April 27, 2023 — The OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation and LensCrafters, in partnership with KIPP Chicago Schools, held a vision clinic April 24-28 to provide free eye exams to students on Chicago’s West and South Sides.
 
“Eighty percent of learning is visual, and 1 in 4 students in the U.S. has an undiagnosed vision issue, so having access to vision care is fundamental to academic success,” says Jennifer Hodges, vice president, Whole Child Initiative & Community Impact at KIPP Chicago.
 
Held as part of KIPP Chicago’s Whole Child Initiative, the vision clinic helped address unresolved vision problems for approximately 700 students by leveraging OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation’s proven clinic model and manufacturing capabilities, which granted participants their newly prescribed eyewear on-site.
 
EB caught up with Becky Palm, OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation’s executive director for North America, to learn more about the foundation’s goals for this year.
 
“This year in North America, the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation is focused on funding free and subsidized services for those most in need and advocating to ensure vision care has the attention it deserves among decision-makers and leaders,” says Palm. To this end, the foundation is hosting more than 140 free vision clinics while also offering free vision products and equipment rentals to doctors and nonprofits to create additional points of care throughout the country.
 
Palm says partnerships with organizations like KIPP Chicago are crucial to achieving the foundation’s goal of eradicating poor vision in a generation. “Like many, the students attending KIPP Chicago are energetic and clearly excited to be in school and learning, but these kids rely on the school’s support and resources to ensure their essential needs are met—including vision.”
 
The recent clinic saw an average of 130 patients a day with 4 out of 5 patients needing glasses—an “overwhelming but not surprising number,” Palm says. “It’s a stark reminder that vision clinics like ours have the ability to bridge critical vision care gaps and change the trajectory of children’s lives, as well as their families, communities, and beyond.”
 
For eyecare professionals looking to get involved in improving the vision health of their own communities, Palm suggests the foundation’s Changing Life Through Lenses program, which enables any U.S.-based optometrist to perform free eye exams, including providing eyewear, at no cost to the patient or practice.
 
For more information: onesight.essilorluxottica.com.