Building a Lighthouse in the Desert of West Texas
Since its establishment by Mrs. Maurice Hedwig Mathias Schwartz and the El Paso Council of Jewish Women in 1934, the El Paso Lighthouse for the Blind has provided employment, vocational counseling, and life skills training to the blind and visually impaired of El Paso, West Texas, Southern New Mexico, and along the region's U.S./Mexico international border.
Originally housed in a ground-floor room at the Hilton Hotel in downtown El Paso, the Lighthouse began as a manufacturing facility which enabled employees to enjoy gaining the self-esteem that comes from self-sufficiency. They were trained to become skilled producers of functional as well as decorative household items. The quality of their products, which they sold door-to-door, was well known throughout El Paso's residential community.
The Lighthouse moved to a small building on Yandell Street during the 1950's and, in 1972, settled into its present facility expanding its mission to include advocacy services for employees and other blind and visually impaired clientele including the elderly, low-income families, and children with visual problems.
Through six decades of growth and expansion, the basic mission of the Lighthouse has remained constant: to offer training, resources, and services which provide the blind and visually impaired with access to the same opportunities and quality of life available to everyone around them. The Lighthouse is guided by the unwavering belief that its rehabilitative and employment services can help any person overcome his or her disability and enable them to reach their fullest potential for self-sufficiency and independence.
