Arkansas Optometric Association
Little Rock, AR
Arkansas Eyes on Diabetes will educate patients with diabetes in Arkansas about diabetes-related vision problems. Arkansas Eyes on Diabetes will increase the proportion of persons who have dilated eye examinations. The project will institute an Eye Care Referral form that will educate the patient and identify eye exam results for use by primary care physicians. The project is expected to reach more than 250,000 people.

Prevent Blindness America, Arkansas Division
Little Rock, AR
Eye injury presentations in Central Arkansas high schools will educate students and raise awareness about sports eye injury prevention among coaches and teachers. The Arkansas Eye Injury Prevention Initiative will focus on three schools where most athletic activities occur. The project will also present information about fireworks safety. The Arkansas Eye Injury Prevention Initiative project will be presented at the annual resident’s day at Jones Eye Institute. Volunteers will also be solicited from the College of Medicine at University of Arkansas Medical School.

Third Avenue Charitable Organization, Inc.
San Diego, CA
A Brighter Horizon: Eye Education and Healthcare for San Diego’s Underserved Communities will educate residents of underserved neighborhoods to avoid vision loss from diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. The established monthly diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma screenings of the Third Avenue Charitable Organization, Inc. create a forum for this program. Medical students who have had training will give the talks, to be held in conjunction with diabetes screening clinics at the University of California, San Diego Free Clinic. Pamphlets will be provided in Spanish and English.

Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
San Francisco, CA
Enchanted Hills Camp is a project of Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. In addition to their blind and visually impaired camp, each summer the camp offers a special “camperships” session for those who are deaf-blind. This session provides deaf-blind individuals the opportunity to develop communication skills, gain self-esteem and reinforce adaptive skills. It focuses on assisting those under the age of 55 with their vision rehabilitation and their capability to lead fulfilling and autonomous lives. Training and other outreach services are provided in a 1:1 ratio of campers to support staff.

**Clinicas del Camino Real, Inc.
Ventura, CA
La Vista del Futuro targets children of migrant and seasonal farm workers. La Vista del Futuro has a promotora (community outreach specialist) involved. La Vista del Futuro goes into schools, communities, and homes where the children and their families live to educate them about the importance of annual eye exams. Clinicas is currently on the actively approved list for a vision Telemedicine program that will increase access to examinations and thereby reduce risk of visual impairment. Clinicas will also initiate a digital screening and remote/rapid Ophthalmologist exam of children using iScreen technology.

Vista Community Clinic
Vista, CA
The Vista Community Clinic (VCC) Diabetes STEPS program is linked to a countywide service network providing comprehensive diabetes management services focusing on low-income, multicultural residents through a broad collaboration of community-based care organizations. The VCC Healthy Eyes program addresses a great lack of awareness among low-income Hispanic diabetes patients of the potential vision complications of diabetes. HVCA funds will support referrals for eye exams that are being made, tracked, and followed up.

**Health S.E.T.
Denver, CO
The Senior Vision Connection Program is dedicated to improving the quality of life for seniors who need vision rehabilitation. Counseling, advocacy, education, and support and access to adaptive aids are offered. The project goal involves increasing the use of vision rehabilitation services and adaptive devices. Seniors with low vision will be educated about eye disease and available treatments. Participants will receive in-home safety assessments, training on use of adaptive devices, counseling, and access to support groups. The program anticipates serving 1,425 seniors with low vision.

**Heartland Rural Health Network, Inc.
Avon Park, FL
Play It Safe With Your Eyes is a video education program focusing on eye health, safety, and prevention for children aged 3 to 5. The Play It Safe with Your Eyes curriculum encourages caregiver involvement and is the only comprehensive video education program that focuses on eye health, safety, and prevention for preschool through grade 2. This curriculum provides English and Spanish versions, and is presented to Head Start students. The program expects to reach 500 children.

