A Brief History of the
AbilityOne Program
The AbilityOne Program provides employment opportunities for over 40,000 Americans who are blind or have other severe disabilities by orchestrating government purchases of products and services provided by nonprofit agencies employing such individuals throughout the country. In 1938, the Wagner-O'Day Act was passed under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in order to provide employment opportunities for people who are blind by allowing them to manufacture mops and brooms to sell to the federal government.
In 1971, under the leadership of Senator Jacob Javits, Congress amended this Act (41 U.S.C. 46-48c) to include people with severe disabilities and allow the program to also provide services to the federal government. Over 60 years later, this extraordinary socioeconomic program provides federal customers with a wide array of quality products and services, while providing thousands of people with severe disabilities real jobs and increased independence.
The Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled is the AbilityOne Program's federal overseer. Through two Central Nonprofit Agencies, National Industries for the Blind and NISH (serving people with a range of disabilities), the Committee currently works with over 600 nonprofit agencies across the country, as well as in Puerto Rico and Guam, to provide employment opportunities to people with severe disabilities. The purchase of AbilityOne products and services by federal customers helps battle the 70 percent unemployment rate faced by this untapped labor resource.
