VisionSpring's mission is to ensure affordable access to eyewear, everywhere. For many in the developing world, the lack of access to affordable eyeglasses leads to the unnecessary loss of educational and employment opportunities. Since 2001 VisionSpring has has reached more than 1,246,647 individuals with reading and distance vision glasses. Every pair of glasses sold increases our target customer's earning potential $108 a year. For every dollar donated $22 of economic impact is created.
Vision loss prevents over 500 million people from living full, independent lives. Without eyeglasses, artisans and mechanics cannot see their goods, shopkeepers cannot manage their accounts, teachers cannot instruct in class, and children cannot see the blackboard. A drop in productivity and income among workers can push already-vulnerable families further into poverty and prevent future generations from realizing their potential. Eyeglasses, a simple, cost-effective solution for these people.
VisionSpring has developed and refined market-appropriate businesses and works to sustainably reach the BoP market through cross subsidization. VisionSpring's hub and spoke model targets urban, peri-urban, and rural communities around Indian cities with populations between 1M-1.5M. Each Hub Store will facilitate outreach work in villages within driving distance from the store and conduct vision screenings and sell glasses 22 days every month.
Our target customers in India experience a 35% increase in productivity which can result in a 20% increase in monthly income. In 2013 our operations in India will sell 155,000 pairs of glasses generating $33 million in economic impact.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
