9 Best Charities that Help Blind People | Full List with Details
Eyes are the path to what we perceive and absorb. Only by viewing something can we understand it in its totality. Blindness has the unfortunate ability to alter the entire scenario, many people prevented it from overpowering their personality, but there are millions of others who fail against it.
They need to add extra efforts to understand their blindness is not the end of their life and that alerting the rest of their body can compensate for the vision loss. While coping with this disability is not easy, charities are doing their best to help families and individuals going through this loss. By providing grants and education, they are helping people back on their feet to dream again and live life like they would in the opposite circumstances.
Here are 9 Best Charities that Help Blind People & their Families:
1. Seva Foundation
This charity was founded in 1978 to cure vision impairments and provide eye care worldwide. They train local eye care providers with educational programs to better serve people, especially the underserved community. Seva has provided surgeries, eyeglasses, medicine, and other care packages across 20 countries.
The word Seva derives from the Sanskrit dialect translating to selfless service; they have truly abided by this word and have addressed more than 50 million people. They make basic eye care accessible to every community regardless of its remoteness. The expansion of their treatment centers has created employment to stimulate the economy.
Under pediatric eye care, they have screening installed in schools to provide comprehensive care for the youth. Their adaption of technological advancements has increased their programs’ efficiency and made complex eye surgeries easier for specialists worldwide.
Charity Navigator rates them 93% for establishing harmonious community values while GuideStar recognizes their selfless work attitude with a Platinum seal of Transparency.
2. JBI International
They serve those individuals who are blind, visually impaired, or physically disabled by reading books, magazines, and audio tapes in large print and braille format. These free of charges gifts have enabled over 35,000 children, adults, and seniors to have an equal chance at participating in all activities happily.
They have the best clinic in Israel with a staff of highly specialized experts in the field of low vision. JBI clinics serve around 6,000 people yearly to perform cataract surgeries in countries that cannot afford them. Apart from making donations through their website, sending Amazon Smile cards or other gifts is also useful for this community. Charity Navigator rates them a 97% score for their solid financial accountability.
3. National Federation of the Blind
NFB is one of the oldest and largest nationwide nonprofit charities in America. Founded in 1940, it has affiliates and divisions across all states. Through their network, they can coordinate multiple programs and provide services to defend the rights of the blind. They also work to create a group wherein people can strive and fund work opportunities.
Under the training and education segment, their programs offer educational resources and initiatives to establish a better future. With their advocacy and outreach criteria, they provide scholarships, awards, and legal advice and engage in research to aid efficiently.
Lastly, their technology and products create an independent market for other ophthalmologists. Charity Navigator rated them 90%, while GuideStar presented them with a Gold seal of Transparency for their honest commitment.
4. Helen Keller International
Based on the legacy of Helen Keller, this foundation draws its mission from her achievements and work toward ending blindness and deafness through medical science.
By developing a pool of funding resources and building relations with the public, they are trying to support biomedical research in an integrated laboratory. 78.1% of their funds are used in various programs. They created a revolutionary surgical technique and developed a treatment paradigm to save eyes from severe infection post-cataract surgeries, amongst many other achievements.
In the 1970’s they launched programs to deliver vitamin A supplements to children to build a healthy immune system and a strong vision. HKI has an 89% rating on Charity Navigator for its transparency in fund usage.
5. Foundation Fighting Blindness
It was established in 1971 by a group of passion-driven individuals to fund treatment and cures for blinding retinal issues. They are the world’s leading private source for inherited retinal research funding. Their programs treat retinis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, and the entire spectrum of retinal diseases.
In their journey of 50 years, they have managed to raise more than $891 million and set up a base in all states of America. While Envision 20/20 kicked off in 2014, it received $111 million for retinal research. This foundation has funded studies at hundreds of prominent educational institutes like Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and many others.
With the help of their online shopping store, they try to raise more funds to support other research-based organizations. GuideStar has given them a Platinum seal of Transparency.
6. Hadley Institute for the Blind
It was founded in 1920 by William Hadley to create personalized opportunities to empower adults with vision loss or blindness in their community. In July 2020, Hadley has itself more than 10,000 workshop interactions with a 98% satisfaction rating. This helped them cover all the states and reach out to 100 more countries.
They help individuals work, learn braille and technology, find happiness in recreational activities, adjust their lives to vision loss and have a daily learning session to inspire new ideas for better growth. They accomplish this by one through sessions, online audio tapes, or mailing.
Through GuideStar they received a Platinum seal of Transparency, while Charity Navigator rates them an 88% for strong cultural values and a welcoming environment for their participators.
7. Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
With its headquarter in San Francisco, LBVI provides advocacy, education, and training for the blind around the world. It is one of the largest and most established nonprofits in North America. By taking small steps and educational training every day, more than 650 students have learned to use a white can every year.
By guiding students to use technology, they host multiple camping programs to enrich their outdoor skills and enjoy some time away from their daily life in the peaceful hills of Napa. Their activities include offering low vision examinations every week at the UC Berkeley School, offer counselling sessions by a team of experienced and licensed professionals, providing outings with multiple fun activities to help people connect, aid families with children less than 3 years of age suffering blindness and help this community find a right job aligning with their talent and skills. Charity Navigator rates them a perfect 4-star rating.
8. Blinded Veterans Association
BVA serves all veterans and their families coping with their vision loss. With utmost respect, dedication and commitment, they focus on their mentorship to promote the welfare of blinded veterans. Several examinations are held at their clinics to ensure certain aspects of the programs they provide; this includes reviewing the orientation, recreation therapy, nursing, eye clinic, social work, optometry, diabetic education, pharmacy, and many other segments.
This helps the clinic alleviate issues and ensure their facility is safe and productive. Their advocacy and legal statements have allowed grants of up to $98,000 to veterans for their home modifications. They received a Platinum Transparency seal on GuideStar for their optimum utilization of funds.
9. Guide Dogs for the Blind
They provide a range of services with a network of instructors, puppy raisers, donors, and valuable volunteers to prepare a highly qualified team of service dogs and empower the youth who are blind or visually impaired. GDB is one the largest guide dog school in North America, with more than 16,000 guide dog teams. Since 1942 they have been taking extensive care of their clients free of charge and further aid with financial assistance for any veterinary care.
From breeding to veterinary care, their staff and volunteers take care of every little detail to avoid miscommunication at the client’s home. Since the puppies have to grow up to be confident, trustworthy, and skilled in navigation, they allow them to socialize with one another and a variety of people from a young age. This inculcates a positive attitude to start their journey on the right foot.
This charity earns a perfect 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for its excellent community values and strong financial accounting.
Final Thoughts
While blindness has a valuable impact on one’s life in that they have extremely accurate senses apart from vision, it can sometimes link itself to social isolation. No one can truly take in the difficulties this community undergoes daily, but this is also the community that is the strongest for not letting it stop their per diem acts.
This is a set for new perspectives and new judgments to take place. It creates a whole new world for an individual, a world we cannot experience but nevertheless a world that will support them in their current journey.
