Vision Health Initiative Will Provide K-12 Students throughout Riverside County With Free Vision Screenings, Eye Exams and New, Prescription Glasses
Warby Parker to Provide Glasses In-Kind to Over 160 Students at Hemet Elementary School
Smiling students at Hemet Elementary School were delighted to try on their new prescription glasses at an event this morning. These students were the first in Riverside County to be provided free vision services by Vision To Learn, a nonprofit organization with a mission to help kids in underserved communities get the glasses they need to see clearly at school. In partnership with Vision To Learn, Warby Parker is committed to providing new prescription glasses to the Hemet Elementary School students as part of their ongoing school-based vision program, Pupils Project. This project represents the launch of Vision To Learn and the expansion of Warby Parker’s Pupils Project in Riverside County, where the program will provide over 28,000 students in need with eye exams and glasses over the coming two school years.
“Vision To Learn is thrilled to be helping kids in Riverside County,” said Vision To Learn President Ann Hollister. “By bringing free vision services to students where they are every day, Vision To Learn helps Riverside students get the glasses they need to succeed in school and in life.”
“Bringing Vision To Learn into Riverside County is a key element of our Literacy by 5th Grade Initiative. If students can’t see, they can’t read, and reading is fundamental to student success,” said Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Edwin Gomez. “We are thankful for the coordinated efforts from the team at Hemet Elementary School, and Hemet Unified School District, for the successful launch of this new program, and for serving as a model to expand our focus to serve students and schools across the entire county with Vision To Learn.”
Founded in 2012 by Los Angeles philanthropists Austin and Virginia Beutner, Vision To Learn provides vision screenings, eye exams and glasses to students who would otherwise go without. The organization uses mobile vision clinics – optometric offices on wheels – to bring services directly to schools and community organizations. In Riverside County, the organization will work with students in 22 districts, including Hemet.
“Many of our students and their families are benefiting from this partnership with Vision To Learn and I know this number will continue to grow. We want to help eliminate any barriers our students are facing to ensure their academic success, and providing this service to our students is one way to do that,” said Dr. Christi Barrett, Superintendent of Hemet Unified School District.
Vision is critical to students’ education, as 80% of learning is processed visually. Over one in four students needs glasses, but in low-income and rural communities, many families have difficulty accessing quality vision care. Vision To Learn’s program helps students access the eye exams and glasses they need to learn by providing them right on campus.
Expansion of their Southern California program is possible thanks to the support of several generous funders, including The Studio @Blue Meridian and an anonymous donor.
An estimated 50,000 children in Riverside County go to school every day without the glasses they need to see the board, read a book, or participate in class. Hemet Elementary School is the first school in the County to be served by this effort. In October 795 students were screened at the school, 155 were provided with eye exams and 128 were prescribed glasses and will receive their glasses today.
“With our focus on Literacy for All, we know the gift of sight is essential to the ability to read. On behalf of our students, we are grateful for the commitment Vision to Learn has dedicated to our scholars and their future academic success,” said Hemet Elementary School Principal Joseph Romero.
Members of Rotary International are expected to volunteer to support the effort, including providing initial vision screenings at schools that lack school nurses.
“Vision To Learn is a fan favorite here at Rotary. There is nothing like seeing a kid’s face light up after putting on their glasses for the first time and seeing the world clearly. The gift of sight isn’t one that is easily affordable to many families, especially after the hardships of the last year, and we are so happy to help provide that gift to students throughout Riverside County,” said Nora MacLellan, Rotarian and Vision To Learn’s volunteer Outreach Coordinator.
School-based vision care has never been more important. Students are returning to schools after over a year of hybrid or online learning. The pandemic widened preexisting opportunity and achievement gaps, hitting historically disadvantaged students hardest. Vision To Learn can significantly help Hemet students to recover lost learning time and succeed as they return to in-person instruction. A three-year controlled study of the VTL program with Warby Parker (published in Journal of the American Medical Association — Ophthalmology 9/9/21) by researchers at Johns Hopkins University Wilmer Eye Institute found that students provided glasses gained the equivalent of an additional two to three months of learning compared to their peers who failed a vision screening but did not get glasses. Students in the lowest performing 25%, as well as those with IEPs and enrolled in Special Education courses, gained the equivalent of four to six months of additional learning, which was higher impact than all other common educational interventions studied.
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About Warby Parker
Warby Parker (NYSE: WRBY) was founded with a mission: to inspire and impact the world with vision, purpose, and style. Warby Parker accomplishes this by reimagining everything that a company and industry can be.
Warby Parker has proven that a business can scale, become profitable, and do good in the world—without charging a premium for it. And Warby Parker has learned that it takes creativity, empathy and innovation to consistently surpass customer expectations.
Since the day Warby Parker launched in 2010, they’ve pioneered ideas, designed products, and developed technologies that help people see. Warby Parker offers everything you need for happier eyes at a price that leaves you with money in your pocket, from designer-quality glasses and contacts to eye exams and vision tests, and you can meet Warby Parker online, at stores, or even in your home. Wherever and whenever you need it, Warby Parker is there to make exceptional vision care simple and accessible. (Delightful, too.) Ultimately, Warby Parker believes in vision for all, which is why for every pair of glasses or sunglasses Warby Parker sells, a pair of glasses is distributed to someone in need through our Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program. To date, over eight million pairs have been distributed.
In 2015, Warby Parker created Pupils Project, its program with organizations and local government agencies in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, which provides free vision screenings, eye exams, and glasses to schoolchildren, for many of whom this is their first pair. This model eliminates barriers to access by providing free prescription glasses and meeting children at school, where teachers are often the first to spot vision issues. To date, over 120,000 pairs of glasses have been distributed through Pupils Project. For more information, please visit warbyparker.com.