Tag Archives: Alphapointe

Alphapointe .

Celebrating a Century of Service: Alphapointe Association for the Blind

From making office products to assembling Boulevard Beer variety packs, Alphapointe provides job opportunities to Americans nationwide who are blind or visually impaired. The year long celebration of their centennial culminates on November 12 when five-time Grammy Award winners The Blind Boys of Alabama will perform at the Midland Theater. For more details, click here.

Alphapointe started in 1911 when a small but determined group of people, led by our founder Catherine Hale, decided that the American dream of an independent and productive life should be attainable for all people, regardless of their ability to see. Dissatisfied with depending on the kindness of family or suffering the prejudices of employers, these capable and enterprising workers formed the Kansas City Association of Blind Workers and began making straw brooms in a cramped warehouse.

Today, Alphapointe is the largest employer of people who are blind in the state of Missouri and the only provider of the education and rehabilitation services necessary for people who are blind to live, work and be independent.

Tags: Alphapointe, Local Nonprofits, The Local Show, TLS209

Hidden Beauty: Tactile Tours at The Nelson-Atkins

It’s a deep-seated fantasy of many an art lover to be left alone in a museum and be able to run their hands all over the magnificent sculptures…to feel the artist’s hand under their own.

This year, at Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins, this fanciful notion is being made true. At least for a lucky few.

It’s the simple things in life. Things like a good meal with family and friends. A stolen moment. A job well done. The joy in a child’s laugh. An evening stroll.

Maybe escaping the heat for a couple of hours to take-in great works of art in the air-conditioned comfort of a great museum.

A simple pleasure that’s long been impossible for the blind or visually impaired.

But not at Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The Nelson is working with Alphapointe Association for the Blind this year to redefine the limits of what can happen in an art museum.

In celebration of Alphapointe Association for the Blind‘s 100th anniversary, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has been offering monthly tours for people who are blind or visually impaired. The Local Show tags along on one of the tours and gets a first hand perspective on the impact these tours are having.

Tours take place on the third Saturday morning of every month. For more information, visit the museum’s web site or call 816-751-1ART.