Sight Loss Monthly Newsletter July 2026

Jul 1

7 min read

Our Mission Statement:

The mission of the Hull Foundation and Learning Center is to provide programs, facilities and services including social, educational, and recreational activities for people with blindness and sight loss.

*If you would prefer to receive this newsletter by email, please send an email to: oralhull@gmail.com

Hull Foundation Upcoming Events and Seminars:

July 3 - Office closed - Independence Day
July 21 - One Day Fun Day - Oaks park
August 1 – Golf Tournament with the Lions
August 16-22 Summer Adventure Retreat
September 7 - Office closed Labor Day
September 9- One Day Fun Day Fruit Loop
September 11-12 – Community yard sale at Oral Hull
September 24 – Lions Work Day
September 30- October 2- Daily Living Seminar
October 12 – Office Closed – Indigenous people’s Day
October 24 - Haunted Hull-O-Ween Fundraiser
October 26-28 - Cooking Seminar
October 29 - One Day Fun Day - Crow Hunt
November 11 – office closed – Veterans Day
November 17-20 - Arts and Hobbies Seminar
November 26-27 – Office closed – Thanksgiving
December 7 – 11 – Holiday Getaway
December 19 -Jan 3 -Office closed

2027
February 18 – 22 – Winter Retreat
March 23 – 26 – Daily Living Seminar

If you are interested in any of our social getaways, one day fun days, seminars and recreational retreats, please contact our office and sign up! Spots fill up VERY quickly, so jump in with both feet, save your spot and come out to Hull Park! If you would like to volunteer as staff or sponsor an event, please contact the office 503.668.6195.

Friends and Alumni recap

by Tina Christian - Program Director

From June 7 through the 12th, we celebrated a fantastic week of Hull Heroes at Hull Foundation and Learning Center. Our guests enjoyed spending time throughout the park grounds, taking part in a variety of fun activities and creating memories together. The week was spent with superhero antics, laughter, and connection as we played Hull Disc Golf, Showdown, and noodle hockey. We also enjoyed tandem bike rides and peaceful morning walks. A highlight of the week was our visit to Frog Pond Farm, where everyone embraced the adventure.

Even when the Oregon rain made an appearance, nothing could dampen our hero spirits! We had an amazing day feeding the llamas, goats, and sheep, exploring the farm, and enjoying each other’s company. Our Hull Hero scavenger hunt and campfire brought the week to a memorable close celebrating teamwork, friendship, and the incredible people who make our community close knit. A huge thank you goes out to all the staff heroes, volunteers, and our executive director, Creanna who helped make this year’s Friends and Alumni such a success. To all our guests, cheers to you Hull Heroes and to an amazing start to summer! See you soon!

Volunteer Peter and a Friends and Alumni guest, Beau riding a tandem bike at Oral Hull Park during Friends and Alumni Retreat. Red tandem bike. Green grass in background with trees.

Into the ViddyVerse

By Patrick Burton

Hey friends, it's Patrick: aka The Assistive Technologist, aka the fellow behind Benvision, Speakaboo, and now ViddyScribe, aka that dodo from The Rainbow Lodge who served you a plate of cold cereal instead of the burger you ordered.

It's been a minute, so I wanted to share some updates from me and my business partner, Vaze, on our ambitious journey to add audio description to every video on the web.

First, let's talk milestones:

Since ViddyScribe’s public launch last year, we have added audio description to nearly 150,000 minutes of video. That’s 2,500 hours, for those who are like me and can’t do math.

If those numbers aren’t big enough for you, try this one for size: 33 billion videos. That’s the estimated number of videos on YouTube today, and through our side project ViddyScribe Realtime, we’ve added access to instant audio description to every single one of them. Just type “viddyscribe.com/“ in front of your favorite YouTube Video, or go to viddyscribe.com/realtime and copy and paste the link to the YouTube video you want to watch there.

We’ve amassed a community of over 6,000 ViddyScribers in over 120 countries!

Videos of family members crossing life milestones, self-recorded videos from vacations and events, videos from content creators who don’t have the means or know-how to audio describe their content, are all being made accessible on demand, for everybody.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Almost accidentally, we’ve become the uncontested leader for AI audio description at enterprise scale, and the provider of choice for hundreds of teams and organizations that are using ViddyScribe to make sure everyone is included in the audience of their entire video libraries.

Universities, government bodies, production studios, hospitals, and even other audio description providers all recognize that when it comes to quality, speed, cost, and reliability, ViddyScribe is the answer.

