Sight Savers America
Sight Savers America (formerly Sight Savers of Alabama) is a non-profit organization founded by Jeff Haddox in 1996 to provide eye care and corrective lenses to disadvantaged children. It is headquartered at 169 Cahaba Valley Parkway in Pelham.
With funding from the Alabama Department of Education and private donors, the group now treats as many as 30,000 children each year with a staff of 30 and a network of 350 volunteers and 400 more ophthalmologists and optometrists who donate some of their time to the project. Students who participate in Sight Savers get follow-up examinations as they grow. Children with more serious vision problems receive appropriate treatment and assistive technologies whenever possible.
The program expanded to Mississippi in 2008 and to five other states in 2010. By 2020 the organization was operating its low vision and blindness program in 15 states, its children's eye care program in 10 states, and its screening program in 5 states.
Dawn DeCarlo, director of the UAB Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation, succeeded Haddox as executive director of Sight Savers America in October 2023.
References
- Reynolds, Ed (April 15, 2010) "Visionaries: Alabama's Sight Savers America is on a mission to spread the gift of sight to the nation's disadvantaged children." Black & White
- Rebman, Stephanie (December 19, 2023) "Metro nonprofit focused on eyesight appoints new CEO." Birmingham Business Journal
External links
- Sight Savers America website