A Great Time for Summer in the City

After taking a year off for some retooling, The Chicago Lighthouse’s Summer in the City program was back in full swing (in some cases literally) this year. Ten youth with visual impairments, aged 16 to 23, spent a week living in the University of Illinois-Chicago dorms for a five-day immersive program where they ventured through the city, making new friends and enjoying being young.

The program’s activities included a boating trip on Lake Michigan, learning how to navigate public transportation, cooking classes, indoor skydiving, rock climbing and more. Through these activities, participants build confidence and develop skills that can help them develop independence at a key juncture in their lives. “Adolescence is a time when youth are beginning to branch out on their own and figure out who they are,” says Program Manager Fay Zeigler. “With Summer in the City, youth who are blind or visually impaired get a chance to do that as well in a supportive environment.”

New among this year’s activities was Live Action Role Playing (a.k.a. LARPing). Traditionally, LARPing involves participants donning medieval costumes such as knights, and interacting with each other in character. For our program, costumes weren’t involved, but foam shields and swords were present as our program participants faced off against youth from Blind Services Chicago’s Pathways Program in supervised melees guided by Convention Foam Fighting.

The participants were naturally a bit anxious about the activity. Sofie, a 16-year-old with a visual impairment, wasn’t sure about walking into a fray of flying foam swords, but she added that she had previously enjoyed improvisational games and activities and was excited to give LARPing a try. Afterward, she was glad she did. “It was really intense, and there was a lot of action,” she said.

Summer in the City concluded with a fun closing ceremony that included amusing awards such as the “Butterfingers award” for a youth who kept dropping items and the improv-inspired “Yes And” award for a youth who was eager to try new things. “I had a great time, and I can’t wait to come back to The Lighthouse again,” said 17-year-old Addison.

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