Meet Our Staff
The Social Services Department is professionally staffed by licensed social workers who have years of experience in working with people with vision impairment and understand the impact and challenges of adjusting to vision loss.
Karen Campbell, LCSW
Director
Karen holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from New York University and has extensive experience in the field of social work. As Director of the Social Services Department at Lighthouse International, Karen supervises the social work staff and is committed to providing a wide range of services for clients and patients.
Rosetta Chao, LCSW
Senior Clinical Social Worker
Rosetta earned her Master of Social Work from Columbia University and is certified in Aging and Mental Health by the Brookdale Center on Aging at Hunter College. Rosetta is the senior social worker for Low Vision services at the Lighthouse. She provides a full range of services including counseling, meeting with families, crisis intervention, referrals to resources within and outside of the Lighthouse to increase clients coping skills and broaden their involvement in daily life activities. Rosetta is bilingual in English and Chinese.
Dawn Mahlau, LCSW
Clinical Social Worker
Dawn received her Master of Social Work degree in 1991 from Fordham University and also earned her Master in Elementary Special Education in 1999 from Hunter College. Dawn works in The Ethel and Samuel J. LeFrak School at the Lighthouse providing a full range of services including individual and group counseling, coordination of evaluations for prospective students and facilitation of discussion groups for parents.
Donna Santoro, LMHC
Mental Health Counselor
Donna completed her graduate work at Western Connecticut State University and earned a Master of Science in Counseling. Donna provides a full range of social services to clients in the Hudson Valley including Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Sullivan and Ulster Counties and works in the Lighthouse White Plains Low Vision Clinic as well as in the field.
Lori Kay
MSW Intern
Lori is a second year MSW student from Adelphi University and joined the Social Service team at Lighthouse for the academic year 2011-12. Lori received her BA in Sociology from SUNY New Palz in 2004. She recently returned from living in South American where she was able to improve her Spanish while working with a group of underprivileged children. Lori provides a range of social services that include individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, outreach and referrals.
Erik Lerner
Administrative Assistant
Erik has been associated with Lighthouse International since September, 2010 when he did an internship at Lighthouse through Rutgers University. He has since graduated from Rutgers with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and has future plans to enroll in optometry school.
