Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired has started the process of building a new $3 million facility on Ridge Road in New Port Richey.

"Over the past 10 years, we started services for children, for teenagers, and for working age vocational rehabilitation. So, we actually can't have all of those programs in this building at one time," Lighthouse Executive Director Sylvia Stinson Perez said of the non-profit's current facility on Galen Wilson Boulevard in Port Richey.

The new building will change that. Stinson Perez said while the current facility provides the organization with 6,000 square feet of space, the new one will be 17,000 square feet on eight acres of land.

Lighthouse teaches life skills from cleaning to using technology to people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired.

"They come here thinking they're less because they now have a disability. We’re not less because we have a disability," said Stinson Perez, who is blind. "You've got to be so much more courageous."

A groundbreaking for the new building was held last month, and Stinson Perez said the goal is to complete construction by the end of this year.

She said Lighthouse has served thousands of Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus County residents during its 35-year history.

The non-profit has raised about 20 percent of the cost of the project. To find out how you can contribute, visit http://www.lvib.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/