White Cane Day
October 15^th 2021 at Miami Lighthouse

Presenting Sponsors

White Cane Day is a yearly national day of observance established by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The day is set aside to celebrate the many achievements of people who are blind and visually impaired, and their important symbol of independence, the white cane.

Over 150 blind and visually impaired people, as well as, many sighted volunteers will participate in this annual celebration beginning at 601 SW 8th Ave. and proceeding down 8th street and then back to Miami Lighthouse’s campus.

This is the one time of year we ask our grateful clients to give back to this remarkable place that many call their second home. Event sponsors include presenting sponsors Florida Blue, High Standard Home Care and Uber, along with McDonald’s, Starbucks, OrCam, Vispero, Ambutech, Lions for the Blind, TracFone and others.

 

 

My name is Bernie Altmeier and I am originally from Bonn, Germany. I moved to the United States, and settled in Florida in the 1990s and am a professional boat captain and marine consultant.

Nearly two years ago in late summer in 2018, I developed a sudden severe deterioration to my eye nerve. In the process of diagnostics at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the case manager recommended I contact Miami Lighthouse due to their great reputation for Counseling, training and integrating vision impaired and blind people into daily life and work.

Here, I was referred to Mrs. Corina Hernandez the Senior Case Manager, Mental Health and Rehabilitation Counselor. My special gratitude for everything she did to help me. I had an immediate interview for assessment and a tour of the facility, and was impressed with the courtesy, professionalism and proficiency off the staff. Everyone is treated the same and I soon learned that some off the staff are vision impaired/blind themselves.

Miami Lighthouse is the place where I can learn the skills and tools necessary to continue a professional and independent life. This was confirmed by observing teachers and students of all ages enthusiastically working and helping each other. Fortunately, when I toured we ended at lunch time in the cafeteria and I joined a happy crowd on break between classes. The camaraderie of this diverse group clearly showed that this is not only a school to learn life skills but a community as well.

I started classes in Orientation and Mobility to find my way safely around town, technology to use my phone, IPad and computer to stay connected without seeing the screen, independent living to handle daily chores and outreach to ensure a safe environment at home and of course visited the store with many of the items that are useful every day.

While everybody at Miami Lighthouse deserves credit for their help and encouragement for me to maintain my ability to continue to work as my eye sight changes, I would like to mention a few who I spend time in class with. Mrs. Corina Hernandez for setting me up with a schedule that flowed around my work days and monitored my progress, Ms. Judy Porro, with outreach and mobility to show me how to find my way and get around safely in my house, the technology team Mr. Mirna Garcia, Mr. Oseas De Leon, and Mr. Jorge Hernandez never tires of explaining how to solve simple or complex tasks on different devices and Ms. Barbara Del Pino for teaching me how to type, something that I couldn’t accomplish while I could see the letters on the keyboard.

As my learning continues, I am glad to give back a little by volunteering when I can.

I am very grateful that I have the opportunity to learn at Miami Lighthouse and stay focused through the new skills I now have and a new perspective on life.

Please make a gift to support me on White Cane Day by clicking the DONATE NOW button below. Your donation will help continue the many life affirming and transformational programs Miami Lighthouse offers.