Vision To Learn and Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque Launch Student Eye Health Project

Vision To Learn will provide free eye exams and free glasses to more than 200 children in Dubuque and Jackson County schools.

The project is supported by the Community Foundation of Jackson County and Theisen’s Home*Farm*Auto.

Vision To Learn will provide free eye exams and glasses to kids at eight elementary schools in low-income communities in Iowa as part of a pilot project in collaboration with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. Over the next month, two hundred Dubuque and Jackson County elementary school students will receive access to free vision care at their schools. Theisen’s Home*Farm*Auto and the Community Foundation of Jackson County are helping support the project.

As many as 20,000 students in Iowa lack the glasses they need to see the board, read a book and participate in school. Vision To Learn solves the problem by providing the access to care these children lack. Vision To Learn’s optometrists work out of mobile clinics which travel to school sites every day. Students are examined on the van and, if glasses are prescribed, they choose their frames from a wide selection of colors and sizes. The glasses are then delivered to the kids at school. All of Vision To Learn’s services – from the exam to the glasses – are provided free of charge.

A Vision To Learn mobile clinic will begin visiting schools in Iowa on January 7th. The project will begin in Dubuque and conclude in Jackson County.

This project is being organized by the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque (CFGD) through its Dubuque Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

“Our goal is to help more children read at grade level by the end of third grade,” said Nancy Van Milligen, CFGD president and CEO. “A child’s health, including the ability to see the classroom board or words in a book, can have a major impact on his or her ability to read and learn. We are excited to bring Vision To Learn to Iowa.”