News

Fy-Eye January 2019

PBWI small FY-Eye: January 2019

Heart of Canal Street Winners!

 

Prevent Blindness Wisconsin is excited to announce that we received $35,391 from Potawatomi Hotel and Casino through the Heart of Canal Street program! Started in 1994, the Heart of Canal Street program has supported hundreds of Greater Milwaukee Area children’s charities with more than 19 million dollars in funding raised through special Canal Street bingo games and other promotions. This generous funding will support Prevent Blindness Wisconsin’s Children’s Vision Screening Program throughout Greater Milwaukee, ensuring more than 75,000 children have healthy vision for success in school and life! Thank you to Potawatomi Hotel and Casino and the Forest County Potawatomi community for helping bring children’s futures into focus, one vision screening at a time.

Heart of Canal Street


Success Story: Kira

 Kira

Five-year-old Kira is seeing the world more clearly after she was vision screened by the local Lions club in Almena. Kira did not pass her vision screening and was referred on for further care where she was prescribed glasses. Mom had this to say about her daughter’s vision screening, “I was extremely grateful for the Lions Club conducting the screening. I felt guilty initially for not knowing she needed glasses, but then relieved she got the help she needed.”

Share your child’s success with Prevent Blindness Wisconsin by submitting a Success Story. Children who share their story and photo receive a free vision-related book! 


New Year, Healthy Vision

Help Head Start children have healthy vision in 2019 by focusing on follow-up care. Prevent Blindness Wisconsin has many enhanced vision care follow-up resources available to help get children to vision care. Our Head Start Vision Screening Toolkit gives you access to text message scripts, sample follow-up letters, a How to Make an Eye Doctor’s Appointment flowchart, and vision care vouchers. When you hear of a family going to the eye doctor, make sure to have them fill out a Success Story Form for an opportunity to receive a free vision-related book. For questions about Head Start vision health, contact Shelby at [email protected].

 


RUSD Volunteers Screen the Year Away

Certified Volunteer Vision Screeners in the Racine Unified School District along with high school students from Horlick High School, Washington Park High School, and J.I. Case High School ended 2018 by providing certified vision screenings for more than 200 students at Red Apple Elementary School. Thank you RUSD volunteers for helping carry out our vision for each Wisconsin resident to have healthy vision at every stage of life. If you are interested in helping with vision screenings in Racine or becoming a Certified Children’s Vision Screener, contact April at [email protected].

Volunteers- Jan.


Upcoming Trainings

Sign up for one of our upcoming Children’s Vision Screener Trainings by clicking the ‘Register Now’ link below. To learn more or to schedule a training in your area, please contact Shelby at [email protected].

Friday, January 11, 2019

Certified Children’s Vision Screener Training

9:00AM – 12:00PM

Fischer Building

12121 W. North Avenue

Wauwatosa, WI 53226

REGISTER NOW!

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

NWTC Children’s Vision Screener Training

11:00AM – 12:30PM

Northeastern Wisconsin Technical College

1601 University Drive

Marinette, WI 54143

REGISTER NOW!

 


High School Helpers Make Vision Screening Sustainable

The Elkhorn Area School District school nurses and students are teaming up to ensure elementary school children receive a certified vision screening. 13 high school students became Certified Children’s Vision Screeners and will be assisting the school nurse with vision screenings for students in first, third, and fifth grade. This partnership creates an attainable model for vision screening, while providing high school students an opportunity to help in their school community, as well as gaining a valuable certification. If you are interested in this program in your district, please contact Shelby at [email protected].

 

Hosa- Jan

Prevent Blindness Launches New Center for Vision and Population Health

Prevent Blindness has recently launched the Center for Vision and Population Health. This center is designed to serve our nation in an effort to increase access to vision care for adults and families, break down barriers to vision care, and serve as an advocacy initiative for the promotion of vision health in existing public and social programs. The new center aligns with a recent research article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Ophthalmology, which focuses on the current challenges and obstacles our nation faces today with vision health: needed vision care and education. Congratulations Prevent Blindness; we are excited to see the possibilities this center brings and the impact this will make on our nation’s vision health.

Center-for-Vision-logo


Project Homeless Connect: Many Successes in the Making

Project Homless- CropProject Homeless Connect was an event for the books. Last October, Project Homeless Connect helped over 700 adults and families experiencing extreme poverty and homelessness in Milwaukee County. At the event, 90 adults were vision screened, 87 were referred to an eye doctor, and 4 have already received eye exams through VSP Mobile Eyes and VSP Mobile Eyes Materials Only Voucher Programs.

One such example of the impact a certified adult vision screening made on adults in our community is Gertie. Gertie did not pass her vision screening and was a candidate for Prevent Blindness Wisconsin’s Adult Voucher Program. She recently went into the eye doctor and received an eye exam and a new pair of glasses. Gertie says, “I just want to thank you and your organization for helping me and other people with vision problems. I was so happy you were vision screening at Project Homeless Connect and helping people get to vision care. I was so happy with my eye exam and the new glasses I will be getting. Thank you!”

Gertie recently celebrated her birthday and is excited to have her new glasses as a belated birthday present.


Casa Guadalupe Education Center, Inc. Aids Adults in Need

Casa Guadalupe Logo Visión saludable (healthy vision)! Community Health Navigators at Casa Guadalupe Education Center were trained as Certified Adult Vision Screeners to conduct adult vision screenings and follow-up for the adults in their care. Casa Guadalupe serves over 300 families in Washington County, providing a variety of services such as literacy education courses, employment aid, and health education and screening services (A1C, blood pressure screenings, and diabetes education.) In January, two adult vision screenings and public education sessions will be held at the center’s two locations in Washington County to help educate clients about their vision health needs. We are excited for this new partnership and are looking forward to helping more adults in Wisconsin see the world a little more clearly. Are you interested in learning more about our adult vision health programs? Contact Courtney at [email protected] for more information.


Lions Support Prevent Blindness Wisconsin Volunteers in the Community

 

 Lions - Jan.

Members from the Wauwatosa Lions Club are chipping in and helping Prevent Blindness Wisconsin volunteers provide certified preschool vision screenings to children in Wauwatosa, Brookfield, and Elm Grove. Thank you, Wauwatosa Lions Club, for partnering with our volunteers to help vision screen preschool students in your community. As a team, we can all make sure children have healthy vision this year and beyond.


2018 Grassroot Fundraisers: Year in Review

Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2018 Grassroots fundraising events. A special thank you to: ABV Social, Benvenuto’s, Blue’s Egg, Café Grace, Central Standard Craft Distillery, India Hicks, Kendra Scott, the Mequon Chancery, Newd Custom Printing, and Stone Arch Brewpub for supporting Prevent Blindness Wisconsin and our sight saving services. Like and follow us on Facebook to stay up to date with events throughout 2019.

If you know of a company that has a give-back program and think that Prevent Blindness Wisconsin would be a good fit, please contact Bridget at [email protected].

 

T-shirt order Central standard 1
 


 

Grants Galore!

Prevent Blindness Wisconsin is honored to announce it has been awarded grants from the Alvin and Marion Birnschein Foundation, the Emory T. Clark Family Charitable Foundation, the Ralph Evinrude Foundation, and the Robert T. and Betty Rose-Meyer Family Foundation to support our sight-saving services for children across the state.

Thank you Alvin and Marion Birnschein Foundation for providing funding needed to update, print, and purchase supplies and materials needed to support children’s vision screening training and vision health education which makes healthy vision possible for hundreds of thousands of children each year.

Thank you Emory T. Clark Family Charitable Foundation for supporting the Star Pupils – Milwaukee Private Schools Program which ensures children at private, choice and charter schools that cannot manage vision screening on their own receive a certified vision screening and follow-up support. Thanks to the Foundation’s support, approximately 1,300 primarily low-income children will be placed on the path to healthy vision for success in school and life.

Thank you Ralph Evinrude Foundation for supporting the Children’s Vision Screening Program in Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, ensuring more than 35,000 children have the healthy vision they need to begin their educational careers with success.

Thank you Robert T. and Betty Rose-Meyer Family Foundation for supporting the Children’s Vision Screening Program in the Greater Green Bay Area which brings the future into focus for more than 19,000 children through vision screening.


January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world and can affect anyone. It has no cure and often goes unnoticed until permanent side-vision loss occurs. Glaucoma is a chronic condition that affects the pressure in the eye damaging the optic nerve, the main communication system between the eyes and brain.

Glaucoma is called the Sneak Thief of Sight because many people don’t know they have it until permanent vision loss occurs. 

Detecting and treating glaucoma in its early stages is essential when preserving sight and preventing permanent vision loss from the disease. To test for possible signs of glaucoma, the pressure in the eye and the health of the optic nerve is examined. These tests are most commonly performed when a dilated eye exam is given at the eye doctor’s office.

Once someone is diagnosed with glaucoma, treatments are lifelong to keep the pressure in the eye at a steady, stable level. Typically, individuals are prescribed drops/pills to take daily to help regulate the pressure in the eye.

  

Those at the highest risk for glaucoma are African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos age 40 and older. Those who have family members with glaucoma are also considered “at risk” for glaucoma.

Glaucoma can only be diagnosed through a dilated eye exam and once diagnosed must be monitored by your eye doctor throughout your lifetime. Have you had a dilated eye exam lately?

Glaucoma Awareness Campaign- Crop

 


Amazon Smile

Shop all year long on Amazon Smile and choose Prevent Blindness Wisconsin as your charity to donate 0.5% of eligible purchases back to Prevent Blindness Wisconsin!

Amazon smile


 

Your support allows us to carry out our vision for each Wisconsin resident to have healthy vision at every stage of life.

Thank you!

Donate

2018 Email pictures

Upcoming Events

Rock Bottom Tapping Night

Coming to you in February. Follow us on Facebook for more information.

24th Annual Swing for Sight Golf Outing

Save the Date!

Monday, June 3, 2019

Ozaukee Country Club

 

 

Upcoming Trainings

View the Children’s Vision Screener Training Schedule

January Newsletter Articles

Heart of Canal Street

Success Story

New Year, Healthy Vision

RUSD Volunteers Screen the Year Away

Upcoming Trainings

High School Helpers Make Vision Screening Sustainable

Center for Vision and Population Health

Project Homeless Connect

Casa Guadalupe Education Center

Lions Support

2018 Grassroots: Year in Review

Grants Galore!

National Glaucoma Awareness Month

Amazon Smile

Donate

 

About Us

Founded in 1958, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin improves the lives of children, adults, and families through early detection of eye conditions to prevent blindness and preserve sight. On-going vision screening activities and state-wide public health education lead to a lifetime of healthy vision.

 

wisconsin.preventblindness.org

[email protected]