The Association for the Blind (AFTB) was established in 1936 by a dedicated group of volunteers and members of the American Foundation for the Blind.  It was chartered and incorporated in April 1937.

Desiring a permanent home, AFTB purchased 41 Pitt Street in 1957, which made expansion possible and gave AFTB the ability to serve the entire Tri-County area.  Job opportunities for the blind over the years have included chair caning, medical transcription and light industry.  Programs have included beep ball, bowling and other recreational and informal education classes.

In June 2002, the Association moved to a rental location at 1071 Morrison Drive, which has given greater visibility to all aspects of the operation.  The sale of its Pitt Street building allowed the Association to establish a significant endowment to secure the future of services to vision impaired residents of the Lowcountry. 

The Association always strives to find ways to collaborate with other organizations in order to best serve its members.  Collaboration with the Veterans Administration began in 2003 and then, from March 2004 until December of 2008, the Feldberg Low Vision Center of the Storm Eye Institute was located at the Association's facility.  In addition, the Association began working with the South Carolina Commission for the Blind in July 2006 to offer free computer classes for the legally blind.

The 2008 Eye Care for the Underserved pilot program funded by Coastal Community Foundation uncovered a huge need for eye care, including education, free vision exams, refractions and glasses for indigent Tri-County residents with income below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Responding to that need, the ReFocus Program was created in 2009. ReFocus is an outreach program that provides complete eye exams including refraction and prescription eye glasses, eye disease education, prevention, and diagnosis to indigent residents at outreach mobile clinics throughout the Lowcountry.