Last week, I was a guest on NBC4’s Viewpoint program to participate in a panel discussion on disability.  This was a good opportunity to let a broad audience knows about Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind’s efforts in creating employment opportunities for the almost 12,000 blind and visually impaired individuals of working age in our metro region.

There are approximately 10 million blind and visually impaired individuals in the USA and about 3 million are working age (18-69).  Only 4% are employed.  In the our metropolitan area the number of blind and visually impaired individuals of working age is 11,794, an untapped resource of people with the desire to join the workforce. 

Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind’s mission is to provide job opportunities for blind and visually impaired individuals.  People are referred to CLB in a variety of ways, including job fairs, referrals from physicians, our website and partnerships with public and private organizations.  Our Career Services Department provides job seekers assistance through our program of career counseling, skill assessments, job placement, and most importantly, training on assistive technology devices.  After working with CLB, individuals have the skills to independently seek employment.

CLB has developed great partnership with various departments of the Federal Government, local banks, and National Industries for the Blind.  Through these partnerships, we have helped place those who go through CLB training into many of these places. These organizations work to stimulate the economy by providing jobs to qualified individuals, enlarging the segment of the population with a regular income.

According to an article entitled “Enabling Disabled Shoppers” (Jan 2008) there are more than 50 million disabled people in the U.S who have an aggregate annual income of more than $1 trillion, and $220 billion in discretionary spending power.  Adding more taxpaying workers into the equation only increases this number.  CLB is a strong community resource sparking positive effects onto the economy.  Through our work and partnerships, it is clear that it’s in everyone’s interest to tap into this educated, qualified labor pool and help them to achieve independence.

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