Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth is pleased to announce that Keith Higgs has joined the Sales Team as Sales and Customer Support. Higgs will be working closely with Lighthouse clients and sales representatives to provide an enjoyable experience for all customers as the company continues to grow. Higgs is an expert in customer service with over 20 years of experience in management in the music industry. He is happily married and has three wonderful daughters.

“I feel very blessed for the opportunity to work at Lighthouse and look forward too many years of rewarding experience” – Keith Higgs. If you are interested in one of the many products the Lighthouse offers, please contact Higgs at khiggs@lighthousefw.org or 817-529-7799.

Fort Worth, Texas (January 7, 2019) – Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth, a nonprofit that provides blindness rehabilitation services and employment for people who are visually impaired, decided to join the ‘Bird Box’ Challenge frenzy, but not in the way you may think. After watching the movie, seeing the viral challenge and hearing Netflix’s plea for people to not hurt themselves with the #BirdBoxChallenge, Lighthouse employee, Rebecca Smith, thought it would be a great opportunity to educate people and raise blind awareness within the community.

On Thursday, January 3^rd, Rebecca took to social media with the following post:

The post on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter has a photo of Sandra Bullock carrying Girl while under blindfold next to a Lighthouse volunteer learning to use a white cane under blindfold and reads, “#Netflix said it best, Don’t hurt yourselves with the Bird Box Challenge! If you are really interested in doing everyday activities under blindfold, call the experts, your local & friendly blind folks, for blind awareness training! We’ll be happy to put you under blindfold and let you walk around after we give you #TopNotch training tips!

We’ll even take your picture for you to share on social media.

#BirdBoxChallengePros #DontTryThisWithoutProperTraining #BlindAwarenessTraining #BlindPeopleGotYourBack #BirdBox #SandraBullockNailedIt #blindfold

Within 30 minutes of the posting, the phone at Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth began ringing – people were loving this approach on blind awareness and it even caught the attention of local tv news stations. Sebastian Robertson from WFAA 8 arrived shortly after the post was made for his very own blind awareness training and to learn more about their take on the challenge. (You can view his story here: WFAA – Lighthouse). Over the last few days the post has been shared over 150 times and reached more than 20,000 people across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

“Please know, it’s not safe to place yourself under blindfold without the proper training,” says Rebecca Smith “but if you are going to do this, please let us teach you the necessary skills to prevent injuries!” Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth welcomes everyone to come out and experience their “eye-opening” Blind Awareness Training, free of charge! The course is designed to help sighted people better understand how someone who is visually impaired adapts to their disability. Lighthouse Client Services Professionals place participants under blindfold and educate them on ways in which those with low vision use equipment, white cane travel and daily living aids to facilitate independence in their day to day lives.

If you would like to schedule Blind Awareness Training, contact Client Services at clientservices@lighthousefw.org or call 817-332-3341.

For media coverage, please contact Rebecca Smith at rsmith@lighthousef.org or 817-332-3341. “We would love for all our local media outlets to come out for a safe ‘bird box’ challenge experience!”

Follow Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth online at:

• www.lighthousefw.org
• www.facebook.com/lighthousefw
• www.instagram.com/fortworthlighthouse
• www.twitter.com/fwlighthouse

We are thrilled to announce our [Premier Biotech] patented rapid oral fluid device, OralTox, has received a coveted 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for two additional oral fluid assays, Oxycodone and Methadone. In total, OralTox has 510(k) clearance for the following 8 drugs: Amphetamine, Cocaine, Marijuana, Methadone, Methamphetamine, Opiates, Oxycodone and Phencyclidine. This clearance represents another landmark achievement that demonstrates our continued commitment to invest in the design, development and commercialization of near-donor solutions for the toxicology market.

By design, the OralTox format can scale to simultaneously detect up to 12 drugs, so this clearance marks the beginning of the next phase where more assays will be validated and submitted to the FDA in an effort to fully utilize the capacity of the device. The use of oral fluid as a testing matrix offers numerous benefits over urine testing: the process is less invasive, the collection can be fully observed without privacy concerns, tests can be administered without the need for specialized collection facilities and, most significantly, is resistant to adulteration.

Todd Bailey, CEO, states “Premier Biotech was founded with the goal of designing, developing and commercializing drug testing devices that represent the highest quality and most reliable results. Now with the clearance of Oxycodone and Methadone for OralTox, we are directly responding to the opioid crisis in the United States by enabling corporations and clinical groups alike to promptly screen and identify these illicit substances in a non-invasive manner.”

To purchase, contact Preston Clewis at pclewis@lighthousefw.org or 817-332-3341.

We are happy to announce that Leslie Hall has rejoined the Lighthouse family. Leslie first began working at the Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth in February of 2013 as our Head of Client Services. She brought with her an extensive background of working with individuals with blindness to increase independence and embrace full lives of confidence and dignity. Under her leadership, the Client Services Team grew to include services in Assistive Technology, Independent living skills training, braille classes, health and fitness, and Orientation and Mobility to name just a few. Leslie is a motivated, highly conscientious Certified Rehabilitation Counselor with 20+ years’ professional experience in blind rehabilitation, management, and vocational & independent living training programs. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Missouri State University in Sociology and English; and a master’s degree from Texas Tech University in Rehabilitation Counseling. She left the organization in August 2016 for family reasons.

After a brief two year break, Leslie has happily returned to the Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth as the Head of Client Services with a fully functioning Client Services Team. Both Leslie and the team look forward to providing services to more people of Tarrant and surrounding counties and reaching more families in the community. The continued goal through the scope and practice of services rendered is to raise the general public’s expectations of individuals who are blind for the purpose of creating a more integrated and diverse community.  Please do not hesitate to contact Leslie or anyone on the Client Services team if you have questions or have a need for assistance.

AT&T and Precision Containers are making a difference in the Blind Community through meaningful employment opportunities at Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth. 

For the past two years Lighthouse has been fortunate enough to work with Precision Containers, who supplies AT&T with boxes for customers to ship their phones in.

Recently AT&T featured us in their  Social Circle Newsletter, please take a moment to see how great this partnership is.

Click here to view the AT&T Feature

If you know anything about us and our mission, you know independence is what we’re all about!

Mike Evers has cataracts and glaucoma and has been low vision all his life. Evers has been an Inside Sales Rep with Lighthouse for over 2 years now and when asked what Independence means to him this is what you’ll hear, “Independence is the ability to live, work and thrive where you want. Having the ability to pay all of your bills, join a gym, engage in a favorite hobby or activity, travel and spend time with the people you love. When you possess the confidence to try something new and challenging, think outside the box and overcome challenges brought on to you by blindness, another disability or anything at all and you don’t quit, that makes you independent.”