Lighthouse for the Blind (Tarrant County Association for the Blind)

The Lighthouse was established during the Great Depression in 1935 with a directive from the Texas Commission for the Blind to create jobs for those with a significant visual impairment. Ms. Lewis organized a small group of workers and trained them in the caning of chairs and production of pillowcases, rugs, brooms, mops and other hand-sewn items. In addition to production workers, legally blind salesmen canvassed the Fort Worth community, going door-to-door in welcoming neighborhoods to sell the locally made items.

Today, the Lighthouse sales team has international reach and uses the Internet to build its customer base. Operations have evolved and now require an advanced set of job skills. Blind and visually impaired employees are trained to safely and precisely operate optical equipment, band saws, foam cutters, strappers, sonic welders, industrialized staplers and manufacture shipping containers, boxes, military supplies, paper goods, drug test cups and eyeglasses. The revenue generated from product sales pays the wages and full benefits of our blind labor force.

In addition to the Lighthouse Industrial Operation, our Client Services team provides unduplicated services to support the 61,000 residents in Fort Worth and surrounding areas who are blind and visually impaired.

As the largest employer of the blind in North Texas, the core mission of the Lighthouse to create job to increase its blind labor force. An astounding 70 percent of working-age blind adults are unemployed, and 80 percent of those are underemployed. The Lighthouse Optical Lab, launched in 2017, utilizes the blind to make glasses for the sighted!

The Lighthouse Promise: Companionship for Life to the Blind