Sight Savers America Grant Will Bring Eye Exams, Glasses to 40 South Alabama Preschoolers

FOLEY, Ala. — Forty young children in South Alabama will get comprehensive eye care, including glasses and prescribed treatments, thanks to a Sight Savers America grant from the Tri-City Community Foundation, an affiliate of The Community Foundation of South Alabama.

The grant will help cover the cost of eye care services for preschool-age children who need vision support, according to a news release announcing the award. Sight Savers America, a nonprofit that works to identify children with unmet vision and health needs and secure treatment for them, will use the funding to reach children at an age when many vision problems are most treatable.

Why early eye care matters

Sight Savers America leaders say the timing of the grant is the point. Problems caught in the preschool years can often be corrected before they affect how a child learns.

“At Sight Savers America, we know that healthy vision is fundamental to a child’s ability to learn, grow, and engage with the world around them,” said Dr. Dawn DeCarlo, the organization’s chief executive officer. “The earlier vision problems are detected and treated, the greater the opportunity to prevent long-term challenges and support positive outcomes. Every child deserves the chance to see clearly and thrive.”

DeCarlo thanked the foundation for its support, “which is helping us reach more children and families across South Alabama.”

Young children often do not realize they see poorly. A child who has always had blurry vision may assume that is how the world looks, and preschoolers rarely have the words to describe what is wrong. Conditions such as amblyopia, commonly called “lazy eye,” and strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes, are among the problems that pediatric eye specialists stress should be found early, because treatment such as glasses or patching tends to work best while a child’s visual system is still developing. For that reason, pediatric and eye-care organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Ophthalmology, recommend that children’s vision be checked during early childhood rather than waiting until problems show up in school.

What the grant covers

Under the grant, Sight Savers America will provide comprehensive eye care to 40 preschool-age children. According to the release, the funding will help pay for:

• Eye care services for children identified as needing vision support
• Glasses
• Prescribed treatments

For families, the cost of an eye exam, frames and lenses, and follow-up treatment can be a barrier, particularly when a child needs more than one visit or will outgrow a prescription. Grants like this one are intended to close that gap so a child does not go without care because of cost.

About Sight Savers America

Sight Savers America is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to identify and secure treatment for unmet vision and health needs. The organization serves the eye care needs of 100,000 children each year across 16 states, according to the release.

Based in Pelham, south of Birmingham, the organization began in Alabama as Sight Savers of Alabama and later expanded into other states. DeCarlo, who leads the organization, previously directed the Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The group’s model typically connects children who do not pass vision screenings with eye doctors and then follows up to make sure prescribed care, such as glasses or treatment, is actually received — a step that is often where children fall through the cracks.

About the Tri-City Community Foundation

The Tri-City Community Foundation is an affiliate of The Community Foundation of South Alabama and focuses its grantmaking on the Foley, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach area of south Baldwin County and surrounding communities. Affiliate foundations like it allow local donors to pool money in a fund dedicated to their own community while relying on the larger foundation to manage and administer the grants.

The grant to Sight Savers America reflects a common priority for community funders: investing in the health and readiness of young children, whose early years lay the groundwork for success in school.

About The Community Foundation of South Alabama

The Community Foundation of South Alabama, known as CFSA, is a nonprofit charitable organization that works to address needs across an eight-county region through leadership and grants. It serves as a resource for donors, volunteers and community members to share ideas, identify issues and build the financial resources needed to improve the community.

CFSA administers a collection of charitable funds established by members of the community. Since its founding in 1976, the organization has awarded more than $125 million in grants and scholarships to nonprofit organizations supporting programs designed to improve quality of life. CFSA also builds lasting endowments so that grants remain available to support the community in perpetuity.

What parents can do

Parents who are concerned about a young child’s vision do not have to wait for a school screening. Signs that may point to a vision problem include:

• Eyes that appear to cross, drift or not move together
• Frequent squinting, eye rubbing or tilting the head to see
• Sitting very close to the television or holding books and objects close to the face
• Covering one eye to look at something
• Complaints of headaches or tired eyes, or avoiding activities that require close-up focus

Families who notice any of these signs should talk with their child’s pediatrician or an eye-care professional. Parents can also ask their child’s preschool, Head Start program or pediatrician whether vision screenings are offered, and families who need help paying for follow-up care can contact Sight Savers America to learn about available assistance.

For 40 South Alabama preschoolers, the grant means a chance to start school seeing clearly — and, as DeCarlo put it, the chance to thrive.