Our vision of creating a world with no limits for blind people may seem bigger than we can achieve, but what we do every day has a growing impact on the lives of the blind in Maryland and beyond.
Take our internship program. As CEO, I know firsthand how hard it is to find that first job as a blind person. So we’re changing that. Each quarter, we give two individuals who are blind the opportunity to gain experience in a world-class manufacturing and training facility.
We take away every barrier that would impede a blind person from gaining this valuable work experience. We mentor them for 120 days to gain experience in career opportunities that interest them and match their skills. We do the same for our summer Gold STAR program participants, inviting blind and low-vision youth to gain meaningful job experience.
And in the process, we don’t tell them who they should be or what career they should pursue. Instead, we help them become who they want to be. We show them that nothing is off-limits to them, whether it’s a career or the world. To my knowledge there are no other programs like it in the country (and possibly world)!
It is my hope more companies will see our programs and find a way to open their doors — and minds — to the capacity of blind people. Each year we reach more and more organizations willing to take on the opportunity. October may be Blindness Awareness Month, but at BISM, it’s business as usual.
