Envision History
Envision was founded in 1933, amidst the Great Depression, as the Wichita Workshop and Training School for the Adult Blind. The purpose was simple – to give individuals who were blind the skill set necessary to make and sell their own products, while keeping the profits.
In 1938, the government passed the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act (now known as AbilityOne), a law providing government contracts to companies who employed individuals who were blind to make their products, as long as the products were within government specifications. Immediately, the Wichita Workshop and Training School went to work supplying the federal government (and the United States Army stationed during WWII) with pillowcases and brooms.
After WWII, demand for the shop’s pillowcases and brooms dwindled. During the 1950s, a partnership with Lions Clubs of Kansas was formed to create a market for the workshop’s brooms. The Caravan of Brooms allowed Lions Club members to sell the brooms in their hometowns, keeping a percentage of the profits. The Caravan of Brooms helped keep the shop (now renamed Kansas Foundation for the Blind) afloat during the period after the war.
By the mid 1960s, Kansas Foundation for the Blind was producing brooms, pillowcases, seat belts, cleaning cloths, doormats, and janitorial products. Business was booming for the Foundation, but not for long.
The 1970s brought with it urban renewal in the city of Wichita. Expansion forced the Foundation from the building it had called home for 40 years. Though product lines were expanding to include more cleaning and janitorial products, the Foundation was under great financial stress that lasted until the late 1980s.
In 1986, the name was changed to Wichita Industries and Services for the Blind. With a new name and business model, Wichita Industries and Services for the Blind transformed into a “mission-driven business with a business-driven mission.” New contracts and products were added, and new locations provided more employment opportunities for people who were blind. With better financial footing, Envision was able to introduce many services that benefited individuals who were blind or low vision through the rehabilitation division.
Throughout the 1990s, the company continued to expand, adding Base Service Centers on military installations across the country, providing additional jobs for individuals who were blind or low vision and blind-made products for military personnel. In 1997, in order to encompass the changing business, Wichita Industries and Services for the Blind became known as Envision.
Over the next decade, it became clear that in order to better serve individuals who were blind or low vision, the company would have to undergo structural changes. In July of 2008, the three focal points of Envision’s mission (employment, low vision rehabilitation, and public education) were separated into three separate entities: Envision Industries, Envision Low Vision Rehabilitation Center, and The Envision Foundation.
Although each entity has a singular focus, together they make up the Envision family, whose mission remains the enhancement of personal independence of individuals with blindness or low vision.