Photos of a woman with a bandaged eye using a magnifier, an African-American man reading from a Braille book, and photo of smiling child wearing glasses in a classroom

Needs We Address

Our work responds to distinct calls to action and needs that are informed by evidence and insight. Our efforts to strengthen skills, bolster self-confidence, deliver supports, and champion solutions empower people with eyesight to preserve it and people with visual impairments and blindness to build healthy, capable, and fulfilled lives that everyone deserves.

Our Calls to Action

  • People with visual impairments and blindness encounter barriers to independence and success every day, and most lack the necessary self-confidence to overcome them.
  • People with visual impairments and blindness are underserved in many efforts to promote equal opportunity.
  • Nearly one in seven pre-kindergarten children in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Monroe County have undetected eyesight issues, and an alarmingly small percentage of American pre-kindergarten children receive eye exams before starting school.
  • Many conditions that lead to visual impairments and blindness can be prevented, but about two-thirds of Americans believe otherwise.
  • Unaddressed effects of visual impairments also negatively impact public health, extend generational poverty, and hinder early childhood literacy.

Evidence of Needs

  • More than 21,000 adults in the Lehigh Valley and Monroe County are in need of rehabilitative services due to visual impairments and blindness.
  • 73% of American adults with visual impairments have difficulties with daily activities.
  • 66% of adults with visual impairments curtail personal activities – including medical appointments, shopping for groceries, and personal interactions – due to a lack of transportation.
  • 63% of our clients are ages 65 and over and older Pennsylvanians with visual impairments are approximately twice as likely to suffer a stroke, Diabetes, Cancer, and kidney disease than their sighted counterparts.
  • Both the American Council of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind recognize the development of self-confidence as a critical need for people who experience visual impairments and blindness.
  • More than 49% of our clients live below or near the federal poverty threshold, and 55% of working-age adults with visual impairments have a household income of less than $25,000.
  • $66,600 is the average cost of one year’s residence in a Pennsylvania assisted living facility.
  • More than 24,000 children ages 4-6 in the Lehigh Valley and Monroe risk starting school without having their eyes checked annually.
  • More than 13% of pre-kindergarten children in our service areas have eye problems that can impact their development of critical literacy skills.
  • 90% of workplace eye injuries and 90% of Diabetes-related blindness cases in American adults are preventable.
  • 66% of Americans believe incorrectly that vision loss is an inevitable part of aging.

Connections to Social Issues

  • Public Health: Decreased usage of routine and preventative services increases strain on the American healthcare system and depletes its resources.
  • Generational Poverty: Adults who lack literacy skills are much more prone to struggle with employment and poverty. Subsequently, their children are more likely to start school at a disadvantage. Moreover, the costs of assisted living for people with visual impairments can burden families financially for generations.
  • Early Childhood Literacy: A child with an unaddressed visual impairment is substantially more likely not to develop early literacy skills and to never catch up to their peers.
Data Sources

The Ohio State University and VisionServe Alliance studies, 2022 and 2023; United States Census Bureau data on Lehigh, Northampton, and Monroe counties, 2024; The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University study, 2012; National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University study, 2015; Sights for Hope services database, 2025; American Council of the Blind white paper, 2020; National Federation of the Blind Nonvisual Election Technology Training Curriculum, 2014; Genworth Financial Cost of Care study, 2024; Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count database, 2025; American Optometric Association infographic, 2020; American Academy of Ophthalmology infographic, 2024; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) facts page, 2024; American Academy of Ophthalmology study, 2024