Select a State: -- Select a state -- Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Connecticut Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Kansas Louisiana Massachusetts Michigan Mississippi Missouri North Dakota Nebraska New Mexico New York Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Virginia Washington
To view all past Healthy Vision Community Awardees visit the Healthy Vision Community Programs Database
Impact Alabama: A Student Service Initiative Birmingham, AL FocusFirst: An Alabama Student Vision Initiative project addresses the vision care problems of children who live in urban and rural poverty in Alabama. Efforts focus on ensuring that children aged 6 months to 5-years-old, in Head Start and lower-income daycare programs are screened for vision problems.
Back to top
Arizona Department of Corrections. Phoenix, AZ Eye to Better Health focuses on the large pre-diabetic population that exists within the Arizona Department of Corrections. Eye to Better Health provides education about diabetes and lifestyle activities that lessen the likelihood of its onset and decrease the risk of eye disease. Inmates requiring medical care are referred to their attending physician.
**Arkansas Optometric Association Little Rock, AR Arkansas Eyes on Diabetes works to increase the rate of dilated eye exams in people diagnosed with diabetes in Arkansas. An eye care referral form showing the results of the individual’s diabetic eye examination is used to provide useful information to the primary care physician and to help educate the patient. The project also educates others in the community about diabetic retinopathy and the need for annual dilated eye exams.
Riverside San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc. Banning, CA Riverside San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc. (RSBCIHI), is a nonprofit, tribally controlled and managed, healthcare organization serving nine Tribal reservations in Southern California. The target population for the RSBCIHI Eye Care Project is school students aged 10 to 18 years and adults of varying ages in the community. The adult population is educated on the importance of ensuring that their children have their vision screened.
San Joaquin General Hospital/Family Medicine Department French Camp, CA Improving the Management of Diabetic Retinopathy and Glaucoma in an Underserved Area With Awareness, Retina Photography, and Telemedicine project works to improve the prevention, detection, and management of diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. To do this, the project raises awareness of both eye diseases among the general population and primary care providers.
Community Medical Centers, Inc. Stockton, CA “Once a Year, Every Year” education program increases awareness among the community’s poor and medically underserved about diabetic retinopathy and the importance of annual eye exams for people with diabetes. Health education staff members meet with patients who have diabetes or pre-diabetes on an individual basis in a health clinic setting. Assessing and alleviating barriers to having a yearly eye exam are addressed.
Unite for Sight Newtown, CT The Eyes on Youth Empowerment: Preventing Visual Impairment by Training K –12 Students and Educators project targets K–12 students and educators throughout the U.S. to heighten awareness in schools about eye health and prevention of visual impairment among K– 12 students. Plans include developing a website and educational kit.
Farm Workers Self-Help, Inc. Dade City, FL The Citrus Harvesters Eye Safety Education Project works to reduce occupational eye injuries among migrant farm workers in Florida’s citrus industry and strengthen the capacity of a local program that trains community health workers. The project expects to educate over 150 workers during the early citrus harvest (January through May), treat those injured, and increase by 40 percent the current percentage of workers using safety glasses.
North Broward Hospital District d/b/a Broward Health Fort Lauderdale, FL The Eye See Kids Vision Program provides comprehensive education to parents on the importance of obtaining vision screenings to prevent blindness and visual impairments for children under age 17. The program utilizes a public awareness campaign on the importance of vision health that results in a free vision screening for children and additional one-on-one vision education for parents with a vision professional.
Lions District 35-I and Naples Lions Club Foundation Naples, FL The Florida Lions District 35-I Preschool Vision Screening Program screens preschoolers for vision problems to support early detection and allow for timely, effective treatment. The project educates parents, physicians, and the community about the importance of vision screening in preschool children and provides opportunities to screen large numbers of children in the community.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Atlanta, GA Vision Screening Training for School Nurses will provide four vision screening training sessions to Georgia’s school nurses. Training sessions focus on best practices for children’s vision screenings. The project aims to ensure that all children who fail visions screenings can obtain referrals for follow-up care. Training for up to 200 school nurses is expected.
Southeast Georgia Communities Project Lyons, GA Approximately 95 percent of the farm workers who come to southeast Georgia each year for the Vidalia Onion harvest are Mexican and Mexican American and the vast majority speak only Spanish. The 2009 Farm Worker Eye Safety Project will reach a minimum of 450 migrant and seasonal farm workers with culturally and linguistically appropriate information on eye safety and eye injury prevention.
