Services and programs for blind and visually impaired residents of Northampton County began in 1928. In that year, Helen Keller, the inspirational deaf-blind teacher, spoke at Liberty High School in Bethlehem. She exhorted members of the Lions Club in the audience to become “Knights of the Blind.” The Lions immediately took up the challenge and founded the Northampton County Association for the Blind.
In the early days, the Association established workshops which taught new skills such as broom making and weaving to blind and visually impaired clients. Now called Visual Impairment & Blindness Services, in 2006-07, the agency served 1,019 blind and visually impaired children and adults with services and programs designed to foster independence; answered 1,004 requests for service in the Eye Care Clinic; provided free vision screenings for 5,435 children; provided 103 low vision exams and reached 5,537 people with prevention of blindness educational programs.
In 2003, a branch office was established in Monroe County to answer the unmet needs of the blind and visually impaired in that area. In 2006, the Northampton County headquarters of the agency relocated to a new building at 260 E. Broad Street, Bethlehem.
