10 Years of Helping Children See Clearly
A few weeks before Dubuque schools closed for the summer, children at Lincoln Elementary School were excited about more than just three months of vacation – they were excited about getting new glasses.
“They are going to look so cool on me!” said Ryan, a first grader.
“I’m excited about being able to see better!” said Dakota, another first-grader.
“I’m going to take great care of them!” added first-grader Eddie.
The students were receiving glasses through Vision To Learn, a nonprofit that provides access to vision care through its mobile clinic that travels to school sites. To commemorate its 10th anniversary in Iowa this year, Vision To Learn held a celebration at Lincoln with students, teachers, donors and the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, which brought the organization to Iowa in 2016.
“It’s amazing to see how many kids the clinic has helped so far,” said Nancy Van Milligen, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. “Giving kids the tools they need to succeed in the classroom is such a gift and we are thankful to have wonderful community partners supporting this work.”
Vision is one of myriad factors that affect a child’s learning. Students who struggle to see the whiteboard, read a book, or focus on a written assignment can be at risk of falling behind if the problem is not addressed.
That’s where Vision To Learn comes in. Students receive a vision exam from an optometrist and, if glasses are prescribed, can choose their frames from a wide selection of colors and sizes. The glasses are delivered to the kids at school two weeks later. All of Vision To Learn’s services, from the exam to the glasses, are provided free of charge.
All participating schools receive Title I funding, and a high percentage of their students come from low-income families. Due to lack of health insurance, difficulty accessing eye care providers and other obstacles, many students identified in state-mandated school vision screenings do not receive the follow-up care or glasses they need.
“About 40,000 students in Iowa lack the glasses they need,” says Jennifer Schmit, Vision To Learn’s Iowa program manager. “Vision To Learn bridges the gap in access to vision care so that children can be successful in school and in life."
When Van Milligen learned about Vision To Learn 10 years ago, she knew that children in the Dubuque region would benefit. Thanks to grants and donations from Klauer Optical Co. and Theisen’s Home-Farm-Auto the Community Foundation brought the initiative to Iowa in 2016 with a pilot program in Dubuque and Jackson counties that provided 178 exams and pairs of glasses.
Since that initial effort, Vision To Learn has expanded in Iowa with support from the Community Foundation, businesses, nonprofits and individual donors. To date, it has provided 27,000 eye exams and 23,000 pairs of glasses to students statewide.
For students, receiving glasses is life changing. It not only helps them see, but it also makes them feel more confident – especially when they get to choose from frames in a wide variety of colors. Lincoln students could be seen putting on their new pairs of specs in red, blue, green and all sorts of other cool hues.
At the end of the day, though, the promise of clear vision was the most exciting part about getting glasses. As kindergartener Patrick said, “I’m going to see all the things!”
