By Jean Gajano | Executive Director
Since our last report in October, New Eyes has provided an additional 233 Kentucky residents with new prescription eyeglasses: 123 women, 83 men and 27 children. New Eyes worked directly with 7 social service agencies in Kentucky to provide their clients with the simple, yet critical, tool of eyeglasses. Seventy-two percent of the adults and all of the children's families were working poor; the remainder were either senior citizens on traditional Medicare or disabled adults.
The need in Kentucky continues to rise.Traditional Medicare does not pay for eyeglasses for seniors. Medicaid does not pay for eyeglasses in Kentucky for adults and provides only one pair for a child per year (if the child's prescription changes or if they lose or break their eyeglasses they must wait a full year before they receive another pair). These recipients would not have been able to afford the glasses they need to see clearly and improve their lives. Thanks to indivudual donors like those from GlobalGiving, these children can go to school prepared to succeed; adults will be able to find employment or improve job performance and senior citizens will be able to live more securely and independently, able to read medication labels, avoid falling hazards and move more freely.
We reach out to our eyeglass recipients to ask how their new glasses make a diffference in their lives: Julie hadn’t had new glasses for almost three years. Everything was blurry. She was afraid to drive. Then her caseworker got her to apply for the New Eyes Voucher program and everything changed. “Now everything is just so clear!” She could drive, go to the store and read labels and now she could see all the little animals right outside her home. She could see baby raccoons, humming birds, butterflies and squirrels so clearly. It made her smile and laugh just to tell about all that is so clear to her now with her new glasses. She wants everyone to know not to be afraid and just apply for those new glasses. She adds "it made the world of difference to me!"
Be well and thank you for standing with New Eyes to provide clear vision and new opportunities for low-income Kentuckians.
With gratitude,
Jean Gajano, Executive Director
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