Monroe County has the sixth highest population of older adults with visual impairments and blindness among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, and Sights for Hope has worked continually to serve its people since 2003. Among Monroe County adults ages 65 and up, 7.3% have difficulty seeing while wearing glasses or are blind, according to studies from The […]
Despite being in just three Pennsylvania counties, Sights for Hope has established itself as one of the state’s leaders in rehabilitative and preventive services against vision loss. Data from the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind (PAB), which supports services in 66 of the state’s 67 counties, shows that Sights for Hope provided nearly 10% of […]
While 49% of Sights for Hope’s clients have incomes below or near the federal poverty line, its caseworkers connect them with free smartphones and affordable apps to live more independently. Sights for Hope caseworkers teach clients who have smartphones how to use apps such as Seeing AI, BlindSquare, Be My Eyes, and Cash App. Seeing […]
Artwork from Sights for Hope client Mary Ellen Stoyanov was chosen as the cover of the organization’s 2024 Impact Report, which was released this week. The cover shows Stoyanov’s painting of a vibrant bird sitting among purple flowers and green foliage to convey a sense of nature and growth. This is the second straight year […]
Former Sights for Hope Board President Linwood Gehris rejoined the organization’s Board of Directors on January 1 as its Endowment Foundation Director. Gehris – who served on board from 2014-2023 and as President from 2017-2021 – was elected by the affiliated Sights for Hope Endowment Foundation to be its representative to the Sights for Hope […]
Sights for Hope’s donors helped the organization earn a $1,000 match Tuesday during AllOne Charities’ Give Day 2024 event. Described as a “movement of radical generosity,” Give Day is held by AllOne Charities on Giving Tuesday – a global event on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to promote philanthropy during the winter holiday season. By raising […]
Works by two Sights for Hope clients and one of its team members are featured in an art exhibition opening September 30. The exhibition – titled Another Point of View: 4 Visually Impaired Artists – is sponsored by the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Sights for Hope clients Mary […]
Sights for Hope extended its growth in several key service categories during its 2023-2024 year. In the year ending June 30, Sights for Hope increased its total number of people served by 11% over the prior year, its number of pre-kindergarten children who received vision screenings by 27%, its number of low vision functional exams […]
Denise Shaffer, Toney Horst, and Walter Roland, IV, have joined the Sights for Hope Board of Directors. Shaffer, the Immediate Past District Governor of Pennsylvania Lions District 14-K, is the board’s 2024-2025 Lions Leadership Director. Horst and Roland have been elected to three-year terms. Board Treasurer Daniel Lombardo also began his second three-year term as a board […]
Lions clubs and organizations have contributed more than $50,000 to Sights for Hope in 2023-2024, reaching that mark for the first time in four years. The year’s Lions giving totaled $51,808. This is only the second year in the last seven when the $50,000 mark was topped. Most Lions contributions by clubs in Lehigh, Northampton, […]