History

The Centre for Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind (CERB), former “Home of the Blind”, was founded in 1906 by G. Drosini and D. Vikela, at the expense of Ampet brothers. Its initial cause was to protect the blind. Until 1979, it was a charitable association, chaired by the current Archbishop of Athens. In 1979, and after the hard struggles of the blind, it became Public Law Entity (under Presidential Decree 265 / 04.17.79, 74 / 04.17.1979) and renamed to Centre for Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind. It is supervised and funded by the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Welfare (Presidential Decree 85/2012, “Establishing and renaming ministries, transferring and cancellation of services” article 4 “the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Welfare 141 / 21.6.2012 vol. I).

In Thessaloniki, the “Protection Institution for the Blind – School for the Blind”, “Helios”, had been operating until 1947, when with the initiative of the charitable organization “Organization for the Protection of the Blind”, began to provide educational and social services to visually impaired people. In 2011, it was merged with CERB as a Regional Office / Administration of Thessaloniki.