About Envision
Envision is a not-for-profit agency headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Established in 1933, Envision has become one of the nation's largest and most trusted service and employment providers for people who are blind or low vision.
The mission of Envision is to improve the quality of life and provide inspiration and opportunity for people who are blind or visually impaired through employment, outreach, rehabilitation, education, and research.
The Envision family consists of:
- Envision Industries, providing a steady stream of income to support our mission while furthering our goal to create employment opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired.
- Bicknell Envision Vision Rehabilitation Center, promoting independence and confidence by maximizing visual function from birth through adulthood.
- Gigi and Carl Allen Envision Research Institute, filling in significant gaps in the scientific understanding of vision loss and rehabilitation.
- Envision Foundation, serving as our ambassador to the world;
- William L. Hudson BVI Workforce Innovation Center, placing an unparalleled focus on training people with vision loss, placing them into jobs and providing accessibility inclusion expertise to businesses.
- Cathy G. Hudson Envision Child Development Center, a visually integrated child care facility serving both typically sighted and visually impaired children ages 0-5.
- Envision Dallas, promoting advocacy and independence for 150,000 individuals who are blind or visually impaired living in 11 North Texas counties.
- Education and Outreach Initiatives, offering support programs to people of all ages who are blind or low vision as well as accredited continuing education opportunities for multidisciplinary low vision professionals in numerous countries
Envision is a National Industries for the Blind (NIB) affiliated agency that manufactures several SKILCRAFT™ product lines through the AbilityOne program. Those lines include trash bags, seal closure bags, rifle slings, grocery bags, Visi-belts, and printing services. Through the manufacturing of these products, Envision has been able to provide nearly four million hours of employment to people who are blind or low vision since 1980!
The story of AbilityOne
In 1938, Congress created a program enabling agencies serving people who were blind to sell products to the federal government. By 1971, the original Wagner-O'Day Act (JWOD) was amended to permit people with other significant disabilities to also benefit. It is known today as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act. The Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled is the federal agency authorized to administer the AbilityOne Program. The committee is responsible for determining which products and services are suitable to be placed on its procurement list for the federal government. It also determines the fair market prices for those items.
The committee has designated two central nonprofit agencies (NPAs) to assist with program implementation: the National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and SourceAmerica™ (formerly NISH). Nearly 600 NPAs associated with NIB or SourceAmerica produce products and services under the AbilityOne Program. The core criteria for NPA eligibility is that 75 percent of total direct labor hours must be performed by people who are blind or have other significant disabilities.
Since 1938, NIB has enhanced economic and personal independence of people who are blind by creating employment opportunities. Under its brand name SKILCRAFT™, NIB and its associate agencies supply federal customers with a selection of more than 3,000 quality products.
