Infographic
Read the infographic to understand the breadth and depth of our response
Answering the Nation’s Call to Service in Response to COVID-19
National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and its nationwide network of associated nonprofit agencies manufacture and deliver thousands of critical products that are helping the nation respond to COVID-19, including personal protective equipment (PPE), hand sanitizer, cleaning products and disinfectants, first aid kits, exam gloves, and toilet paper, and more. People who are blind are proud to support their local communities and the nation at large.
People who are blind are also doing their part to keep America’s Defense Industrial Base strong by providing critical products like the helmets and uniforms soldiers wear every day as National Guard units are deployed around the country. And they are helping to maintain continuity and availability of essential services for our nation’s veterans, operating switchboards for medical centers run by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and manufacturing prescription bottles for VA hospitals and pharmacies.
Read NIB’s national press release about its COVID-19 response.
Read below to learn more about how people who are blind working at NIB associated agencies are answering our nation’s call to service.
COVID-19 Response and Impact
Learn how NIB and NIB’s associated agencies are answering the nation’s call to service and navigating challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keeping Communities Connected During the Pandemic (Part 1)
Keeping Communities Connected During the Pandemic (Part 2)
April is National Volunteer Month
The Behind-the-Scenes Workforce Supporting Our Nation During COVID-19
Accessible Technology for the COVID-19 Crisis
In the News
Read how NIB associated agencies are responding to the COVID-19 crisis as told through local media stories.
- Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI)-Goodwill of the Finger Lakes, Rochester, New York:
- Goodwill providing essential needs during pandemic (April 17, 2020)
- Crisis line calls soar as coronavirus spreads (March 26, 2020)
- Alphapointe, Kansas City, Missouri, and Queens, New York:
- Association for Vision Rehabilitation and Employment (AVRE), Binghamton, New York:
- ECK Plastic Arts is making face shields (April 13, 2020)
- Two Binghamton businesses unite to make face shields (April 11, 2020)
- Austin Lighthouse for the Blind, Austin, Texas
- Bosma, Indianapolis, Indiana:
- Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI), Utica, New York
- City of Utica CABVI spotlight on YouTube (September 9, 2020)
- The Faces Behind PPE: Utica Employees Prepare Packages for State (September 2, 2020)
- Envision Dallas, Dallas, Texas:
- How a Volunteer Side Project Became a Vital Product Offering (August 2020)
- Envision donates hundreds of masks to Wichita hospitals (April 24, 2020)
- North Texas companies make masks their mission to fight the COVID-19 pandemic (April 16, 2020)
- IBVI Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
- IFB Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Little Rock, Arkansas
- People who are blind, and visually impaired helping local veterans with handmade face masks (May 26, 2020)
- Covid-19: IFB Solutions produces masks for USAF (May 5, 2020)
- Triad nonprofit wins contract to make masks for the U.S. Air Force (May 4, 2020)
- Winston-Salem’s IFB Solutions to make 10k face masks for Air Force (May 4, 2020)
- Industries of the Blind Greensboro
- LCI, Durham, North Carolina
- Lighthouse Central Florida, Orlando, Florida:
- Central Florida nonprofit helping people who are visually impaired navigate Florida’s unemployment system (March 15, 2021)
- Visually Impaired Workers Help Unemployed File Claims (May 6, 2020)
- Orlando’s Lighthouse Works enlisted to aid state’s overwhelmed unemployment system (April 16, 2020)
- Community Impact Heroes: How this CEO is tripling his visually-impaired workforce to help the unemployed (April 16, 2020)
- NewView Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma:
- Northeastern Association of the Blind at Albany
- Outlook Nebraska, Omaha, Nebraska:
- Omaha non-profit helping out with toilet paper shortage (March 19, 2020)
- Outlook Nebraska toilet paper available for ordering during virus outbreak (March 18, 2020)
- We found toilet paper in Omaha! (March 18, 2020)
- Omaha company helps fill toilet paper shortage (April 8, 2020)
- Local company helps fill toilet paper shortage (April 8, 2020)
- San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind, San Antonio, Texas:
- Southern Tier Association for the Visually Impaired, Elmira, New York
- So. Tier Association for Visually Impaired helping various agencies amid pandemic (September 22, 2020)
- VisionCorps, Lancaster, Pennsylvania:
- Westmoreland County Blind Association, Greensburg, Pennsylvania:
- West Texas Lighthouse for the Blind, San Angelo, Texas