Agency lands jobs for the blind

A Raleigh service agency that trains and employs the blind has won a contract to operate a small call center for the National Industries for the Blind, an organization created by Congress in 1938 to create jobs for blind Americans.

The call center operated by the Raleigh Lions Clinic for the Blind takes phone queries about Skilcraft products and services, providing information that ranges from the proper use of Skilcraft to distribution opportunities.

Skilcraft, a name brand of the National Industries for the Blind, is a line of supplies, uniforms and other products used by the federal government, including the U.S. Postal Service and military installations.

Raleigh Lions Clinic for the Blind bid on the contract this summer and began providing services this month. The call center's two full-time employees expand the call-center's blind workforce to five at the Raleigh clinic.

Sharon Giovinazzo, a vice president at RLBC, said two jobs are not insignificant considering that the unemployment rate for working-age blind people is 70 percent.

The Raleigh nonprofit has nine offices and nearly 300 employees. In addition to its Raleigh manufacturing site, RLCB operates military base supply stores as far away as Alaska and a Veterans Affairs switchboard to handle calls and emergency dispatches in Kentucky.