Winter 2004

Message from the President

Looking at the new year ahead of us, I see significant areas in which we can create additional high quality job opportunities for blind, Deaf-Blind and developmentally disabled blind people. These new jobs hinge upon expansion of our manufacturing activities. 

As you probably already realize, the Lighthouse started serving our community around 1914, with the creation of a shop where blind people worked on hand-made crafts items which were sold in a small retail store in downtown Seattle. At that time, our society believed blind people were only capable of doing repetitive handicrafts: making jigsaw puzzles, weaving baskets, and making brooms. Fortunately for all of us, we have become more enlightened over time. Today you will find blind people working in virtually all fields: as lawyers, psychologists, social workers, teachers, computer programmers, auto mechanics, scientists, landscapers and machinists. We consider any job that doesn’t actually require driving a vehicle as fair game for a blind person.

Even though blind people are completely capable of performing thousands of different types of jobs, the fact remains that seven out of ten blind adults are still not in the workforce. Our nonprofit agency seeks to address this terrible problem by operating a successful, modern manufacturing firm, and insuring that jobs throughout the organization are accessible to blind people. This typically means making sure that the right types of specialized equipment and training are available.

We currently employ 160 blind, Deaf-Blind and developmentally disabled blind people here at the Seattle Lighthouse. To take one product as an example, our canteen production line provides employment for seventeen blind, two Deaf-Blind and six developmentally disabled blind people. Disabled employees successfully fill positions as machinists, production workers, computer instructors, administrative assistants, accounting specialists, supervisors and managers. Total sales of products manufactured by our team of disabled and nondisabled employees should approach $30 million this year. 

As a nonprofit, we invest any surplus revenues from these sales back into the organization to pay for training and special technology as well as increasing our capacity to produce high-quality products for our customers.

As our sales grow, so do job opportunities in direct manufacturing, production and a variety of support positions.

We plan to achieve growth in sales and new job opportunities for blind people in three main ways: new product development, improving existing products and modernizing production lines. While working on these three areas we are constantly introducing the new technologies associated with modern manufacturing, thereby enhancing the quality of job opportunities here. 

We are fortunate to have a fantastic group of dedicated people working at the Lighthouse who have the special skills and expertise necessary to make a huge variety of jobs accessible for blind people.  Many of the things we do to make a job accessible are simple and inexpensive. Others, like purchasing specialized computer equipment for blind employees, carry significant costs.  Finding financial support from people interested in helping support our mission is essential if we are to continue creating opportunities for people who are blind.

Combining that community support with our manufacturing capabilities, customer base and expertise in training and technology, the sky is the limit.

The next twelve months hold great promise. 

We will be sure and keep you informed of our job creation efforts throughout 2004 and in the years to come. 

Previous Page | Horizons Main Page | Home