Updated February 1, 2024
Our adoption of the name Sights for Hope in 2021 commenced our metamorphosis from an organization focused almost exclusively on year-to-year survival into a one that it is possibility minded and dedicated to affecting the most profound impact on the lives of people who live with visual impairments in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Monroe County areas.
Our 2022-2025 strategic plan affirms our core beliefs, the specific population of people that our organization serves, the fundamental reason for our existence, our definitions of success, our values, and our collective mindset. It establishes our four long-term big impact goals in consideration of our definitions of success and it describes our approach to achieving them.
Our Core Beliefs
- We believe that every person has the right to control their life and pursue success.
- We believe that hope – embodied by knowledge, innovation, determination, and support – is stronger than any barrier between people with visual impairments and that right.
Our Purpose
Our purpose is to transform the lives of people with visual impairments by removing the barriers to their independence and success. This expressed purpose is reflected in both the functional utility of our services and the life-changing effects that they make.
Our Impact Population
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The application of our core beliefs, purpose, and definitions of success establishes an impact population within Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley – defined as Lehigh and Northampton counties – and Monroe County that is comprised of two groups. The first group consists of people ages 7 and up who have significant difficulty seeing while wearing glasses or using an equivalent solution. Such a difficulty reduces a person’s ability to conduct their daily activities. The second group consists of children ages 6 and under who have undiscovered visual impairments of any degree that diminish their ability to learn to their fullest potentials.
Analyses of data from national sources and Sights for Hope services data enables us to establish approximate populations of these groups. These sources include the United States Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the American Optometric Association (AOA). This data determines that 17,164 people comprise our first impact population group and that 8,934 children ages 0-6 comprise the second group. Therefore, our total impact population is established as of the adoption of this strategic plan to be 26,098 people.
Our Definitions of Success
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- We will have achieved success when every person who has a visual impairment can perform their daily activities and go anywhere they wish with the greatest possible ease and at an affordable price.
- We will have achieved success when no person who has a visual impairment is kept from achieving their personal goals – including getting an education and having a career – by their condition.
- We will have achieved success when every child has the sight-related capabilities they need to learn effectively.
Our Mindset
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- Our mindset is anchored to the transformation of lives through removal of barriers and empowerment, not solely to the provision of services.
- Our scope is broad enough to pursue impact on all individuals with visual impairments in our communities.
- We are vigilant with respect to our service decisions to ensure the most effective elimination of barriers for the most people with visual impairments.
- We seek to serve people at locations, on platforms, and in ways that are practically accessible to them.
- We are not afraid to put ourselves out of business by achieving our utlimate success.
Our Vision Statement
To transform the lives of people with visual impairments by removing the barriers to their independence and success.
Our Mission Statement
To provide people with visual impairments the skills, supports, and solutions that advance their self-sufficiency.
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
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Sights for Hope is dedicated to the practices of diversity and equity to promote an effective culture of inclusion.
The human eye has the potential to see all colors in the spectrum of light – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. As the only private organization dedicated to empowering people with visual impairments in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh, Northampton, and Monroe counties to seize their independence, Sights for Hope respects the beauty and strength of humanity’s rich and colorful tapestry.
Therefore, Sights for Hope shall not subject individuals to discrimination, nor deny safely-deliverable services of the highest possible quality, on the basis of race, gender identification, cultural background, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, language, physical capabilities not related to sight, age, marital status, military or veteran status, political perspectives, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Sights for Hope condemns and does not tolerate racism or intolerance in any form.
Our diversity, equity, and inclusion policies can be found in their entirety on the web at SightsforHope.org/DEI.
Our Big Impact Goals
In consideration of our definitions of its success, we have established four long-term big impact goals as indicated below to be achieved no later than June 30, 2030.
- Focused Sights: To provide at least 2,500 people with visual impairments with at least one assistive technology device that boosts their ability to interact with the people and environments around them.
- Focused Access: To provide at least 25,000 guided transports to people with visual impairments that increase their access to medical care, food, life skills education, and critical wellness services.
- Focused Daily Lives: To provide at least 2,500 people with visual impairments with at least one life skills education experience that enhances their ability to live independently.
- Focused Futures: To provide at least 2,500 children ages 6 and under with professional eye exams and glasses or equivalent solutions that advance their ability to learn effectively.
Our Long-Term Approach
We have set forth a long-term approach in pursuit of our long-term goals. Our long-term approach is summarized by three strategies.
- Define: To define the pursuits of Sights for Hope’s mission in an insightful, clear, consistent, and resolute manner.
- Develop: To invest extensively in the empowerment and effectiveness of Sights for Hope’s employees and the members of its Board of Directors.
- Deliver: To configure Sights for Hope’s physical and fiscal incarnations as necessary to deliver upon its mission, fulfill its long-term organizational vision, and ensure its financial sustainability.
Strategic Arcs and Goals for 2022-2025
We have identified six strategic arcs, for which we have established bold goals to pursue between July 1, 2022-June 30, 2025.
- Services: Sights for Hope will make the broadest and most profound collective impact possible on its population of potential impact through prioritization of its provisions of assistive technologies, guided transport services, life skills education services, and solutions for children identified with visual impairments through its screenings.
- Staff Recruitment and Retention: Sights for Hope will create an exemplary career experience that stimulates eagerness among potential employees, cohesion among team members, and critical retention of talent.
- Board of Directors: Sights for Hope will be governed by a Board of Directors that embodies all best practices of nonprofit boards in the United States.
- Finance: Sights for Hope will maximize its investment in its services in a manner that ensures its financial sustainability. Sights for Hope will meet high nonprofit industry standards for functional spending efficiency.
- Advancement: Sights for Hope will increase awareness of its services and impacts dramatically throughout its service area. Sights for Hope will generate the fundraising revenue necessary to meet its long-term goals and minimize its draw of operations funding from the Sights for Hope Endowment Foundation.
- Operations: Sights for Hope will establish superior operational flexibility to meet needs in all of its communities’ neighborhoods. Sights for Hope will earn recognition as of one of the premier nonprofit organizations Pennsylvania with respect to best practices, legal compliance, and ethical excellence.
About this Plan
This strategic plan for July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025, was ratified on May 25, 2022, by the Sights for Hope Board of Directors. It was developed with support from Strategic Arc Limited, owned by DaWayne Cleckley, Chair of the board’s Strategic Planning Committee from 2022-2023. This plan is © 2022 by Sights for Hope. All rights are reserved.
Strategic Planning Partner
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Contact for Information
Dennis Zehner, 610.433.6018, Ext. 241