The Braille Institute: Empowering Visually Impaired People to Live Fulfilling Lives

Since 1919, the Braille Institute has provided services at 5 regional centers including Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Rancho Mirage, as well as over 350 community outreach locations in Southern California. They offer a large variety of services for vision-impaired people to help them live fulfilling lives.

The Braille Institute is funded 100% through private donations to provide free services including:

• Child Services
• Children’s Literacy Services
• Youth and Teen Services
• Career Services
• Adult Services
• Low Vision Services
• Library Services
• Braille Publishing
• Public Education and Resources
• Recorded Media
• Vistas Store

Free Books in Braille and Audio

As the 2009 winner of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the Braille Institute provides a lot of free books in braille and audio for people with vision impairment. They received a $10,000 award for recognition of their fantastic contributions.

“For 90 years, the Braille Institute has served as a vital resource center and true beacon of light for the visually impaired throughout Southern California. Every year the hardworking staff and volunteers of the Braille Institute touch the lives of tens of thousands of people with visual impairment by offering a whole host of services, resources, and cultural events geared toward their needs.” – U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra

Giving Back to the Braille Institute

“Team Braille Institute” is a wide range of volunteers ages 16 and older who are dedicated and enthusiastic. The ratio from volunteers to employees is 13 to 1, so volunteers make up a big part of the impact the the Braille Institute is able to make.

You can be a community ambassador, a community networker, a regional center volunteer, or a virtual volunteer by joining them on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Check out the Volunteer Guide to learn more about volunteering with the Braille Institute.

There are a handful of ways for you to donate to the Braille Institute. For a list of ways to give back click here.

The Braille Institute Los Angeles Center is located at 741 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90029. Call Michelle Sheridan at 323.663.1111.