Farmworkers Self-Help, Inc.
Dade City, FL
The Citrus Harvesters Eye Safety Education Project will work to reduce occupational eye injuries among migrant farmworkers in the citrus industry in Florida. Based on a successful pilot program by Farmworkers Self Help in Florida, the Tampa-based project will use Camp Health aides to treat workers in the field for common eye injuries and to educate workers about avoiding risk for eye injuries. The project will reach more than 150 workers during the early 2008 citrus harvest and will increase by 50 percent the percentage of workers wearing safety glasses.

Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Miami, FL
Children’s Vision Screening, Education, and Outreach, a project of the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired (MLBVI), provides comprehensive vision exams to low-income students who fail the Miami-Dade public schools vision screenings. Children who are prescribed glasses as a result of the MLBVI exam receive the glasses free of charge. MLBVI uses a fully equipped mobile optometric office—the Vision Bus—to visit schools and conduct comprehensive eye exams for children who meet the income criteria.

St. Galilee Outreach Ministry, Inc.
Sparta, GA
The Hancock County Healthy Vision Initiative will educate parents, children, teachers, and the community about the importance of vision screenings for children. Mobile vision screenings will be conducted to detect vision problems in children at each of the three Hancock County schools. Children screened for vision problems will then be referred for follow-up treatment to local optometrists for care. The objective the Hancock County Healthy Vision Initiative focuses on reducing uncorrected visual impairment due to refractive errors.

Vision Enhancement Center-Aging Services, Inc.
Cedar Rapids, IA
Aging Services operates a Vision Enhancement Center (VEC) designed to improve the quality of life for older adults needing vision rehabilitation. A special emphasis is placed on serving low-income seniors who typically go without adaptive equipment and training because they do not yet qualify for Medicare or the Medicaid Elderly Waiver program. VEC serves close to 500 individuals with low vision annually, but it is estimated that by 2010 there will be 15,000 individuals with low vision living in Linn County, Iowa.

Quad-City Times Plus 60Club
Davenport, IA
The Healthy Vision Project sponsored by the Quad-City Times Plus 60Club targets and screens older adults in the community who are at risk of developing type II diabetes. Those identified as at risk are encouraged to attend fitness and nutrition sessions offered through the Eastern Iowa Community College District and have a dilated eye exam. Each month features exercise techniques, a nutrition/healthy vision message, and nutrition sessions discussing healthy choices, food preparation, serving sizes, and discuss the importance of regular exercise and vision care.

Proteus, Inc.
Des Moines, IA
The Proteus Migrant Farmworker Vision Project, in Des Moines, Iowa, is sponsored by Proteus, Inc., a nonprofit organization with a mission of providing farmworkers and immigrants with services that improve their health, education, and economic opportunities. The project brings services to migrant workers at campsites and through home visits. The project will provide vision education and screening to migrant farm workers, persons with diabetes, and the children of these families, at one site in Williamsburg, Iowa, where more than 500 Latino workers are employed.

Idaho Children’s Vision Coalition
Coeur D’ Alene, ID
The Idaho Children’s Vision Coalition (ICVC) will improve and streamline vision screening services provided to more than 4,000 children in Head Start in Idaho. Head Start provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income 3- to 5-year-old children and their families. Within 45 days of enrollment, all Head Start children must undergo a sensory screening that includes vision and hearing. The primary goal of ICVC is to collaboratively develop age-appropriate standardized vision screening guidelines and forms for Head Start programs throughout the state of Idaho.

**Chinese American Service League, Inc.
Chicago, IL
The Chinese American Service League (CASL) Healthy Eyes 2008 project will encourage more of their 17,000 clients to go for annual eye exams to test for refractive errors and glaucoma. The project will focus on clients, young and old, and CASL will refer clients to the collaborating Illinois Eye Institute when appropriate. The goal of Healthy Eyes 2008 project is to make more Chinese Americans in the Midwest aware of the importance and availability of modern eye care. The overriding objective of the project is to provide current and accurate information to the community in its native language. Educational workshops for seniors will be conducted at elementary schools on eye health topics such as glaucoma. Last year, with the HVCA Program, brochures from the American Optometric Association on the topics of glaucoma, cataracts, amblyopia, age-related macular degeneration, and color deficiency were all translated into Chinese. These translated brochures were distributed to participants in the CASL educational workshops and are available in the CASL Health Resources Library.

