Envision: Outfitting for the future

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachelle Blake
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  In 1938, congress passed the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act, granting government contracts to companies with employees who were visually impaired or having other significant disabilities.

Among their first customers was the U.S. Army. During World War II, the JWOD company, Envision, supplied pillowcases, brooms and mops to the troops.

"Envision, a not-for-profit agency that specializes in the field of blindness and low vision, is one of over 220 agencies that helps individuals to achieve personal goals," said Tony Melvin, the manager of the Offutt Envision Express and retired Air Force first sergeant. "They eventually grew and started making plastic bags. At one time, they supplied all the commissaries nation-wide with their plastic shopping bags."

Nearly 70 years later, in 2006, the JWOD program was renamed Ability One. Today, they are the largest employee of the blind and disabled with more than 45,000 personnel, 3,000 of which are veterans.

Their connection with the military hasn't slowed. Under the Envision umbrella are the Envsion Xpress stores, located on military installations of different branches of services across nearly a dozen states.

Not only do the 16 stores employ low vision and blind individuals, they also sell products made or assembled by the disabled.  Here at Offutt, EnvisionXpress is a one-stop shop for an assortment of items.

EnvisionXpress carries office supplies, janitorial sanitation items and furniture on occasions.

"We also carry uniform items and tactical gear to include deployment items, cold-weather and flying gear," Melvin said.

The items can be purchased through a government purchase card, contracts, direct buying and online order processes.

"If we don't have something in the store, it can be ordered from our catalog, or brought from one of our other locations" Melvin said. "Those items take one to two days to get in, free of shipping costs. We also deliver anything from a box of pens to a pallet of paper."

According to its website, those purchases help fuel Envision's mission to create even more opportunities for people who are blind or with vision loss, all while boosting the economy and supporting the military community.

"We took this operation over from base supply when military manning for the base needed to downsized," Melvin said. "They did it with 40-something people. We do it with seven, which is a cost savings to the government."

They are also in the business of recycling their money.

Unlike other commercial entities, which are chasing the margin to make money, our money goes back into the system. Since 1930, Ability One has provided more than four million hours of employment and they are working tirelessly to cut the 65 percent unemployment rate of U.S. citizens with vision impairment.

But, jobs aren't their only means of reusing their profits. The company offers specialized Child Development Centers, vision rehabilitation centers, physical and occupational therapy, orientation and mobility training, assistive technology training, Braille instruction and counseling.

However times have been rough in the last few years.

Two years ago, during sequestration, when the government was shut down, it was the first time in years that Ability One Program lost more than 200 jobs because they didn't have labor hours to give individuals. Deployments have also started to dry up, so we don't issue as many uniform items as we used to and that has hindered the foot traffic coming through the store."

Melvin's goals are to raise understanding and awareness of the visually impaired and disabled while also moving as many products as possible to feed the Ability One mission. Each purchase makes a difference.

He also hopes to the customers are getting the same satisfaction they are giving to his employees.

"Every day we interact with a variety of individuals from various squadrons, all with different experiences and we are able to learn many different things," said Emi Terlaje, an office assistant at Envision Express. "The customers that come through the store are very nice and respectful which you don't always get through other stores."