{"id":35,"date":"2014-12-01T14:20:56","date_gmt":"2014-12-01T19:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-ssawyers\/?page_id=35"},"modified":"2014-12-19T12:32:54","modified_gmt":"2014-12-19T17:32:54","slug":"grassroots-organizations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-ssawyers\/grassroots-organizations\/","title":{"rendered":"Site Seeing"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s common today to see glasses companies do a “buy one, give one” campaign to help children and adults in developing countries get access to proper glasses frames and prescription lenses. While this is a valiant and important effort, there are plenty of children in the United States whose families do not have the ability to provide their children with clear eyesight.<\/p>\n

While there is not a ton of grassroots organizing going on related to providing schoolchildren with comprehensive vision screenings and free prescription glasses, there are some organizations who work with community members, parents, teachers and principals to implement programs. Grassroots organizing for getting kids free eye examinations and prescription glasses is difficult because it\u00a0requires specialists (doctors, glass manufacturers, etc) to act on the issue effectively. The following community members demonstrate that through commitment and innovation, it is possible to spread awareness about the basic need to see and how vision impairment affects academic achievement. In some cases students are offered comprehensive visual screenings in school as well as free prescription glasses to be worn daily.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Kid

A student happily tries on glasses at Campbell Park Elementary School.<\/p><\/div>\n

Principal Ovalle,<\/a> Campbell Elementary School in Tampa Bay, Florida5<\/sup><\/a><\/strong>
\nWhile not an organization himself, Principal Robert Ovalle has shown that persistence and commitment can lead to change. Ovalle lobbied his school district\u00a0to get vision screenings for his students in September, rather than in March when they usually happen and school is almost over. Even after the September eye exams, three dozen students still did not have the glasses they needed to see properly and\u00a0perform to their potential in school. So Ovalle sweet talked Future Optics and the doctors at Eye Designs Vision, two local eye-glass sites, into giving the students free exams and two pairs of prescription frames–one for home, one for school.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Eye

A student get his vision screened at the OneSight Vision Center at the Oyler School Community Center.<\/p><\/div>\n

Oyler School<\/a>, Cincinnati6<\/sup><\/a><\/strong>
\nIf you can\u2019t see the board, you can\u2019t learn. Oyler School\u2019s Principal Craig Hockenberry has expanded the school\u2019s community learning center to include an eye clinic. Before the\u00a0eye clinic, students at Oyler were getting their vision tested by eye screenings given by school nurses. For the students that failed that screening, they got one chance to ride the bus to a clinic for glasses. If\u00a0they missed that trip, they did not get glasses and their academic achievement continued at a lower level. With the introduction of the eye clinic in the school building, and because of partnerships with OneSight, Lenscrafters, Sunglass Hut and Pearl Vision, students are now getting comprehensive vision exams and can pick out glasses frames right there. For a video discussing the new OneSight\u00a0Vision Center at The Oyler School Community Center, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Early Youth Eyecare Community Initiative<\/a> (E.Y.E)7<\/sup><\/a><\/strong>
\nA sub-initiative run by the Phillips Eye Institute of Minneapolis, E.Y.E provides regular vision screenings and follow-up treatment services to kindergarten, first, third, fifth and sixth grade students in Minneapolis and St. Paul schools. The goal of E.Y.E is to remove barriers to learning, beginning with uncorrected vision problems facing many schoolchildren. E.Y.E also works with families to identify and overcome barriers to treatment such as language differences, transportation and financial support.<\/p>\n

\"SAVE

SAVE Mobile Eye Clinic<\/p><\/div>\n

SAVE:<\/a> School Advocates for Vision and Education8<\/sup><\/a><\/strong>
\nSAVE uses a mobile clinic that travels to various schools and offers students comprehensive vision screenings and fits for glasses when needed. Their goal is to meet the basic needs of local students, providing them with corrected and effective vision in order to increase confidence, performance and conduct in children. SAVE has recently partnered with the Southern College of Optometry in order to increase the numbers of students they can support. More up-to-date information about what SAVE is doing can be found at @memphisvision<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

Kids Vision For Li\"KVFLfe<\/a>9<\/sup><\/a><\/strong>
\n<\/a>KVFL, while not necessarily grassroots on its own, partners with local communities and schools to provide children ages 5-12 with free vision screenings and a pair of glasses. Through mobile clinics, school systems, central locations and special events, KVFL provides kids in need with glasses at no extra cost to families and spreads awareness and information about the importance of vision care. Kids Vision for Life keeps followers up-to-date through Twitter @KVFLusa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UC Health: Mobile Eye Clinics<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>10
\n<\/a><\/sup>A study<\/a>11<\/sup><\/a> of 11,000 low-income first-graders in Southern California found that 95 percent of students who needed eyeglasses didn\u2019t have them, one year after their mandatory kindergarten vision screening. Through the UC Mobile Eye Clinics at Berkeley, UCLA, San Francisco and San Diego, vision exams and services are provided off-campus, in schools, community clinics, nursing facilities and even homes of patients who do not otherwise have access to vision care.<\/p>\n

\"Glasses\"<\/a>

Photo by Kevin Zacher for ChildSight<\/p><\/div>\n

ChildSight<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>12<\/sup><\/a>
\nChildSight is a grant and\/or contract funded public health program run through Helen Keller International<\/a>. ChildSight provides in-school vision services such as eye examinations, prescription glasses and follow-up care as needed to students\u2019 ages 10-18 years old. These critical eye care services are provided to low-income children who typically live within 200%\u00a0of the poverty level and have extremely limited access to basic health or vision care services. In order for there to be a positive impact, ChildSight requires interest from community partners–parent groups, the school district, local eye care providers and other community healthcare partners. There needs to be financial support, including funding for the services provided through the program. ChildSight currently serves children in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Ohio. The ChildSight Fact Sheet can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New England Eye On-Sight<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>13<\/a><\/sup>
\nNew England Eye believes corrected and maximized vision creates opportunities for learning and reading, socialization, work and play, safety and independence, better emotional and physical health. NEE On-Sight is a mobile eye clinic that works as a small community-based program under the larger foundation of New England Eye. On-Sight offers eye exams and eyeglasses, low vision rehabilitation and occupational therapy and case management for children and adults. The mobile clinic travels to preschools, elementary, middle and high schools, literacy programs and child-centered care facilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s common today to see glasses companies do a “buy one, give one” campaign to help children and adults in developing countries get access to proper glasses frames and prescription lenses. While this is a valiant and important effort, there are plenty of children in the United States whose families do not have the ability […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-35","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-ssawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-ssawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-ssawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-ssawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/193"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-ssawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-ssawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-fall-2014-ssawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}