tonySince 1900, Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind has been dedicated to helping the blind or visually impaired population of the greater Washington region overcome the challenges of vision loss. Our work enables people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired to remain independent, active and productive in society.

Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind’s (CLB) programs and services include training and consultation in assistive technology, employment marketing skills training, career placement services, comprehensive low vision care, and a wide range of counseling and rehabilitation services.

  • CLB provides programs and services to people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired, regardless of their ability to pay. Programs and services include adaptive technology, professional and career services training, low vision services, rehabilitation, counseling, children’s services, independent living and older adult programs.

  • CLB provides services to the more than 20,000 blind and low vision individuals in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

  • In 2006, CLB’s assistive technology staff trained more than 400 people in 83 citiesacross the United States in the use of assistive technology.

  • Each year, more than 150 volunteers contribute thousands of service hours to CLB.

  • Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind was founded on May 17, 1900, by Francis R. Cleveland, an attorney from Connecticut, and H.R.W. Miles, a graduate of the Perkins Institute for the Blind, in an effort to establish a presence for the blind community in the nation’s Capital.


CLB is a private, not-for-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization