- More than 3 million public school children across the country lack the glasses they need
- Vision To Learn has provided more 100,000 children with eye care and 30,000 with glasses in Michigan
- Wayne County will provide a lead investment of $1,750,000 to help Vision To Learn serve an additional 10,000 students
- Matching funding is being provided by Senator Debbie Stabenow
Highland Park, MI (October 10, 2024) – Vision To Learn celebrated a $1,750,000 investment from Wayne County at an event today featuring Wayne County Chief Executive Warren C. Evans and Health Director Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. With the new funds, Vision To Learn will operate a mobile clinic that will provide eye care for an additional 10,000 school children in Wayne County.
“I spent most of my career in law enforcement. I shudder to think about how many youth get caught in the system because, at some point, they simply couldn’t see what was happening at the front of the classroom,” said Warren C. Evans, Wayne County Executive. “Making sure every single kid who needs a pair of glasses gets a pair of glasses is about more than just glasses—it’s about changing the course of child’s life. That’s why our partnership with Vision To Learn is so foundational to what we’re trying to do in here in Wayne County.”
“If you can’t see what’s on the blackboard—it really doesn’t matter what’s happening on the blackboard,” said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Director, Wayne County Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services. “We’re partnering with Vision To Learn to make sure every child can see what’s happening at the blackboard. The health consequences of giving a child a pair of glasses—of empowering them to see—redound for the rest of their lives. From a public health standpoint, this is a no-brainer.”
“More than 3 million children across the country go to school every day without the glasses they need. When children come to school hungry, we feed them. We make sure students have the books and school materials they need. Why not glasses?” said Vision To Learn Founder Austin Beutner. “This effort will ensure all 10,000 school children in Wayne County are provided with eye care. Every child in every school, everywhere in the country, should have the glasses they need to succeed in school and in life.”
The Wayne County effort is also supported by Senator Debbie Stabenow, who secured a $1.1 million Congressionally Directed Spending allocation for the project.
About 1 in 4 children need glasses to see clearly at school, but in many low-income communities, children often go without access to eye care. In Michigan, more than 200,000 students lack the glasses they need to see the board or read a book. Vision To Learn (VTL), a non-profit charity, seeks to address this issue by providing vision screenings, eye exams and glasses to children at schools in low-income communities. VTL, the largest provider of eye care at schools in the country, has helped provide more than 3.2 million children in 17 states and the District of Columbia with vision screenings, 600,000 with eye exams and almost 500,000 with glasses, all at no cost to children or their families. 27% of children provided with a vision screening by Vision To Learn needed glasses and more than 90% of those who needed them did not have them.
“Barber Preparatory Academy is grateful to Vision To Learn and Wayne County for bringing glasses to our kids who were going without,” said Principal Nicole Arnold. “It’s wonderful that this amazing intervention is going to alleviate barriers and help kids throughout the County, and the state.”
Vision To Learn started helping children in Michigan in 2016, beginning in Detroit. The effort has since expanded to help children in Grand Rapids, Flint, Lansing, South Redford, Kalamazoo and Big Rapids. To date, more than 100,000 Michigan students have been provided with vision screenings in partnership with County Health Departments, more than 35,000 provided with eye exams and 30,000 with glasses.
About Vision To Learn
Vision To Learn, a non-profit charity, was founded in 2012 by Austin Beutner and the Beutner Family Foundation. Vision To Learn serves the needs of the hardest-to-reach children; about 90% of kids served by Vision To Learn live in poverty and about 85% are Black or Latino. Vision To Learn, the largest provider of eye care at schools in the country, has helped provide more than 3.2 million children with vision screenings, and provided more than 600,000 with eye exams, and more than 495,000 with glasses, in 17 states and the District of Columbia, all at no cost to children or their families. For more information on Vision To Learn, please visit www.visiontolearn.org.
Senator Jon Ossoff and Vision To Learn Founder Austin Beutner Address National Vision Care Crisis Among School Children