GREENSBORO, N.C. — People living with disabilities play an important role in North Carolina’s workforce, and organizations like Industries of the Blind in Greensboro are working to expand those opportunities. For many North Carolinians, that support is life-changing.
At Industries of the Blind, 21-year-old Brendon Brown spends his days packing and shipping military uniform orders that are distributed nationwide. He started at the organization just over a year ago.
“I started out picking on the floor, getting everything that goes in the boxes, and I moved to shipping a couple months ago,” he said.
Brown is legally blind. He lost his vision for the first time as a toddler after an allergic reaction.
Brendon Brown is legally blind after suffering from an allergic reaction as a kid. (Brendon Brown)
He regained it off and on for about a decade, but an infection in 2017 caused him to lose his sight completely.
Finding employment wasn’t easy. Brown said he applied to multiple places before discovering Industries of the Blind.
“I tried a few different places, and everybody sounded promising when you talked to them, but then you never hear back from them after that,” he said.
According to the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Labor and Economic Analysis Division, one in nine working-age adults in the state was living with a disability as of 2022. Roughly 145,000 of those adults were visually impaired.
Nationwide, the American Foundation for the Blind found that in 2024, 10% of people ages 16 to 64 with visual disabilities were unemployed — more than double the unemployment rate for people in the same age range without a visual disability.
A separate study from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that as of 2024, 22% of all working Americans were living with a disability.
Industries of the Blind aims to close those gaps by offering meaningful work and long-term career paths.
Richard Oliver, the organization’s director of community outreach and government relations, said Brown represents exactly why their mission matters.
“We like to put the effort into Brendon so he can learn and grow,” Oliver said. “We want him to be here for a long time.”
Brendon Brown says he loves to fish when he’s not at work. (Brendon Brown)
Brown is already taking that next step. On Nov. 25, he graduated from the company’s 2025 Future Leaders Academy cohort.
The program teaches employees skills in finance, human resources, production and business development. His goal is to eventually move into a leadership role.
“I have no plans on changing anytime soon,” Brown said. “I enjoy it, I see lots of room to grow.”
A new class of Future Leaders Academy participants will begin next year.
Earlier this month, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced that Project Spark, one of its initiatives that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, will expand to 10 new locations across the state.
NCDHHS says it will expand to new sites in Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham, Greenville, Kinston, Jacksonville, Wilson, Gastonia, Asheville and Boone.
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