Today we’d like to introduce you to Platt Allen, III and Kevin Higgins.
Platt, has served as President/CEO for the Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth since October of 2008. Previously, he served as Director of Operations for a private, preparatory school in the Mid-Cities; as President of Stone Innovations, a manufactured stone company in Fort Worth; as Senior Vice President of Dealer Operations after 7 years with AmeriCredit Corp in Fort Worth; and a Senior Business Analyst after 8 years with Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in Dallas. This breadth of experience prepared Platt well for the two-fold mission of the Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth.
Platt has lived in Fort Worth his entire life. He attended All Saint’s Episcopal School, Arlington Heights High School, St. Stephen’s School in Austin and earned both his undergraduate and master’s degree in business from TCU. He is a past president of the TCU Frog Club and remains an active TCU alum. Platt is co-chairman of Operations for the Dean & DeLuca Invitational Tournament Committee for the annual PGA Tour event held at Colonial Country Club. He serves as a member of the Board of Governors and Treasurer for Colonial Country Club and Secretary of the Casa Manana Board of Directors. He is an involved parent at TCU, Oklahoma University and R.L.Paschal High School where his children attend.
As President/CEO of the Lighthouse, Platt oversees a $5,000,000 operating budget and manages over 80 employees, including 60+ individuals who are significantly visually impaired. Sales revenue is driven by sales of products manufactured by individuals who are blind for commercial, State of Texas, and federal customers. The Lighthouse provides rehabilitation services to over 3000 local citizens at no charge annually.
Platt is committed to raising awareness of the Lighthouse’s life-changing mission throughout the community through diversifying product offerings, creating employment opportunities and providing second-to-none client services to the community at large.
Kevin Higgins was diagnosed with a progressive eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa when he was a teenager. He began to gradually lose vision over a period of several years until his vision deteriorated to the point where he could no longer live as independently as he once did. Thankfully, he received rehabilitation training, which helped him to compensate for my increasing lack of vision by teaching him how to travel safely using a long white cane and how to live independently in his home. The training he received helped improve his confidence and helped expand his mind to all of the possibilities available to him as someone who is newly blind. He attended Stephen F. Austin University where he earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Rehabilitation services. And now he uses his education, along with his personal experiences with vision loss, to teach people who are blind or low vision how to become independent and realize their full potential.
Has it been a smooth road?
Platt Allen – “No road is ever smooth, the key is how you handle the bumps. Each position I held at EDS prepared me for the next and that trend has continued throughout my career. Rather than focus on the struggles, I choose to focus on the successes. Nothing worth striving for comes without struggle.”
Kevin Higgins – “Initially I had difficulty accepting my vision loss, due in large part to the fact that I feared the stigma that I believed accompanied blindness. I felt that being blind was synonymous with helplessness, and that if people saw me as blind then they would also see me as helpless. Fortunately, my perceptions of blindness changed as I continue to progress through the rehabilitation process.”
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Platt Allen – “The Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth is an eighty-two year old tax-exempt 501c (3) organization. We provide competitive employment opportunities and a variety of client services to individuals who are blind of significantly visually impaired in our community.”
Kevin Higgins- “I have been working at the Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth for nearly four years now. I have spent the majority of my time here working in client services as an independent living teacher for the blind. In Client Services we specialize in helping persons who are blind or low vision to live independently by offering training and services designed to equip and empower them to achieve independence and to live fulfilling lives. We provide training in the areas of Orientation and Mobility, Independent Living, and Assistive Technology. Orientation and Mobility refers to the practice of teaching someone who is blind how to use the long white cane to travel safely and efficiently in their home and community. With regards to Independent Living, we teach people how to prepare meals at home and manage other home tasks in spite of being blind. The area of Assistive Technology is focused on teaching people who are blind how to use computers and smartphones by way of voice output and screen magnification so that they can access the same technology used by those who are not blind. These disciplines, along with other services we provide, assist those with vision loss to continue living independently in their homes and in some cases allow them to reenter the workforce.”
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Platt Allen – “I very much enjoy that our citizens participate. Show up at Sundance Square almost any day of the week and you will find folks out enjoying the public setting. We have very philanthropic folks leading the way in Fort Worth. Everyone benefits from the museums, the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, the PGA Tour event at Colonial, MayFest, and all the other wonderful community events. It is a great place to live, work and raise a family.
I suppose my only complaint would be our mass transit system. Bus service is very limited but also very underutilized. Working for an organization that serves people who are blind keeps my focus on the transportation issues that they face getting to and from work.”
Kevin Higgins – “Fort Worth is a great city and I love how so many of the residents are down to earth and always willing to help one another. I would like to see more options available in the area of transportation, namely more bus stops and beeping crosswalks so that residents who are blind or low vision can travel when and wherever they desire.”
Contact Info:
- Address: 912 w. Broadway Ave.
Fort Worth, Texas 76104 - Website: www.lighthousefw.org
- Phone: 817-332-3341
- Email: rsmith@lighthousefw.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/fortworthlighthouse
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/lighthousefw
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/fwlighthouse
- Other: www.youtube.com/Lighthousefw
Image Credit:
Rebecca Smith
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