Prevent Blindness America—Illinois Program Area Chicago, IL The Diabetic Eye Disease Educator Certification Program teaches lay outreach personnel and allied health professionals about the visual system and the signs, symptoms, and complications of secondary diseases of diabetes, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. The program focuses on reaching populations at higher risk for developing diabetes—African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos.
**Prevent Blindness Indiana Indianapolis, IN The Prevent Blindness Indiana (PBI) Seeing Is Achieving: Children’s Vision Screening Program is a statewide effort to identify children in need of eye care, provide follow-up treatment for those who cannot afford it, and educate parents/guardians and professionals who interact with children about the importance of good eye health. The focus of PBI is the importance of early detection of eye problems, but a new emphasis on outcomes directs this focus beyond basic screening services to much needed follow-up care and expanded eye health education services.
Prairie Band Potawatomi Health Center Mayetta, KS The Prairie Band Potawatomi Health Center (PBPHC)is a tribally operated primary care clinic that sees American Indians and Alaska Natives of all ages. The Prairie Band Potawatomi Healthy Oshkishkwen (eyes) Project provides an educational program on diabetic retinopathy for PBPHC patients on their diabetic registry and those identified as pre-diabetic or insulin resistant. The project also raises community awareness of diabetic retinopathy and increases the number of patients with diabetes receiving dilated eye exams.
Healthcare Centers in Schools Baton Rouge, LA Mind-Body Connection: The Importance of Vision Health in Baton Rouge, LA project educates parents and children about the link between vision and education and the importance of vision health. A media vision campaign will reach families and caregivers of 45,000 children and youth. A Parent-Community Advisory Board made up of parents, youth, and community residents who are educated about vision health, works with Healthcare Centers in Schools partners to reinforce campaign messages.
Codman Square Health Center Dorchester, MA Patient Education about Glaucoma Through the Eyes of the Haitian Patient project focuses on gaining insight and understanding on the perspectives of the Haitian community on glaucoma. The culturally sensitive information gained during the project will be used to produce educational materials for educating patients and the eye clinic staff, including clinicians, students, and support staff.
Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc. Lowell, MA The Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association provides health information about diabetic retinopathy to those in the Cambodian community. The project raises awareness about the link between diabetes and vision loss and increases the number of those with diabetes to have regular eye examinations.
Department of Ophthalmology, Henry Ford Health System Livonia, MI Living Fully With Vision Loss: Easy & Essential Adaptations for Individuals, Families, Homes, & Communities symposium will provide accurate, applicable information on vision loss and strategies to alleviate its impact and promote participation in daily activities among those with vision loss. This 1-day event will be offered at no charge in fall 2009 to residents of metropolitan Detroit.
Emmanuel Baptist Church Macon, MS Bright Sight Vision Program focuses on the eye health of children and adolescents residing in a high-risk area in rural Macon, Mississippi. The program addresses several barriers to obtaining proper eye care including lack of knowledge, lack of access, lack of transportation, and limited budgets.
Cedar County Memorial Hospital El Dorado Springs, MO CCMH Eye Safety Campaign 2009 works to reduce blindness and visual impairment in children and adolescents aged 17 years and younger. Efforts center on increasing the use of appropriate personal protective eyewear in recreational activities and hazardous situations around the home.
Prevent Blindness Nebraska Omaha, NE The KidVision project targets the African-American and Hispanic/Latino communities to increase awareness of the importance of getting children’s eyes screened at least once before age five. The Prevent Blindness Nebraska Children’s Vision Screening Permission form is used to track participation in community vision screening, educational events, and the number of participants who follow through with recommended examinations.
**New Mexico Healthcare Takes on Diabetes Albuquerque, NM New Mexico Healthcare Takes on Diabetes (NMHCTOD) is a statewide coalition of health plans, the State Department of Health, local health agencies, and medical and professional societies. NMHCTOD concerns itself with the 130,000 New Mexicans living with diabetes. Promoting Dilated Eye Exams for Diabetic Patients in New Mexico program focuses on educating providers and patients on the importance of eye exams. To build on this, in 2009 NMHCTOD is piloting a rural telemedicine retinopathy screening program.
Children’s Health Fund New York, NY Harlem Children’s Health Project Vision Program works to promote healthy vision to Promise Academy students and other children in Central Harlem. The Promise Academy encompasses two elementary schools and a middle/high school. The Vision Program also provides services to Head Start programs, universal pre-kindergarten, and after-school programs. The program expects to screen 1,000 children and ensure that at least 90 percent of those who need follow-up care receive it.
