Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired Inc.

“The 990 information is gathered by management. Once the tax return is prepared, management presents it to the board of directors who review it thoroughly and approve it.”

“In connection with any actual or possible conflicts of interest, an interested person must disclose the existence of his or her financial interest and must be given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to the directors and members of committees with board delegated powers considering the proposed transaction or arrangement. After disclosure of the financial interest and all materials facts, and after any discussion with the interested person. He/she shall recues himself/herself from the board or committee meeting while the determination of a conflict of interest is discussed and voted upon. The remaining board or committee members shall decide if a conflict of interest exists. An interested person may make a presentation at the board or committee meeting, but after such presentation, he/she shall leave the meeting during the discussion of, and the vote on, the transaction or arrangement that result in the conflict of interest. The chairperson of the board or committee shall, if appropriate, appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. After exercising due diligence, the board or committee shall determine whether the corporation can obtain a more advantageous transaction or arrangement with reasonable efforts from a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably attainable under circumstances that would not give rise to a conflict of interest, the board or committee shall determine by a majority vote of the disinterested directors whether the transaction or arrangement is in the corporation's best interest and for its own benefit and whether the transaction is fair and reasonable to the corporation and shall make its decision as to whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement in conformity with such determination.”

“Determined the compensation of the president/ceo is part of the board governance initiatives. The board operations committee is responsible for the ceo's salary/performance. On an annual basis performance and salary review is conducted. Ceo performance targets are reviewed quarterly. Ceo contract was developed in 2005, revised in 2007 and extended in 2009, 2010 and 2014. Salary and any increase is based upon a review of other leading agencies serving the blind as well as equivalent local nonprofits. Cfo: the organization worked with an outside placement firm and considered job duties and market conditions and compensation in other leading agencies as well as equivalent local nonprofits.”

“Financial statements are available upon request. The most current statements and tax document are available under corporate documents on the website. They are also readily available through other websites like guidestar. Annual report is circulated to 2,000 miami-dade residents and other similar agencies in the united states. The board governing documents, the minutes from the board meetings and the notes from board committee meetings are available to our auditors, program monitors and to the national accreditation council for blind and low vision services (nac).”

“Achieve an active lifestyle and maintain their maximum independence. Exams are provided under the supervision of a low vision consulting optometrist assisted by a certified low vision occupational therapist and licensed dispensing optician. Low vision exams were provided to 528 patients, of which 143 patients received vision rehabilitation services from our certified low vision/occupational therapist. Our vision solutions center provided services to 1,484 clients which included identifying adaptive aids to improve functional vision and providing instruction of optimal use of aids. Through community presentations an additional 1,746 individuals primarily affected by age-related eye disease participated in outreach seminars "living with low vision." low vision occupational therapy units of service totaled 216.”

“The goal is to help these young adults reach their full potential; for some of the students improving braille literacy is an important component of their curriculum. Forty-three youth were served in our transition program with 7,402 hours of service. Our vocational rehabilitation program is for visually impaired adults that are either working or want to go back to work. The program provides comprehensive training in self-help skills, computer/adaptive technology and job readiness; other services provided through the program include orientation and mobility, low vision services, personal and home management. One hundred and fifty-four clients were served in 2015 with 11,123 hours of service.”

“And preparing children to enter elementary school successfully. In 2015, with a focus on this population, a new initiative was launched, i.e., raising the capital funds and program support to create our lighthouse learning center for children which will include five learning laboratories (including a pre-kindergarten for three- and four-year-old children) for year-round education for children from birth to age five. This is expected to be completed in 2017. One hundred and five children and their families were served with 4,631 hours of service provided.”

“Alternative rehabilitation program the miami lighthouse provides a variety of alternative services that are funded by numerous sources. These programs include senior group health and activities program, music performance and production, independent living, basic adult education and english as a second language (esol). Our senior group health and activities program offers leisure activities that also aid in perfecting one's blindness skills. Ceramics and arts and crafts improve dexterity necessary for braille comprehension. Field trips to local parks, malls and other areas of interest, group discussions, language classes, nutrition management and exercise and music classes are also available. These clients become part of a peer community. One hundred and forty-four clients were served with a 34,587 hours of service provided. The music program provides innovative year-round music education initiative targeting sighted and visually impaired young adults, utilizing music appreciation, instruction and exploration as the tools to foster work readiness skills and enhance self-efficacy and positive peer relations. The program also provides after school tutoring to enable students to maintain academic excellence and while pursing music aspirations. It paves the way for our students to enter mainstream careers and for post-secondary education in the field of music and provides the opportunity for blind musicians to learn how to work and perform in a sighted world. The program also provides music appreciation for the children in our summer training and recreation program (star) as well as our senior group health and activities (sga). There were 212 clients served with 8,208 hours of service provided. The independent living program is for visually impaired individuals who are not employed and intend to remain in their homes. These clients have the opportunity to receive orientation and mobility training and personal management instruction. They can also receive basic computer training, participate in our senior group health and activities program and receive low vision services as well as counseling services. Our independent living program consists of two age groups: independent living adult program (age 54 and under) and independent living older blind (age 55 and over). The two independent living programs served 158 clients with 6,304.75 hours of service provide. The summer training and recreation program (star) is a six-week summer camp providing services to blind or visually impaired children ages 5- 13. The program offers fun, engaging, and enriching activities focusing on literacy, technology, physical fitness, social skills development, art and music. Two saturdays of each month and school holidays are also devoted to braille and technology literacy. These programs aim to educate and develop the scholastic skills of the children, and continually reinforce their braille knowledge. These programs served a total of 69 students with total instructional units of 8,659 hours of service. Our educational program is made up of two components. The adult basic education/ged and esol programs to give our adult clients the education to empower them to earn their ged in order to position themselves for future employment. Our esol program gives clients the opportunity to master the english language which is required in order to move into the ged program. We have served 62 adults in these programs with 12,569 service hours provided.”

“1,029,434 39,817 10,015”

“Change in interest in investments held in trust -4,107 cost of goods solds 207,328 cost of goods sold -207,328 total -4,107”