OPELIKA — Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, on Tuesday participated in a vision screening for preschoolers conducted by Impact Alabama’s FocusFirst Initiative. The screening signifies an incredible milestone for the initiative — 200,000 children screened in Alabama.
FocusFirst provides a cost-effective direct response to the vision problems of children who live in urban and rural communities throughout Alabama. Under the supervision of Impact Alabama AmeriCorps members, undergraduate and graduate students ensure that children, ages six months to five years, in Head Starts and lower-income daycares are screened for vision problems, using high-tech photo optic scan cameras, and receive subsidized follow-up care. FocusFirst is the only program of its kind in the United States.
Speaker Hubbard commended Impact Alabama and FocusFirst for their incredible value to the state and expressed that the legislature’s investment in the program was money well spent. “The well-being of Alabama children is always our number one priority and I am proud to be a part of this significant milestone,” Hubbard said. “FocusFirst’s efforts have improved and saved the sight of thousands of children across Alabama and I applaud them for their important work. Great things start in Alabama, and I hope that other states will pay attention to this fantastic program and adopt it across the country.”
Stephen Black, the founder and president of Impact Alabama, noted the importance of detecting children’s vision problems as early as possible, before they cause irreversible damage. “All children deserve to start school with the best vision medically possible,” Black said. “We are proud to have the State of Alabama as a partner on this important day.”
Since beginning service in 2004, over 2,500 college students at more than twenty colleges and universities throughout Alabama have participated with FocusFirst. These students and Impact Alabama staff have screened nearly 200,000 children in all 67 counties across the state. The results of the screenings are professionally analyzed by Vision Research Corporation. Approximately 11% of the children screened had a potential problem and received subsidized follow-up care as necessary through Sight Savers America.
Impact Alabama: A Student Service Initiative was incorporated in June 2004 as the state’s first nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and implementing substantive service-learning projects in coordination with students from twenty-five universities and colleges throughout Alabama. The current staff of forty-five recent college graduates attained an average GPA of 3.7 and graduated with academic honors and strong records of community leadership.
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