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, 2014 and 2017. Salary and any increase is based upon a review of other leading agencies serving the blind as well as equivalent local and national 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 charity navigator and guidestar. Annual report is circulated to 2,000 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).”

“Vision loss if left untreated our low vision program provides comprehensive functional assessments and eye examinations that link individuals to rehabilitative services and/or assistive devices and optics. These low vision services are specifically designed to assist individuals in utilizing their remaining vision to 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 522 patients, of which 287 patients received vision rehabilitation services from our occupational therapist and 144 hours of service. Our vision solutions center provided services to 1,586 clients which included identifying adaptive aids to improve functional vision. In 2017 we continued our work with the florida blue foundation and provided community members with "living with low vision" presentations to an additional 1969 individuals primarily affected by age-related eye disease.”

“Job readiness, orientation and mobility, social skills and community integration. Students learn valuable skills that prepare them for the workforce and are exposed to many career options through the work experience aspect of our program; in 2017 we placed 40 clients in internships. During our 2017 summer camp, 29 students had paid employment experiences, such as working at miami children's museum, la poderosa radio station, walgreens and smart bites. These experiences help students prepare for competitive integrated employment. Additionally, students in the able trust high school high tech component of the pre-employment transition program, keep up-to-date resumes, participate in job interviews and are able to prepare for careers through on-the-job training. The goal is to help these young adults reach their full potential. Forty-three (43) youth were served in our pre-employment transition program with 8,091 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. A recent partnership with comcast has given us the opportunity to continue to teach state-of-the-art technology to 137 clients in 2017 with 6,858 hours of service.”

“Address visual impairment problems; and preparing children to enter elementary school successfully. Among the many hundreds of children's programs in miami-dade county, in 2016 our early intervention program was named program of the year by the children's trust for its excellence in service to children and families and was identified as an example for other communities to follow. Ninety six (96) children and their families received 6,648 hours of service. In 2016, in collaboration with miami-dade county public schools and the early learning coalition, we launched our inclusion; pre-kindergarten for three- and four-year-old children to increase school readiness skills for children with and without visual impairments through high-quality early childhood inclusion programming. Utilizing the evidence-based highscope curriculum visually impaired students are supported in print/braille rich environment where accommodations are implemented by on-site licensed instructors trained in in visual disabilities. It is the only fully inclusive pre-kindergarten in the u.s. Offered by a vision rehabilitation institution, and this program model is unique in miami-dade county. Our early education programs are provided in fully inclusive classrooms where visually impaired and sighted children learn together in an environment that fosters independence and encourages each child to reach his or her own potential, while laying a strong foundation for educational and lifelong success. Our new miami lighthouse learning center for children dedication on august 16, 2017 was attended by elected officials from the city of miami along with other community leaders and donors; with our new lighthouse learning center facility we able to expand services to one- and two- year- olds. Our new 18,195 square-feet of classroom space facilitates programming for predominately low-income children from birth through age five. Five new classrooms have the capacity to provide early learning instruction by licensed teachers and certified specialists to 80 early learners who live county-wide. Our new learning center addresses our 300% increase in visually impaired children served over the past fifteen years along with expanding crucial new educational initiatives for early learners including access to technology and an innovative music program. Our lighthouse learning center for children programs enrolled 57 children with 28,558 hours of service.”

“Alternative rehabilitation programs the miami lighthouse provides a variety of alternative services that are funded by numerous sources. These programs include senior group health and activities, music performance and production, independent living, basic adult education and english as a second language (esol). Our senior group health and activities (sga) program targets financially disadvantaged blind adults primarily over 55 years of age with significant visual impairments in order to promote a fuller, more well-balanced life. Our sga program includes group discussions, language classes, computing, fitness, nutrition management and music along with field trips to local parks, malls and other areas of interest and integrates art creation and appreciation into this comprehensive programming. Clients may also participate in the ged/adult education and music programs. This important program enables blind seniors to stay out of costly assisted living facilities and reduces medical costs. These clients also become part of a peer community. One hundred twenty one (121) clients were served with 26,637 hours of service provided. Our music program participants have written, produced and recorded seven cd's in our state-of-the-art music studio. Our music program provides an 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. Teens and adults learn music composition, performance, recording, sound engineering and business skills. Training includes the use of jaws and zoomtext to access standard music industry software such as midi (musical instrument digital interface) and protools on the mac computer. The program also provides after school tutoring to enable students to maintain academic excellence while pursing music aspirations. It paves the way for our students to enter mainstream careers and 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. In 2017, 16 clients had at least one paid performance, with many having multiple paid engagements with an average of 6 paid performances per client. The program also provides music appreciation for the children in our lighthouse learning center for children, summer training and recreation program and senior group health and activities program. There were 224 client participants with 6,529 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 receive orientation and mobility training and personal management instruction which offers help in such areas as home and kitchen safety, basic meal preparation, nutrition, grooming, personal hygiene, money identification, organization, labeling and medication management. Clients also learn braille as needed to improve communication skills. They can also enroll in basic computer training and adult basic education/ged/esol, participate in our senior group health and activities program and receive low vision services as well as counseling sessions. 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 enrolled 169 clients with 7,290 hours of service. The summer training and recreation program (star) is an eight-week summer camp providing programs for blind or visually impaired children ages 5-13 designed to enhance literacy skills, encourage physical fitness and promote social interaction. 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”

“1,305,462 43,358 7,927”

“Change in interest in investments held in trust 48,978 cost of goods solds 171,311 special event expenses 142,295 cost of goods sold -171,311 special event expenses -142,295 total 48,978”