Four decades ago, Detroiter Debra Bonde wanted to give back to her community. Recognizing a critical need for affordable braille books for children, she decided to take matters into her own hands and founded Seedlings. Today, her books are enjoyed by children around the globe.
“I found out that there weren’t many braille books available for kids, and those that were available were super expensive,” Bonde explained. At the time, braille books could cost up to $100, a stark contrast to the plethora of affordable options available for sighted children. Bonde felt it was unfair that those with vision impairments had to pay so much more for access to literacy.
In the early days of the business, Bonde created the books manually using a small printer. Now, Seedlings has grown into a 6,000-square-foot facility with a full manufacturing team offering more than 11,000 braille titles. Seedlings has managed to keep the cost of their books around $10, making literacy accessible to all.
By making a difference with something many people take for granted, Seedlings proves that the gift of literacy transcends the pages of books.
To learn more about Seedlings, click the video above