AKRON BLIND CENTER AND WORKSHOP INC
325 E MARKET STREET, AKRON, OH 44310 www.akronblindcenter.org

---

Organizations Filed Purposes: THE AKRON BLIND CENTER, INC. IS A MEMBERSHIP DRIVEN ORGANIZATION. THE MISSION OF THE AKRON BLIND CENTER, INC. IS TO PROMOTE QUALITY OF LIFE ENRICHMENT FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY CHALLENGED AS A MEMBER-CENTERED ORGANIZATION IN SUMMIT AND SURROUNDING COUNTIES. FURTHER, THE ORGANIZATION PROVIDES AND PROMOTES PROGRAMS, SERVICES, RESOURCES, OUTREACH, SKILLS, EDUCATION, OPPORTUNITIES AND CLASSES TO INSTILL RESPECT, DIGNITY, ACHIEVEMENT AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF MEMBERS AND THE BLIND AND LOW VISION COMMUNITIES WE SERVE.

THE AKRON BLIND CENTER IS A NATIONALLY UNIQUE MEMBERSHIP-BASED, NON-PROFIT (34-0742708), NON-GOVERNMENT FUNDED ORGANIZATION THAT PROVIDES SERVICES, PROGRAMS, RESOURCES AND CLASSES FOR BLIND AND LOW VISION INDIVIDUALS IN SUMMIT, MEDINA AND SURROUNDING COUNTIES. OUR CENTER GIVES PURPOSE, ACHIEVEMENT, WORTH AND HOPE TO PEOPLE. WE HAVE BEEN CAREFULLY SCREENED BY CHARITABLE REGISTRIES TO ENSURE WE ARE GOOD STEWARDS OF FUNDS. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE SEPARATE ACCOUNTS FOR OPERATIONS/ OVERHEAD AND PROGRAMMING, TO WHICH ANY DONATION WOULD SAFELY AND EXCLUSIVELY EARMARKED.

THE AKRON BLIND CENTER HAS MANY YOUTH PROGRAMS FOR LOW VISION AND BLIND CHILDREN.WE OFFER A BRAILLE BRIDGE PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS TO TAKE OVER THE SUMMER. WE ALSO SPONSOR KIDS TO ATTEND A SUMMER CAMP FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED. WE HAVE A SOCIAL PROGRAM SO THEY CAN BE WITH LIKE- CHALLENGED INDIVIDUALS AND PARENTS CAN NETWORK TO KNOW THEY ARE NOT ALONE. A BACKPACK PROGRAM PROVIDES MATERIALS AND RESOURCES SPECIFICALLY FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN. A SPECIAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM IS AVAILABLE FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO QUALIFY ACCORDING TO IMPAIRMENT NEEDS. WE HAVE A MENTOR PROGRAM WHICH INVOLVES A YOUTH OR RECENTLY SIGHT IMPAIRED INDIVIDUAL BEING PAIRED WITH A NON-SIGHTED MEMBER TO LEARN THE ROPES AND HAVE SUPPORT. OUR MOTTO IS WE CAN AND WE WILL. THE AKRON BLIND CENTER HAS ADULT CLASSES DURING THE WEEK. CLASSES INCLUDE BRAILLE, COMPUTER (WITH SCREEN READING PROGRAMS), KEYBOARD AND BRAILLE TYPING TRAINING, WELLNESS, EXERCISE, CRAFTING, CURRENT EVENTS, SUPPORT/ FOCUS GROUPS, SKILLS TRAINING, MUSIC CLASSES AND MUCH MORE WE CURRENTLY OFFER 25 CLASSES OVER THE COURSE OF TUESDAY, WEDNESDAYS AND THURSDAYS. ONE OF OUR MAJOR PROJECTS OF GIVING TO THE AREA IS THAT WE KNIT HATS. WE BUY YARN AND SUPPLIES OR HAVE IT DONATED, THEN KNIT THE HATS ON A LOOM. LAST YEAR WE KNIT OVER 1400 HATS AND DONATED THEM TO FIRST GRADE CLASSES, CANCER RESOURCE CENTERS, CHILDREN WITH CANCER AND HOSPICE CENTERS. AKRON BLIND CENTER, INC. BY THE NUMBERS MEMBERS TO DATE (10-31-2019): 104 AGE OF YOUNGEST PERSON SERVED: 6 AGE OF OLDEST MEMBER: 102 DAYS PER WEEK OF CLASSES: 3 (TUESDAYS, WEDNESDAYS, THURSDAYS) NUMBER OF CLASS TIME SLOTS PER WEEK: 25 TYPICAL ATTENDANCE PER WEEK: 85-100 NUMBER OF BRAILLE STUDENTS PER YEAR: 50 NUMBER OF OUTREACH/ NETWORKING PRESENTATIONS PER YEAR: 30-40 NUMBER OF CONTACTS PER YEAR: >1500 NUMBER OF WEBSITE VISITORS PER YEAR: 800 NUMBER OF VIEWS PER SOCIAL MEDIA POST: 140 ESTIMATED TOTAL CONTACTS PER YEAR: >3000 HATS DONATED TO FIRST-GRADERS, HOSPICE PATIENTS, BATTERED WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND CANCER PATIENTS IN 2018: >2000 ATTENDEES TO ANNUAL AWARENESS AND SCREENING CAMPAIGN 2018: 450 EYE SCREENS PERFORMED: 43 REFERRALS TO EYE DOCTORS AS A RESULT: 3 SPECIALTY BACKPACKS DISTRIBUTED TO THE BLIND/ LOW VISION: 16 BLIND/ LOW VISION PIER SOCIAL YOUTH PROGRAM STUDENTS: 12 COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS: 34 HOSPITAL SYSTEMS PROVIDING SERVICES TO: 3 NON-PROFIT AFFILIATIONS: 0 GOVERNMENT GRANTS: 0 PHYSICIAN GROUPS/ SYSTEMS PROVIDING MUTUAL REFERRALS TO: 6

---

---

Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202013159349302946_public.xml