**Erie Family Health Center
Chicago, IL
The Eye Health Education to Reduce Visual Impairment Due to Diabetic Retinopathy Among Low-Income Spanish Adults project will work in conjunction with an existing diabetes education and management program to reduce visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy. Erie Family Health Center provides comprehensive health services to nearly 30,000 patients annually. This project focuses on providing services to the low-income Hispanic population that has diabetes. Erie Center will provide project participants with individual diabetic retinopathy education, opportunities to learn through community awareness events/presentations, and referrals for diabetic eye exams. The Erie Center Program will offer individual health education, community awareness events, and referrals for diabetic eye exams.

Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness
Jacksonville, IL
The Healthy Eyes Project of the Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness will expand the services of the existing low vision clinic on the campus of the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired. This project examines children and young adults for refractive correction and appropriate low vision devices. The Healthy Eyes Project will develop a video that highlights the unique examination techniques and interaction with the children, young adults, education specialists, and parents who are involved in functional assessment and vision care.

McHenry County Department of Health
Woodstock, IL
Score with Safe Sight-Protective Eyewear is a project designed to increase the use of appropriate protective eyewear in recreational sports in McHenry County, Illinois, by collaborating with local eye care professionals and the McHenry County Department of Health. The Department screens about 7,500 children during the nine-month school year. Educational information on protective eyewear will be disseminated during these screenings. Technicians will encourage children and their parents to incorporate protective eyewear into sports activities.

Prevent Blindness Indiana
Indianapolis, IN
The Prevent Blindness Indiana (PBI) Seeing Is Achieving: Children’s Vision Screening Program is a statewide effort to identify children in need of eye care, provide follow-up treatment for those who cannot afford it, and educate parents/guardians and professionals who interact with children about the importance of good eye health. The focus of PBI is the importance of early detection of eye problems, but a new emphasis on outcomes will direct this focus beyond basic screening services to much needed follow-up care and expanded eye health education services.

Envision, Inc.
Wichita, KS
Encarguese de Su Visión (Take Charge of Your Vision) is an outreach program for the Hispanic community in Kansas. Sponsored by Envision, an organization whose mission is to enhance the personal independence of individuals whose blindness or low vision impacts their quality of life and/or integration into community life, Encarguese will address two serious eye diseases prevalent in the Hispanic community: diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. Three printed pieces about vision health and vision rehabilitation will be produced in Spanish as part of this program.

Louisiana Lions Eye Foundation
Lafayette, LA
The Preschool Vision Screening is aimed at educating parents on the importance of eye health for children. The project works toward the mission of reducing the incidence of amblyopia in the preschool population of Louisiana through timely identification and referral of common amblyogenic disorders. The project will screen about 1,300 Louisiana children in parishes directly affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Regional coordinators will identify screening sites, gain permission to conduct the screening, and schedule and obtain parental permission for the screening. Database records will assist with follow-up action for those preschoolers who need further assessment.

Carroll Center for the Blind
Newton, MA
Carroll Cast: Vision Rehabilitation Videos will be an audiovisual overview and instruction on vision rehabilitation devices and/or methods for consumers and family members involved in the care of people with low vision. The Carroll Center will focus on lighting, magnification, and blood glucose monitoring. Carroll Casts will be made available to the public through the Carroll Center Website, on DVD, and marketed through low vision service providers, such as The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Vision Rehabilitation Center.

**Greater Boston Guild for the Blind
Boston, MA
The SightCare Community Vision Loss Education program provides community-based vision rehabilitation, education, and training to visually impaired seniors and their caregivers. Adaptive devices will be demonstrated. Seniors in the target audience are from low-income and minority groups in the Greater Boston area. Forty SightCare community-based workshops will be held, with a goal of helping seniors stay independent and safe in their own homes. SightCare is expected to reach 200 visually impaired seniors.

National Public Health Forum
Columbia, MD
The National Network of Eye Disease Prevention Specialists (NNEDPS) is a project created under the auspices of the National Public Health Forum to increase awareness of the diseases and risk factors that can cause impaired vision. The specific aims of the NNEDPS project involve building the network of health practitioners; developing a database of providers and tools to assist in the mission; and scheduling dissemination opportunities in clinical, community, school-based, faith-based, and media settings.

Department of Ophthalmology at the Henry Ford Health System Livonia, MI
This Henry Ford Health System SiteWise: Community Assessment aims to conduct an environmental assessment of two Detroit-area communities with respect to accessibility for adults with visual impairments. The objective of the project is to provide written recommendations to metropolitan Detroit communities for adaptations that will facilitate the participation in community life for adults with visual impairments. Reports will be shared with public and private institutions and other metropolitan communities to encourage widespread adoption of recommended adaptations.

Camden Eye Center
Camden, NJ
The Camden Eye Center Mobile Sight Saving and Education Program will bring refractive screening and glaucoma screening to diverse populations in Camden City, New Jersey, which has been classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as the poorest city in the Nation. The Program will bring vital health and treatment services to those people at risk for vision impairment due to refractive errors and glaucoma. The Mobile Vision Clinic will visit 25 Hispanic and African American churches, screening approximately 600 residents.

Plainfield Neighborhood Health Services
Plainfield, NJ
Plainfield Neighborhood Health Services Corporation (PNHSC) is a Federally Qualified Health Center with sites in three counties in Northern and Central New Jersey, where optometry services will be expanded under this award. The objective of PNHSC is to increase vision screening among pre-school children and adolescents. The number one diagnosis determined by PNHSC’s providers in otherwise healthy young people was poor vision. The program proposes to add eye care and vision protection to the curricula of the Plainfield schools.

New Mexico Health Care Takes on Diabetes
Albuquerque, NM
New Mexico Health Care Takes on Diabetes (NMHCTOD) is a statewide coalition of health plans, the State Department of Health, local health agencies, and medical and professional societies. NMHCTOD concerns itself with the 130,000 New Mexicans living with diabetes. The state has stagnant rates of eye exams and convened a Diabetic Eye Exam Work Group. Promoting Dilated Eye Exams for Diabetic Patients in New Mexico will focus on educating providers and patients on the importance of eye exams.

Southern Nevada Health District
Las Vegas, NV
The local health department of the Southern Nevada Health District has developed the Southern Nevada Healthy Vision Project, which will use a social marketing approach to increase awareness of the importance of annual eye exams and low vision resources available in the local area. The project will conduct a one-week radio campaign on two stations—one that reaches a Latino audience and one that reaches an African American audience. Educational DVDs will be provided to community partners emphasizing the importance of annual eye exams. A presentation on the importance of vision care will also be presented to a community or senior center.

Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired—Goodwill Industries
Rochester, NY
Vision Rehabilitation Education on the Road is a project of the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI)—Goodwill Industries of Rochester, New York. The project goals are to increase awareness of eye disease, and to educate older adults on how to maximize remaining vision and how to access and use the vision services offered by ABVI—Goodwill. The project goal is to implement a vision rehabilitation awareness campaign in two rural counties in New York. More than 10 percent of the population of both counties is older adults.

**Chautauqua Blind Association, Inc.
Jamestown, NY
The Let’s See the Right Start to Life Long Health Vision Project has the objective of increasing the number of preschool-aged children who receive vision screening and follow-up care. Eye safety information and vision screening results are provided to parents and families to promote healthy vision. Under this renewal award, the Let’s See project will continue the work of screening young children and educating adults through parental discussions, community health fairs, preschool programs, and outreach.

**Associates for World Action in Rehabilitation and Education
Mohegan Lake, NY
The expanded Association for World Action in Rehabilitation and Education (AWARE) program goal is to develop a comprehensive manual, Self Help Manual: Safety in the Home for Adults with Vision Loss containing hints, safety techniques, and descriptions/illustrations of adaptive devices. The Online Low Vision Rehabilitation Education Workshop for Consumers, Families of Adults with Vision Impairments, and Community Personnel aims to increase the availability of eye health and vision rehabilitation information.

Licking County Health Department
Licking County, OH
Healthy Vision for the Youth of Licking County is a program designed to offer vision screening and community outreach education as an early intervention for preschool children. The Licking County Health Department is sponsoring this program and will collaborate with the County Educational Service Center and the County Women, Infants & Children program to screen children who are not yet 5-years-old. The program will offer vision screening to a minimum of 250 children and will retrain a Public Health nurse through the Prevent Blindness Ohio Vision Screening Training Program.

PSA3 Agency on Aging
Lima, OH
Focusing on the Eye in Independence is a community education and outreach program run by the PSA3 Agency on Aging. PSA3 will bring low vision and independent living resources to a larger community by raising awareness of low vision and explaining how low vision can affect an older adult’s ability to remain independent. PSA3 will develop a large-print brochure that highlights resources for people with low vision. The project will also circulate 12 exhibits that highlight vision rehabilitation.

Tri-State Health Services (dba) Prime Time Office on Aging
Steubenville, OH
The Prime Time Office on Aging, the county’s focal point for older adult services, will expand services to offer seniors education and screening for diabetic retinopathy. Prime Time, through the East Central Ohio Senior Eye Health Project, will use community-wide education to focus on the high prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. Blindness caused by these diseases can frequently be prevented by early detection and treatment. The Mobile Medical Unit of the project will perform blood glucose testing for seniors and screenings for diabetes.

Oklahoma Association of Optometric Physicians
Park Hill, OK
Healthy Beginnings—Vision for the Future, a program of the Oklahoma Association of Optometric Physicians, will provide education to OBGYN nurses, midwives, and parents about the importance of vision care from infancy throughout childhood. The program works to increase the number of children under the age of five receiving vision screening and to reduce the number of children with visual impairment from uncorrected refractive errors. The program also aims to reach and educate key members of the community that work with infants and small children through a media campaign focusing on vision health for young children. Healthy Beginnings expects to educate 200 to 300 families.

Deschutes County Healthy Beginnings
Bend, OR
Deschutes County Healthy Beginnings is conducting a project called Vision Development Begins at Infancy. This program will provide increased access to vision screenings for young children, birth to age five. The project will educate families and caregivers of young children, and will offer community education and referral to InfantSEE™ and local eye care professionals. Screenings will be provided to 410 children, and the children’s parents will receive parent education. The project has a media awareness component that works to deliver the message to new families that Vision Development Begins at Birth.

Bucks County Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired
Newtown, PA
Healthy Vision Awareness for the African American Community is a project that will increase the vision health of the African American community in Bucks County. The project will offer education and community outreach with the goal of decreasing the incidence of preventable blindness. The project will disseminate lists of optometrists and ophthalmologists who specialize in glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Educational sessions will be conducted to discuss the symptoms, treatments, and prevention of these diseases. Risk assessments will be made available.

Tri-County Association for the Blind
Harrisburg, PA
The Tri-County Association for the Blind is conducting Bright Eyes, a public education campaign that builds knowledge of the value of eye exams for children from birth to age five. The program’s aim is to build knowledge of the rewards of early screening of eye health in families of at-risk children, provide access for free first time eye examinations for at least 80 children under the age of 1 year to InfantSEE® certified optometrists, and expand the number of optometrists collaborating in the InfantSEE® program from three to six.

Tyrone Hospital
Tyrone, PA
Tyrone Hospital will collaborate with the Tyrone Elementary School to reach the 50 percent of the community’s population enrolled in the school’s Pre-K Counts program. Tyrone Hospital will offer a vision screening in conjunction with their annual Family Fun Blast event, which attracts 200 to 300 children. The Pre-K Vision Screening Program has one objective: to increase by 25 percent the number of preschool children in the Tyrone Hospital service area who receive vision screening.

**San Juan Rotary Club
San Juan, PR
Preventing Visual Impairment in Children is a project that aims to educate public school directors, teachers, nurses, and parents on the impairment caused by uncorrected childhood visual problems, with emphasis on the effect on their learning process. Preventing Visual Impairment in Children will also develop materials on the prevention and management of children’s visual status for caregivers and teachers. About 1,000 children will participate in vision screenings and 200 to 400 teachers, school nurses, and parents will participate directly in the training sessions.

Avera Queen of Peace Hospital Rehabilitation Services Department
Mitchell, SD
The Avera Queen of Peace Hospital Rehabilitation Services Department will focus the annual Health Fair booth on eye conditions. The project is called Using Simulator Goggles with Education of Eye Conditions. The goal is to educate the public about the low vision rehabilitation services provided by the hospital and to display the effects that low vision deficits can have on everyday activity. Visitors will select a goggle representing a specific visual condition and attempt to perform a simple task such as spreading peanut butter on a cracker or walking up a small flight of steps with assistance as needed.

Low Vision Center
Knoxville, TN
The Low Vision Center will produce a comprehensive community services directory—Services for the Sight Impaired and Blind in East Tennessee—that is cohesive and accessible, and communicates the availability of services for people with low vision or who are blind, including support, equipment, and rehabilitation. This directory will facilitate better choices concerning health and vocational rehabilitation services, gaining important referral contacts within the community. Patients/clients will receive services faster and more efficiently, resulting in improved care close to home.

Project Vida Health Center
El Paso, TX
Project Vida Healthy Vision focuses on vision screening for children and vision impairment due to diabetic retinopathy. Project Vida Healthy Vision will provide eye health education to parents of young children who attend the childcare program of Project Vida. A promotora (community health educator) will help educate parents. Vision screenings will be provided onsite. Vision education and screening will be offered to 500 Project Vida clients, and adults in need of comprehensive eye exams will be referred to a low-cost ophthalmologist.

Lighthouse of Houston
Houston, TX
The approach of the Lighthouse of Houston Keep Sight Houston project is to expand education and outreach in high-risk Houston-area communities regarding prevention of diabetic retinopathy and overall diabetes self-management. Basic low-cost improvements in self-management for improved blood glucose control can significantly decrease the risk of developing blindness caused by diabetic retinopathy. Lighthouse of Houston Diabetes Educators will serve at least 48 groups of people at risk for poor diabetes self-management in low-income communities in the greater Houston area.

Olympia Host Lions Club
Olympia, WA
The Olympia Host Lions Club aims to increase the number of people with low vision receiving referrals and services to treat and support their individual rehabilitation needs. Don’t Let Low Vision Steal Your Life will address the lack of awareness with regard to low vision issues in the community. The Olympia Host Lions Clubs will work to bring together people with low vision and the services they need for a more independent life.

Emerald City Rotary Club
Seattle, WA
The Emerald City Vision Program is designed for students who have reached high school without the functional ability to read. The Vision Program is examining whether underlying, unaddressed vision problems are contributing to reading difficulty. Based on studies of high-risk youth and adult illiteracy, it is hypothesized that up to 60 percent of underachieving readers could have vision problems. The goal is that the student receives the best possible eye care and has access to “teen friendly” frames.

West Virginia Health Right, Inc.
Charleston, WV
The target audience for Glaucoma Education for the Uninsured Patient is low-income adults aged 18 to 64 who have no health insurance and receive medical, dental, and pharmacy services at a free clinic. The clinic operates an aggressive patient education program, and its education classes have proven to produce positive results in the health status of patients. The project will provide knowledge about glaucoma, its risk factors, and the importance of regular eye examinations. The health education program includes an active outreach component.

West Virginia Optometric Association
Charleston, WV
Of individuals over 60 years of age in West Virginia, 20.9 percent have diabetes. “Sight for Life!” is a health communication module that addresses vision care and the prevention and complications of major health concerns of individuals with diabetes. This new program will be a teaching module contained within the Dining with Diabetes Program that is now offered in 39 of the 55 counties in West Virginia and serves close to 900 people annually. This new curriculum will also be offered to Extension Offices in the 25 to 30 states that also use Dining with Diabetes.

**Selected for renewal award from 2007 Healthy Vision Community Awards