I would like to begin this message with a sincere expression of gratitude and appreciation to the incredibly hard working and dedicated Staff and Board members of The Lighthouse. It is also critical to mention the valuable contributions made to our organization by volunteers, interns, coaches and other community members who have dedicated endless hours of in-kind services to making our work successful. It is an honor for me to work with this team of outstanding community workers. Although we have faced challenges and always wish that we would have been able to have contributed even more to the well being of the communities we serve, The Lighthouse family can truly affirm that this past year has been a success. Of course this success would not have been possible without the generous support of the many supporters, foundations, corporations, government sources and individuals who have chosen to invest their dollars in the work of The Lighthouse. To them we are eternally grateful for their support.

This year The Lighthouse celebrated its 110th year of continuous service to the community. The organization’s rich history was celebrated in the elegant and exciting surroundings of the Diamond Club at the new PHILLIES Citizens Bank Park. This year the organization also completed a new five year strategic development and programmatic plan and changed its mission statement to, “Provide educational, recreational and economic improvement programs to families and individuals to affect positive change and improve the quality of their lives.” This newly constructed mission clarifies and elaborates on its prior mission statement which read, “To serve, to nurture and to build community.” Our new mission statement establishes focus on our work into the future and the strategic plan places purposeful action to this focus. We are committed to utilizing these written tools as our guide to continue to offer quality programs that address critical social, educational, economic and recreational needs of the community.

We recognize that we are not alone in this mission and therefore we treasure our partnerships with other organizations and will continue to expand those relationships and remain committed to establishing new working bonds with other organizations and community members in order to best address the needs of our community collectively.

As you know one of The Lighthouse biggest assets is its spacious and unique facilities, yet this is also one of its current biggest challenges as our buildings at 152 W. Lehigh, 141 W. Somerset and at The Lighthouse Athletic Field, located at Front and Erie, are past one hundred years old and in great need of repairs. We will confront this task in the next few years along with our commitment to continue to provide the highest quality programs possible to our community and to the City of Philadelphia in general.

We sincerely thank you for your generous support of The Lighthouse this past year and invite you to continue to partner with us in the future. Your support and partnership is critical to our success.
With sincere appreciation and gratitude,
Johnny Irizarry
Executive Director/CEO