Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB)

MCB is the designated agency and point of entry for rehabilitation and social services for residents of the Commonwealth who are declared to be legally blind by an eye professional. Under a newly established category, MCB will expand service to qualifying individuals who have low vision with a progressive visual impairment. These services prepare individuals for productive independence and full community participation.

History of MCB

MCB was established on July 13, 1906. It was originally comprised of 3 men and 2 women, including Ms. Helen Keller. This group functioned as a board of directors and was charged with establishing a state agency to provide services to individuals who were blind. That original agency was organized primarily around two residential workshops for the blind, one for men, the other for women. In 1919, the then Commission was incorporated into the State Department of Education and renamed the Division of the Blind. In 1966, the agency was reestablished as the separate commission that it remains today. Currently MCB is one of fifteen agencies in the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS).