In
The News
  

Portico magazine
April 2006 issue

Worth a Thousand Words
By Ginny Phillips

 A line of preschoolers at the Columbiana Head Start is sitting in the dark, surprisingly patient.  They're waiting for their pupils to dilate.  One by one, they're called to pose for the camera, but in this photo it's eyes--not smiles--that matter.  The camera's being operated by a student with FocusFirst, a statewide eye care initiative by the nonprofit Impact.  Click here to continue reading. 

 
  

FocusFirst Alternative Spring Break

In March, 11 students from the University of Alabama and UAH participated in a FocusFirst sponsored Alternative Spring Break. The students were able to screen over 450 children in six different counties in Southwest Alabama and also contributed a total of over 60 manpower hours of hurricane relief during the week.

  

Impact Welcomes the 2006-2007 Staff

Impact is excited to have the new staff join us. Of note, a new staff member has been hired to direct the implementation of our SaveFirst Initiative, an Alabama tax preparation and financial literacy program.  Please click here to read more about the staff and their bios.

 



FocusFirst Screens 8,000 Children During Second Year of Operation!

Carson Land, a Birmingham area college student from Decatur, helps perform eye screenings on a local child. *Used with permission of Portico magazine.

A Successful Second Year

Since the initiation of the FocusFirst program in November 2004, over 400 FocusFirst student volunteers have conducted screenings at over 250 Head Starts and daycares, screening over 11,000 children in 45 different counties across Alabama. A potential vision problem was detected in approximately 10.6% percent of those children, all of whom are receiving follow-up care through the Children's Eye Care Network, organized by Sight Savers of Alabama.

Just this past year, more than 250 students representing 13 institutions of higher education participated with the FocusFirst Initiative and helped to screen almost 8,000 children. Analysis of the results indicated that over 700 of the children screened were in need of follow-up eye care.

Long-term Goals

The long-term goal of the FocusFirst Initiative is to operate a statewide campus-based network of trained college and graduate students providing vision screenings in every county throughout Alabama. Based upon the tremendous results of our joint efforts to date, we are hopeful that this goal can be achieved by the 2008-09 academic year.

 


FocusFirst appreciates the tremendous support provided by its partner organizations: Vision Research Corporation, Sight Savers of Alabama, the AmeriCorps VISTA program, the United Way Success by 6 program, and the Alabama Head Start Association. 

To learn more about the FocusFirst Initiative, please visit our website at www.impactalabama.org. 

Stephen F. Black

Founder & Chairman of Board
sblack@impactalabama.org