Founder | Austin Beutner |
---|---|
Type | Charitable organization |
45-3457853 [1] | |
Legal status | 501(c)(3) organization |
Purpose | "Provide free exams and glasses to students in low-income communities" |
Headquarters | 12100 Wilshire Blvd Suite 12575 |
Location |
|
Executive director | Joan Chu Reese |
Key people | Ann Hollister, President |
Main organ | Board of directors |
Website | visiontolearn |
Vision to Learn is a US nonprofit organization that provides free optometry services to children in low-income communities.
Founded by philanthropist Austin Beutner in 2012, the organization started with a single mobile clinic in Los Angeles, California, staffed by optometrists. [2]
Vision to Learn had served over 25,000 children by 2014, [3] and by 2019, it had 25 mobile clinics in 12 states. [2]
Ann Hollister, the organization's president, told The Washington Post in 2017 that 70% of Vision to Learn's revenue originated from philanthropy, while the other 30% came from partnerships with organizations like the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Unified School District. [2]
In April 2018, the district threatened to cancel a $6M contract with the charity, saying it was behind schedule meeting its commitments. Hollister countered that the district did not have the most recent information and that the delays were due to miscommunications between the district and the schools. [4]
Vision to Learn partnered with Johns Hopkins University from 2016 to 2021, and with eyewear retailer Warby Parker as part of the city initiative "Vision for Baltimore". [5] A study done by the university found that for students most behind in school, receiving eyeglasses narrowed their achievement gap equivalent to four to six months of learning. [6]
As of August 2023, Vision to Learn was active in 15 states and the District of Columbia, and had administered 2.3 million optometry screenings, and distributed 390,000 pairs of eyeglasses to children. [7] Its board of directors include Micky Kantor, Jake Winebaum, [8] and Laphonza Butler. [9]
Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the founding institutions of modern American medicine and the birthplace of numerous famed medical traditions, including rounds, residents, and house staff. Several medical specialties were founded at the hospital, including neurosurgery by Harvey Williams Cushing and Walter Dandy, cardiac surgery by Alfred Blalock, and child psychiatry by Leo Kanner. Johns Hopkins Children's Center which serves infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21, is attached to the hospital.
Refractive error is a problem with focusing light accurately on the retina due to the shape of the eye and/or cornea. The most common types of refractive error are near-sightedness, far-sightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia. Near-sightedness results in far away objects being blurry, far-sightedness and presbyopia result in close objects being blurry, and astigmatism causes objects to appear stretched out or blurry. Other symptoms may include double vision, headaches, and eye strain.
Sankara Nethralaya is a not-for-profit missionary institution for ophthalmic care headquartered in Chennai, India. In the name "Sankara Nethralaya", "Sankara" is a reference to Lord Shiva and "Nethralaya" means "The Temple of the Eye". Sankara Nethralaya receives patients from India and abroad. Sankara Nethralaya has over 1000 employees and serves around 1500 patients per day, performing over 100 surgeries per day. The annual revenue as per the taxes is close to US$100 million.
Convergence insufficiency is a sensory and neuromuscular anomaly of the binocular vision system, characterized by a reduced ability of the eyes to turn towards each other, or sustain convergence.
An eye care professional is an individual who provides a service related to the eyes or vision. It is any healthcare worker involved in eye care, from one with a small amount of post-secondary training to practitioners with a doctoral level of education.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, social services, housing, and leadership and advocacy. The center is the largest facility in the world providing services to LGBT people.
The Berkeley Free Clinic is a non-profit community clinic located in Berkeley, California, US. It is operated as a worker-run collective by more than 100 volunteers. It has provided free medical care since opening in 1969.
Marshall B. Ketchum University is a private university focused on graduate programs in healthcare and located in Fullerton, California. MBKU expanded from the Southern California College of Optometry which was founded in 1904. The university was officially established as a multidisciplinary university with the addition of School of PA Studies in 2011 and College of Pharmacy in 2013. Along with Hope International University, the campus bookends the north and south sides of the Cal State Fullerton campus respectively.
The Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science at the University of California, Berkeley is an optometry school at the University of California, Berkeley. It offers a graduate-level, four-year professional program leading to the Doctor of Optometry degree (OD), and a one-year, ACOE-accredited residency program in clinical optometry specialties. It is also the home department for the multidisciplinary Vision Science Group at UC Berkeley, whose graduate students earn either MS or PhD degrees.
Sanela Diana Jenkins is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who was born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She currently resides in California. Jenkins fled her home country during the siege of Sarajevo and immigrated to London, where she studied at City University, London.
Wayfinder Family Services (WFS), Founded in 1953 as the Foundation for the Junior Blind and previously known as Junior Blind, is a United States-based nonprofit organization for services for the blind. The organization's mission is to help children and adults who are blind, visually impaired, or multi-disabled achieve independence. Located in Los Angeles, WFS offers individualized methods of early intervention, education, recreation, and rehabilitation to nearly 10,000 children and family members throughout California.
Robin Fields is an American journalist, investigative reporter, and managing editor with ProPublica, an independent, not-for-profit news agency.
The eye care system in Ghana can be said to be one in its infant or growing stages. Today there are less than 300 eye care professionals taking care of the eye needs of over 23 million Ghanaians.
The Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) is an Australian nonprofit non-governmental organization with an international focus on eye care research and vision care delivery. Formerly the Institute for Eye Research, in 2010, it was renamed in recognition of co-founder and optometrist Professor Brien Holden OAM, a 1997 recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia for his contributions to eye care research.
Austin Michael Beutner is an American businessman who served as Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent from May 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021. He previously served as the first deputy mayor of Los Angeles from 2010 through 2013, and briefly ran in the 2013 Los Angeles mayoral election. Prior to entering politics, Beutner was an investment banker and would later become the publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Dean Evan Hart, O.D., M.A., M.S., B.S., A.A.S., F.A.A.O. is an American scientist, clinical optometrist, professor, and the founder of Woodbury Ophthalmic Group and Woodbury Optical Studio. Dean ran for Nassau County Legislature in 2015. He was a candidate for the New York State Assembly in the 15th Assembly District of the 2016 election. Hart also ran for town office in 2017.
Johns Hopkins Children's Center (JHCC) is a nationally ranked, pediatric acute care children's teaching hospital located in Baltimore, Maryland, adjacent to Johns Hopkins Hospital. The hospital has 196 pediatric beds and is affiliated the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The hospital is the flagship pediatric member of Johns Hopkins Medicine and is 1 of 2 children's hospital in the network. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout Baltimore and the wider United States. Johns Hopkins Children's Center also sometimes treats adults that require pediatric care. Johns Hopkins Children's Center also features the only ACS verified Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in the state. The hospital is directly attached to Johns Hopkins Hospital and is situated near the Ronald McDonald House of Maryland.
Anne Louise Coleman is an American ophthalmologist. She is currently the Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Director of the Stein Eye Institute at University of California, Los Angeles.
Vivia Belle Appleton was an American physician, specializing in pediatrics. She worked in San Francisco, in France during World War I, in Labrador, in Shanghai, and in Hawaii.