CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Eric Strong was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma as a baby but could still make out shapes and colors for most of his life. 

What You Need To Know

Lions Services is one of Charlotte’s biggest employers for people visually impaired 

In January it laid off 40 workers who have some sort of visual impairment 

According to the National Industries for the Blind, 70% of blind Americans are unemployed

Eric Strong says Lions Services is the first job he’s worked that caters to visually impaired people

In 2015, it became harder and harder to distinguish objects — comparing his sight now to looking through an unfocused kaleidoscope. 

He arrives to work at Lions Services around 7:30 every morning where he manufactures supplies and clothing for the U.S. military. He uses an elevated yellow line to guide him to his station. He calls his job his safety net.

“For a lot of people, this is all we’ve got for the most part,” Strong said.

But, that net fell through for many of his colleagues earlier this year. Lions Services Development Director Agatha Bisbikis says the company laid off 40 of its 100 visually impaired employees in January due to a 66% decrease in overall orders. 

Strong says it was hard to know his co-workers were let go.

“It’s more like family. It’s a tight-knit circle,” he said.

He’s worked here for 12 years, making this his longest job and the first one to cater to his visual impairment. 

“I don’t have to feel bad for not being able to do something or looked down upon for not being able to do something,” he said.

Lions Services says since the layoff it has re-hired 13 of the workers as of June.

The company is part of the National Industries for the Blind (NIB). Philip Murph, CEO of Lions Services, says they’re working to take on more orders, so they can bring back all 40 employees they’ve let go — if not hire more. And he says that’ll be possible, because now they’re filling in the gap for another NIB agency in Tennessee that was forced to close due to a worker shortage.