HOUSTON AREA VISUALLY IMPAIRED NETWORK

History of how HAVIN began

In August, 2010, the leaders of five Houston area support groups for the visually impaired met with a plan to join forces and bring together the blind and visually impaired community from across the greater Houston area in a manner that had not been accomplished before. Their desire was to have the visually impaired support groups that were separated by miles, get together and host a program that would unify the community.

To do this, they committed to working together to plan one or two events each year that would be useful for sharing information and resources, as well as letting these people meet and network with one another. The first goal was to put on an event that would provide information and resources, and this was to become the inaugural Insight Expo. To meet this goal, they planned a seminar with speakers, panel discussions, and workshops, as well as a variety of exhibitors that serve this community to share information and products with the attendees.

Since that first event, , some of the founding support groups have rotated from the executive committee and been replaced by other groups, including groups representing both of the national consumer groups for the blind. The ultimate goal is to keep our community connected and share information and resources with one another. If we are able to help out somebody who is searching for these items, then we have done our job.