About
Us
The Florida Lions Conklin Center for the Blind is a nationally-accredited
human service organization in Daytona Beach, Florida. We are widely respected
for being the first and only agency in the United States dedicated to
providing coordinated vocational and independent living services to individuals
who are blind and have one or more other disabilities. We are owned and
administered by the Lions Clubs of Florida.
Since our inception, the Conklin Center has significantly
changed the lives of hundreds of adults and children. We serve about
145 individuals
annually. The approximate 100 adults we assist every year learn employment
and daily living skills, enabling them to be productive and more self-sufficient.
They are young people who could rely on welfare; instead they choose
to work, earn their own way, and contribute to their community. Most
are Floridians, but students have come to us from the rest of the United
States, South America and the Caribbean. The 35-50 children we serve
annually are aged birth through five, and we help teach them skills to
prepare them for kindergarten and a life of independence.
The Conklin Center takes great pride that over 80% of
students who complete our vocational training program every year become
gainfully employed,
graduate to further academic or vocational training, or gain sufficient
skills to be more self-supporting. In recent years, the Center’s
reputation has generated a substantial increase in requests for services.
Incoming students must now wait several months to enter our programs.
Our community-based programs have been providing post-training lifelong
supported employment and supported living services since 1987 to help
graduates maintain competitive jobs and live on their own. Some of our
graduates have been living and working on their own for 10 years or more
with assistance from the Conklin Center’s supported employment
and supported living programs.
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