouse, in

Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York Cornwall-on-Hudson is a riverfront village in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, New York, United States. It lies on the west bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of New York City. The population as of the 2010 census was 3,018. It ...

, as the first of its eventually several summer camps for visually impaired children. Camp Munger, in Bear Mountain, New York, followed in 1923. A kindergarten was formed in 1925, and the Lighthouse Nursery School in 1933. An affiliation with the Ophthalmological Foundation in 1952 led to that foundation becoming the organization's research arm. The following year, the Lighthouse Low Vision Service was founded to administer to people with partial sight. In 1989, The New York Association for the Blind, Inc., became The Lighthouse Inc., and in 1998, the organization was renamed Lighthouse International. In January 2010 Lighthouse International acquired the National Association for Visually Handicapped (NAVH), an organization which provided services for the partially sighted. In September 2013, a merger was announced with Jewish Guild Healthcare. As of January 2014 the new organization is known as Lighthouse Guild International.

Branches and services

It operates the Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute in New York, and New York Lighthouse

Vision Rehabilitation Vision rehabilitation (often called vision rehab) is a term for a medical rehabilitation to improve vision or low vision. In other words, it is the process of restoring functional ability and improving quality of life and independence in an indivi ...

Services. The volunteer organization Tennis Serves introduced blind tennis in 2011 at Lighthouse International and at the California School for the Blind in Fremont, California.

Headquarters

The organization was headquartered at the Sol and Lillian Goldman Building at 111 East 59th Street in New York City. This portion of East 59th Street was named Lighthouse Way in 1994. After the merger with Jewish Guild Healthcare, the headquarters moved to the Guild location at 15 West 65th Street. In 2018 it moved to 250 West 64th Street.

Percentage devoted to programs

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' in 2002 reported that Lighthouse at the time used 80 percent of its $28 million annual budget on its programs.

References

External links

Lighthouse Guild
(official site)
Archive
of former Lighthouse International official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Lighthouse International Blindness organizations in the United States Charities based in New York City Non-profit organizations based in New York City Organizations established in 1906 1906 establishments in New York City