Media Contacts & Facts

Facts about Nevada Blind Children's Foundation

Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation Facts

• NBCF is the only nonprofit organization in Nevada solely serving blind and visually impaired children ages birth through 22 years.
• NBCF was started in 2006 by Kevin and Toni Spilsbury after the birth of their son Conner.
• During the 2018-19 school year, NBCF served 51 blind and visually impaired children.
• NBCF is privately funded and has an annual budget of approximately $1.5m.
• NBCF’s Discovery Day Camp is the only day camp for blind and visually impaired children in the state of Nevada that is accredited through the American Camping Association.
• Most NBCF programs are free to families – only a few have small fees and financial aid is available, so funding is never a reason for a child not to participate.

Nevada Facts

• Nevada is one of seven states that does not have a school for the blind
  • Other states include: Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wyoming
  • Nevada has approximately 15,800 (non-institutionalized) blind and visually impaired children ages birth-20 yrs.
  • Nevada has approximately 101,600 blind and visually impaired individuals.
  • 36% of non-institutionalized working-age people (ages 21 to 64) with a visual impairment have full-time/full-year employment.
  • 37% of non-institutionalized working-age people (ages 21 to 64) with a visual impairment have only a high school diploma or equivalent.

National Facts

• Total number of non-institutionalized individuals with a visual disability
• ages 4 through 20 = 678,000
• ages 16 through 75+ = 7,297,100 or 2.3% of the population.
• 2% of blind students in the U.S. are identified as Braille readers.
• Blind individuals represent less than 5% of all the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce.