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As early as 1947, the California Legislature made the connection between a student's vision and his or her ability to learn by enacting a law requiring school districts to screen students' vision. Nearly 60 years later in 2005, the California Department of Education released a report which noted a students' "ability to see greatly impacts their ability to learn."
Despite this insight, California is woefully behind in addressing this chronic and easily correctable problem, especially as it relates to students in low-income communities. Research tells us that 15% of Title 1 students in California elementary schools have vision problems. The goal of Vision To Learn (www.VisionToLearn.org) is to serve all of the estimated 100,000 Title I kids in the Los Angeles area elementary schools who need glasses. Their Mobile Eye Clinics visit schools and youth organizations in low-income communities to provide free eye exams and free glasses to elementary school aged children - changing the world one child at a time.
Vision To Learn's sole purpose is to eradicate this issue and give these children a chance to succeed in life. Vision To Learn started with one Mobile Eye Clinic in Los Angeles with the plan to expand. Subsequently, they found the need was so great and the demand for our services so high they added two additional Mobile Eye Clinics to their operation. They now have a total of 2 in the Los Angeles area and the third operates in the Sacramento area.
Since Their inception in 2012, Vision To Learn has visited more than 170 schools and community centers, facilitated vision screenings for over 99,000children, examined over 14,800 students, provided 11,399 children with free glasses and referred close to 3,000 kids to medical experts due to indications of serious health and eye problems such as amblyopia or motor skills deficiencies caused by vision impairments.
Vision To Learn has been recognized on NBC Nightly News for "giving kids the vision to succeed" and by the Los Angeles Times for "giving kids a view to a better future." The impact of putting a pair of glasses is immediate and quantifiable . . . children are more alert, less disruptive, doing better in school and have increased self confidence. There are hundreds of stories about families struggling to make it who just want their children to have a chance to succeed.
As one teacher said, "The bottom line is, if you can't see very well, you either are reading slower; or, if you can't see at all, you're not doing the work and you give up...And to have Vision To Learn help these children is a wonderful thing, as far as I'm concerned."
In 2012, the first phase of this program was funded in large part by the Beutner Family Foundation in an effort to demonstrate the need, prove the delivery model could work, and measure the results. They currently see an average of 50 students on their two-lane Mobile Eye Clinic per site visit and 27 students on their smaller one-lane Mobile Eye Clinic and continue to be booked to capacity. Their school visit process has become more streamlined allowing us to service more kids per day.
How They work:
•Partner with schools other youth service organizations serving their target population (K-5)
•Children receive vision screening from school nurses or Rotarians and or other community volunteers.
•Children with vision issues referred to Vision To Learn.
•School / organization gets signed consent forms from parents
•Vision To Learn's Mobile Eye Clinic visits school / organization.
•Children examined by Vision To Learn licensed opticians and optometrists.
•Children select and get fitted for frames.
•Glasses dispensed at site three weeks after initial visit.
Cost effective:
It is have found that glasses make a profound long-term impact on children's lives for a modest finite cost. For less than $90 per child (exam, glasses, travel, overhead and vehicle costs), Vision To Learn's dedicated doctors and opticians bring free, quality vision care to kids in low-income communities through our mobile eye clinics.
Impact:
To measure Vision To Learn's impact and to quantify their results, they commissioned an independent study by UCLA doctors of their first year of operations. The results, released in September, 2013, found:
•Students' classroom performance improved.
•Students approached their schoolwork with more confidence and had more success.
•Parents were relieved to understand that their kids' previous academic struggles were due to being unable to see the board or read their textbooks.
•Teachers enthusiastically reported that students who received glasses were learning more but also becoming more active learners.
•Over 90% of teachers and parents stated that most of the children at their schools would not have access to glasses without Vision To Learn.
•Finally, Vision To Learn made it "cool" to wear glasses due to our process of giving the glasses to the kids on the same day, as well as our partnership with civic leaders, athletes and Rotary.
Funding Request:
As Vision To Learn continues to work to meet its goal of providing free glasses to 100,000 kids in the Los Angeles area who need them, we are asking for you to consider our grant proposal. Due to Vision To Learn's unique process we impact two of your grant giving categories - Basic Education and Literacy and Maternal and Child Health. In providing free eye exams and eye glasses they help kids to improve their classroom performance by simply giving them the tools they need to see the board or read a book. Concurrently, they bring free vision care to families who have no access. Not only do their doctors prescribe eye glasses to children who need them, but they are able to identify children who have more severe vision issues and refer them to specialists with whom they have partnered.
We are looking for $117,00 from Rotary Clubs in District 5280, District 5280, Foreign Clubs and Districts, Rotary International etc. to sponsor on of the Vision To Learn Vehicles specifically their larger, two lane vehicle that is in great need of repair and updating. This would enable Vision To Learn to continue to operate and provide free eye exams and free eye glasses to children throughout District 5280 for years to come. Vision To Learn is scheduled to be at elementary schools and organizations 5 to 6 days a week.
Vision To Learn will welcome any Rotarian to visit to one of their mobile eye clinics and would be happy to answer any further questions you may have. They would also be honored to have your partnership and support in their mission to provide kids with glasses and give every kid the chance they deserve to succeed.
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