New York City Department for the Aging New York, NY Healthy Aging Healthy Eye project will educate 30 Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistant Program (HIICAP) counselors so they can better serve older adults in their communities and increase utilization of vision rehabilitation services by blind or visually impaired seniors. The project expands HIICAP counselor training and embeds eye health education and referral for vision rehabilitation services within the HIICAP service structure.
City-County Health District Valley City, ND The Healthy Vision Spanning Generations project promotes healthy vision by providing needed vision health education to the public and key professionals. The project focuses on increasing the proportion of preschool children aged 5 and under who receive vision screening and reducing vision impairment in adults that is due to glaucoma.
Preventive Healthcare Services, Inc. Winchester, OH The Eyes on Me Program focuses on vision screenings and educating parents, teachers, and students about preventable vision loss and eye care. Preventive Healthcare Services staff members will visit up to 30 charter schools to conduct vision screenings and give presentations on the importance of annual eye exams and eye safety. Children who meet set criteria are eligible for referrals to get free eye exams and eyeglasses.
Susquehanna Valley Rural Health Partnership Jersey Shore, PA The Diabetic Eye Health: Learn the Facts project works to reduce visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy in two counties in North Central Pennsylvania. The project’s main focus is to increase awareness in people with diabetes about the importance of eye care.
Pennsylvania Lions Clubs of District 14-T Loysville, PA Pennsylvania Lions District 14-T is a large district (2,281square miles) comprised of four counties that have a diverse geography (rural, urban, and suburban) and ethnicity (African American, Hispanic/Latino, Mennonite, and Amish). The “Look, Listen, Lions at Work” project expands their children’s vision and hearing screening efforts from two counties to four. This is done by educating and training active District 14-T Lions members in eye and ear health and screening and identifying and evaluating vision and hearing needs in their local communities.
Eagles Charitable Foundation dba Eagles Youth Partnership Philadelphia, PA The Eagles Eye Mobile is a mobile vision care program that travels to public and charter schools in Philadelphia and Chester to provide comprehensive eye care to vulnerable children. The Eagle Eye on Eye Health program creates a strong vision care education and awareness component aimed at parents and adults about the importance of their children’s eye health including the importance of eyeglasses and how to take care of them. The program uses a combination of classroom- or town-hall style meetings, a comprehensive eye health education website and printed materials to provide information.
YWCA Northern Rhode Island Woonsocket, RI The Eye-C project offers an innovative program to present information to the community regarding ways to reduce blindness and visual impairment in children aged 17 years and younger. It also provides information in an innovative way, about Rhode Island law, which requires eye screening for preschool children aged five and under.
Community Initiatives, Inc. Greenwood, SC We Have Excellent Eyes project focuses on low-wealth African-American and Hispanic/Latino preschool children and adults at risk for diabetic retinopathy. The project uses a bilingual/bicultural social marketing campaign to raise public awareness of the need for vision screening and makes vision screening available to the targeted populations.
Roanoke City Health Department Roanoke, VA The Healthy Eyes for Diabetics Education Program is designing and pilot testing an eye education curriculum that addresses impairment due to diabetic retinopathy to be integrated into diabetes health education programs. The goal of this program is to preserve sight by educating those at risk for sight loss due to diabetes and to equip health educators with the curriculum to educate patients with diabetes.
N.A.T.I.V.E. Project Spokane, WA N.A.T.I.V.E. Project operates N.A.T.I.V.E. Health of Spokane, a non-profit urban Indian community health clinic that focuses efforts of the American Indian/Alaska Native people who are an underserved population of Spokane County. N.A.T.I.V.E. Health’s Vision Across the Generations project targets efforts in two areas—(1) vision screening for children and (2) vision impairment due to diabetic retinopathy. The project provides culturally appropriate information that focuses on the need for vision screening and offers incentives to persuade people to get their vision screens done.
Washington Sensory Disabilities Services Wenatchee, WA The Baby Jamboree: Family Learning Initiative 2009 is a 3-day event with follow-up coaching to educate parents, siblings, and other caregivers to become the “experts” on their child with blindness/visual impairment and to prepare them to educate others about their child’s needs as s/he matures.
**Selected for renewal award from 2009 Healthy Vision Community Awards