How did we get to be the go-to solution for lightning-fast and affordable video accessibility, when other video accessibility companies came into this arena with heaps of seniority, experience, manpower, and - ahem - money, that we don't have?

The answer is so wholesome it will make you gag, but it's true. Brace yourselves, Hoobastank fans: The reason is you.

What I mean is that your engagement with us, your trust in us, and your faith in us have all culminated in a beautiful community discourse about the very nuanced art of audio description. Your willingness to talk, to share, to participate, has fueled our own obsession to uncover the uncharted mysteries of what constitutes top quality audio description across every single type of video that exists, where and why exceptions occur, and when and how to leave preference-dependent options to our users.

The community participation is our secret sauce, and no amount of money or manpower can fake that.

Do you have something to contribute to the conversation? Something about an audio-described piece of media you recently watched that really delighted you, or really irked you? Something you wish audio describers understood better? An awful corny joke that has nothing to do with audio description?  We want to hear all of it.

Email hullfoundationAD@viddyscribe.com and be one of the voices steering our continued efforts to make the impossible possible.

Looking forward to getting together to catch up soon :)

Events

July 21 - One Day Fun Day at Oaks Park

August 16-22 - Summer Adventure Retreat. Registration closes on July 16

September 30-October 2 - Daily Living Seminar, $150, 3 night, 4 day stay. Final Day to register is September 23, 2026 .

October 26-28 - Cooking Seminar, 2 night, 3 day stay. $150, Final Day to register is October 19, 2026.

November 17-20 - Arts and Hobbies, 3 night, 4 day stay. $150, Final Day to register is November 10, 2026.

December 7-11 - Winter Getaway, 4 night, 5 day stay, $400. Final Day to register is November 30, 2026.

FUNDRAISERS

We were at the Sandy Mountain Festival at Meining Park in Sandy Oregon on July 11^th and 12th, 2026. We had a Nacho Fundraiser booth in the park. We raised $1,347.00!

August 1 - Partnering with Sandy Lions Club with a Golf Tournament at Mt View Golf Course in Boring. Call office to sign up a team or be a sponsor.

Recipe

Summer Splash Smoothie

by Tina Christian, Sight Loss Instructor

Your lunch or dinner to begin the summer!

Tools: blender, knife, fine mesh strainer

Ingredients

2 cans of no sugar added peaches

2 c. strawberries

4 navel oranges

Orange zest

1 can evaporated coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp orange extract

2 tbsp Swerve powdered sugar

2-3 cups of water

Pinch of salt

1 can of Splenda no added sugar condensed milk or 1 can of sweetened coconut milk

Ice

Chilled glass

Chill your blender until frosty cold in the fridge. Hull and slice strawberries. Zest one orange and set aside. Peel and segment oranges. Add fruit, evaporated milk, extracts, powdered sugar, pinch of salt, and water to blender and blend well. Strain it. Add the condensed milk you chose along with the zest, blend until smooth. Serve over ice in a chilled glass. Enjoy!

Support the Spaces That Support Our Mission

Our campus is the foundation of every program, every connection, and every moment of independence we create. Your gift today helps maintain safe, accessible facilities and grounds so adults with sight loss can continue to learn, explore, and thrive.

Please consider donating to support essential maintenance and upkeep. Your generosity keeps our mission strong.

Please visit hullflc.org or send a check to

Hull Foundation and Learning Center

PO Box 157

Sandy, OR 97055.

Thank you to all of our donors for keeping hopes and dreams alive here at the Hull Foundation and Learning Center.

Did you know?...

Month of July
- Healthy Vision and Eye Injury Prevention
Many eye diseases have no early symptoms, so regular check-ups and preventive habits are critical. July’s dual focus on vision health and injury prevention makes it a prime time to review your eye care routine, protect your eyes from harm, and educate others on safe practices.
An AI-Powered shortwave Radio Resource.
Check out the new online resource for the shortwave listening community call HQ Shortwave Radio: https://hqshortwaveradio.com.
This site lets users enter a frequency and uses AI to help identify what's currently on the air. It also incorporates current broadcast schedules, propagation information, stations listing, maps, and a variety of other tools designed to help listeners explore the bands.

Hull Foundation and Learning Center offers personalized low vision assessments where guests can explore adaptive tools tailored to their needs. Just call our office to get started—our team will guide you through the process and help you access the aids that best support your level of sight loss, including items you may be able to take home.