In the late 1920s, blind activist Dolly Gamble enlisted the Miami Lions and Miami Rotary clubs to help the blind achieve independence. From their efforts, the Florida Association of Workers for the Blind, which would later be called Miami Lighthouse, was born. Nearly a century later, we are Florida's largest nonprofit providing hope, confidence, and independence to the blind and visually impaired of all ages. Originally a 900-square-foot bungalow house in the 1930s, Miami Lighthouse's facility now encompasses over 150,000 square feet of space dedicated to education, training, research, and vision enhancement.
Miami Lighthouse has always valued collaboration. In the late 1920's, soon after Helen Keller exhorted the Lions Club to be "knights for the blind," a dedicated group of Floridians, led by Thomas Grady, who enlisted the Lions Club, and Dolly Gamble, a remarkable, young, blind activist and promoter of Braille literacy, worked together to found the Florida Association of Workers for the Blind. During the Depression, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, Mrs. Charles Brickell, and Mrs. Harvey Firestone, among other notables, hosted garden party fundraisers.
As early as 1943, University of Miami Trustee Dr. Bascom Palmer and Miami Lighthouse discussed the establishment of an eye clinic to serve the local community. In 1947, Palmer was elected board president of Miami Lighthouse and announced that "he would do everything possible" to start "a clinic to treat the blind and persons with eye ailments which might lead to blindness." In 1948, the Miami Lighthouse purchased land on N.W. 17th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues, across the street from Jackson Memorial Hospital. Shortly thereafter, Palmer announced plans for an institute costing $500,000 (about $6.5 million in 2024 dollars) to be built on the site. Dr. Palmer made it his life's work to raise funds and support for the eye hospital in cooperation with Miami Lighthouse. In 1960, the Miami Lighthouse contributed $305,000 (about $3.3 million in 2024 dollars) to construct an Eye Institute named in honor of Dr. Bascom Palmer. The current institute, opened in 1973, was built on the 17th Street site originally purchased by the Miami Lighthouse, under Palmer's leadership, in 1948. A strong collaboration between Miami Lighthouse and Bascom Palmer Eye Institute continues to this day, as both institutions transform lives through vision-related services and research.
As part of our education mission, Miami Lighthouse partners with academe on continuing education "Living with Low Vision" workshops for Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists. In collaboration with universities throughout the U.S., nearly 100 occupational therapy and orientation and mobility students have completed their on-campus practicum experience at Miami Lighthouse.
Miami Lighthouse also contracts with the School Board of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (the third largest school district in the U.S.) for our early learning program, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first and second grades and for providing itinerant service and functional vision and learning media assessments for M-DCPS students, Braille transcribing, Adult Basic Education/GED, English as a Second Language for visually impaired adults, and the Florida Heiken Children's Vision Program.
Accreditation is a value-added process that ensures that consumers (i.e., clients and students) are provided services under quality-based conditions, and that the organization operates at the highest level of quality and is positioned to generate the outcomes needed by the clients.
Miami Lighthouse was first accredited in 1978 by the National Accreditation Council for Blind and Low Vision Services (NAC). NAC accreditation subsequently came under the executive management of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER), and we have maintained our accreditation through AER to date. Since 2019, our Miami Lighthouse Academy has been an Accredited Professional Preschool Learning Environment as well as a Department of Children and Families Gold Seal Quality Program.
Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired has received 13 consecutive 4-star ratings, the highest rating possible, from the nation's premier independent nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator. Attaining a 4-star rating indicates that our organization adheres to sector best practices, exceeds industry standards, and executes its mission in a financially efficient way. In addition, Miami Lighthouse successfully completed all four of the new Charity Navigator Encompass Beacons, which provide a comprehensive analysis of performance across four key domains with nearly perfect scores: Accountability and Finance 100%, Leadership and Adaptability 100%, Impact and Measurement 98%, and Culture and Community 100%.
We transform the lives of well over 90,000 blind and visually impaired individuals and their families annually from babies to seniors and schoolchildren in underserved communities statewide who fail their vision screening.
Today, the impact of our programs is statewide, national, and international:
Our mission statement is: "Through education, training, research and vision enhancement, Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired provides hope, confidence, and independence to people of all ages." To carry out our mission, we will continue to innovate, to work to meet the needs of people of all ages affected by a visual impairment and to provide exemplary education and vision rehabilitation for our program participants and transparency and accountability to our donors.
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Miami Lighthouse is AER accredited distinguishing that an agency or school operates at the highest level of quality and is positioned to generate the outcomes needed by the clients.
Miami Lighthouse received the coveted Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce 2023 Nonprofit Business Innovative Excellence NOVO Award with an organizational budget of $2 million and above.
Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired has received 13 consecutive 4-star ratings, the highest rating possible, from the nation's premier independent nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator. Attaining a 4-star rating indicates that our organization adheres to sector best practices, exceeds industry standards, and executes its mission in a financially efficient way.
Early Intervention Blind Babies Program Named the Children's Trust 2016 Program of the Year. This most prestigious award recognizes this Early Intervention Program, in particular, for including parents as teachers.
Miami Lighthouse Learning Center for Children™ is a Florida gold seal and nationally Accredited Professional Preschool Learning Environment (APPLE)
Miami Lighthouse was recognized at the 2015 Florida Blue Foundation Sapphire Awards luncheon as an organization that has demonstrated excellence and innovation in community health.
Miami Lighthouse received the prestigious 2015 Beacon Award in Education at the 13th Annual Beacon Council Awards.
Miami Lighthouse is a two-time Charity Partner (2013 and 2014) of the Marlins Foundation and a 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Legacy Partner. Our Florida Heiken Children's Vision Program has received over $300,000 in charitable donations through these partnerships.
Miami Lighthouse received the prestigious 2008 Concern Award from Health Foundation of South Florida.
Miami Lighthouse received a Silver medal at the 2016 Miami Today Gold Medal Awards Ceremony.
Miami Lighthouse named "Best of Miami" Charity 2017 by the New Times.
Miami Lighthouse received United Homecare's 2012 Thelma Gibson Community Service Award at the 18th Annual Claude Pepper Memorial Awards Ceremony.
Miami Lighthouse received the prestigious South Florida Business Journal 2011 Excellence in Health Care Award in the Community Outreach category.
Miami Lighthouse honored by being named the recipient of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce 2010 Non-Profit Business Diamond Award.
Miami Lighthouse received the prestigious 2020 award for "Best in Nonprofit" campaign by PRWeek referred to as the "Oscars of the PR industry".
Miami Lighthouse is proud to be a strategic partner with ABLE United, Florida's disability savings program, to learn more visit www.ableunited.com
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