It is with a very heavy heart that we must tell you that our beloved Art Bookbinder passed away today. Art will be dearly missed by all of us at Lighthouse of Collier. From the origin of the Lighthouse of Collier in 2009, he was a friend, coach, cheerleader, & financial supporter. One of our board members said it best. “He was a blind man that taught us how to see”…
There will be a Celebration of Life service in Naples at a later date.
More information will follow as soon as it is available.
Maggie has been a Lighthouse client for almost three years. She suffers from glaucoma and damaged corneas, causing a great deal of pain and extreme light sensitivity. She administers eye drops multiple times a day and attends frequent eye appointments. Compounding these challenges, Maggie was recently let go from her job due to COVID-19.
Despite her circumstances, Maggie always sees the glass half full and never seems defeated. She shows up with a smile and a “can do” attitude. Maggie frequently networks with other Lighthouse clients to help them cope with their vision loss. She leads by example by lending a hand to those in need.
Currently, Maggie works part-time for the Lighthouse as an interpreter for Spanish-speaking clients. Maggie’s hard work and positive attitude make her a pleasure to work with, both as a colleague helping as an interpreter for assistive technology lessons, and as a student, herself learning assistive technology.
Recently, the Lighthouse purchased a laptop through grant funding for Maggie with JAWS software. JAWS, which stands for Job Access With Speech, is the world’s most popular screen reader, developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse. JAWS provides speech and braille output for the most popular computer applications.
It’s been a tough few years for Maggie; however, her strong will leaves no doubt she will reach her goals. As she often says, “This is my new normal, so I’m going to have to figure out how to get it all done, but in a new way!”
