Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services is a private, non-profit, United Way agency. Our mission is to reduce the limitations that may result from the loss of vision. We believe in independence through rehabilitation.

The agency was established July 1, 1997 as the result of the consolidation of the Pittsburgh Blind Association located in Oakland and the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind in Bridgeville.  While both organizations provided services for similar populations, they did so in different ways. 

Since its inception in 1910, the emphasis at the Pittsburgh Blind Association focused primarily on providing employment opportunities for people who were blind or vision impaired.  The Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind was established in 1959 under the leadership of Monsignor Paul M. Lackner.  The Guild's mission was to teach vision rehabilitation techniques.

The consolidation into one organization has created a unified service delivery system that now provides comprehensive services under one umbrella for over 4,000 persons per year, from teenagers to the elderly, plus another 12,000 children through its pre-school vision screening program.

The high quality services that the community came to expect from its two parent agencies continued to be provided in a unified manner under the name Pittsburgh Vision Services. In July 2005, the Board of Directors approved the new name; Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh to better reflect the agency’s mission and whom we serve.

Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh provides services in three main areas --

Evaluation, Training and Support.

Evaluation

	For low vision devices to help with limited tasks such as reading and writing
	For adaptive computer technology for use by individuals or agencies
	For career goals, training and job placement
	For employers, assessments for work environments
	For skills to address functioning with a vision loss
	For vision problems in pre-school children

Training

	In Career skills
	In use of adaptive computer technology
	In use of low vision devices
	In independent travel and daily living skills
	In adaptive recreation and leisure skills

Support

	Counseling and referral for coping with vision loss
	Job support for employers and employees
	Limited day programming for adults with vision loss and other disabilities
	Manufacturing services for government and private contracts
	Braille production services for community agencies and companies
	Vision, Gifts and More- a retail store featuring adaptive products for the blind and visually impaired

 

To make a referral or to learn more about any of these programs please call our Information and Referral Department at 412-368-4400 or 1-800-706-5050 (within Pennsylvania).

Or 

Contact  info&ref@pghvis.org.

Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh Directors