Help North Sac Children Learn
Donation protected
Hi,
I'm Dennis Peterson. People around Sacramento, California know me as "That Guy", of "That Guy" Eyewear, who recently opened North Sacramento Optometry. This latest venture of the business is my biggest passion.
The Underserved Community
How I got here is a tale that begins in 2015, when I joined a community of underserved families, a group of activists, and some amazing movers and shakers who decided to support me in building "That Guy" Eyewear. After a year, I saw that the community had a need for an eye clinic. Five years later, we were finally able to open the North Sacramento Optometry Center.
Now I'm trying to launch the most important part of the business: to support North Sacramento which, over the last two generations, has experienced its share of challenges.
In this community, children often do not have their first eye exam until they are at the DMV trying to get a driver's license. In the meantime, they haven't been able to see well up to 10 years beforehand, and their schoolwork has suffered.
Children who have reading, spelling, and writing problems, or have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD typically feel inadequate. They lack the motivation to learn in the classroom. This is one of the elements driving the achievement gap of minority students. This is the element that I want our eye clinic to address.
The Need for Vision Therapy
Eighty percent of what we perceive, comprehend, and remember depends on the efficiency of the visual system.
Children who have problems with reading, spelling, writing, or issues like ADD/ADHD have a 70-80% chance of having a vision problem significant enough to affect their academic performance.
Much of the time, the issue is not a learning disorder. It's a visual system disorder that can be resolved with Vision Therapy (VT). Children's stories of improved performance and achievement with VT make the need for VT compelling. For example:
After 3 weeks of VT for 2 hours per day, a third-grader's reading went up two grade levels, and he started to play sports.
A mother quit her job to have the time and energy to help her young daughter with her homework. After VT, the mother says that her child reads without help, is first-chair violin in her school orchestra, and is volunteering to work with a blind child.
Why isn't VT more well known?
Pediatricians do not generally refer their patients for Vision Therapy because many believe that VT lacks a solid grounding in good science. Not true.
More importantly, VT is not covered by insurance. This means that families do not know about it, and if they did, they might not have the funds to afford it.
Which brings us back to our mission for our community.
Plan of Action Initiated
We want to provide VT to this community. To do that, we need to fundraise for the screening of children (Phase 1), and then for the therapy itself (Phase 2). It costs $150 to screen a child during an eye exam. We estimate screening 12-15 children per month for 12 months. Our fundraising goal for Phase I/Screening is $25,000.
This is why we are coming to you. "That Guy" Eyewear and North Sacramento Optometry have partnered with the Roberts Family Development Center, a local program that provides afterschool programs for elementary, middle and high schools in the North Sacramento area. Our new collaboration provides a VT screening, eye exam, and glasses (if needed) at no cost to the kids enrolled in the program. We can provide these services through the generous donations from people like you who understand the need for eye care as a piece to help bridge the achievement gap in our underserved communities.
Thanks for helping us make it happen!
I'm Dennis Peterson. People around Sacramento, California know me as "That Guy", of "That Guy" Eyewear, who recently opened North Sacramento Optometry. This latest venture of the business is my biggest passion.
The Underserved Community
How I got here is a tale that begins in 2015, when I joined a community of underserved families, a group of activists, and some amazing movers and shakers who decided to support me in building "That Guy" Eyewear. After a year, I saw that the community had a need for an eye clinic. Five years later, we were finally able to open the North Sacramento Optometry Center.
Now I'm trying to launch the most important part of the business: to support North Sacramento which, over the last two generations, has experienced its share of challenges.
In this community, children often do not have their first eye exam until they are at the DMV trying to get a driver's license. In the meantime, they haven't been able to see well up to 10 years beforehand, and their schoolwork has suffered.
Children who have reading, spelling, and writing problems, or have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD typically feel inadequate. They lack the motivation to learn in the classroom. This is one of the elements driving the achievement gap of minority students. This is the element that I want our eye clinic to address.
The Need for Vision Therapy
Eighty percent of what we perceive, comprehend, and remember depends on the efficiency of the visual system.
Children who have problems with reading, spelling, writing, or issues like ADD/ADHD have a 70-80% chance of having a vision problem significant enough to affect their academic performance.
Much of the time, the issue is not a learning disorder. It's a visual system disorder that can be resolved with Vision Therapy (VT). Children's stories of improved performance and achievement with VT make the need for VT compelling. For example:
After 3 weeks of VT for 2 hours per day, a third-grader's reading went up two grade levels, and he started to play sports.
A mother quit her job to have the time and energy to help her young daughter with her homework. After VT, the mother says that her child reads without help, is first-chair violin in her school orchestra, and is volunteering to work with a blind child.
Why isn't VT more well known?
Pediatricians do not generally refer their patients for Vision Therapy because many believe that VT lacks a solid grounding in good science. Not true.
More importantly, VT is not covered by insurance. This means that families do not know about it, and if they did, they might not have the funds to afford it.
Which brings us back to our mission for our community.
Plan of Action Initiated
We want to provide VT to this community. To do that, we need to fundraise for the screening of children (Phase 1), and then for the therapy itself (Phase 2). It costs $150 to screen a child during an eye exam. We estimate screening 12-15 children per month for 12 months. Our fundraising goal for Phase I/Screening is $25,000.
This is why we are coming to you. "That Guy" Eyewear and North Sacramento Optometry have partnered with the Roberts Family Development Center, a local program that provides afterschool programs for elementary, middle and high schools in the North Sacramento area. Our new collaboration provides a VT screening, eye exam, and glasses (if needed) at no cost to the kids enrolled in the program. We can provide these services through the generous donations from people like you who understand the need for eye care as a piece to help bridge the achievement gap in our underserved communities.
Thanks for helping us make it happen!
Organizer
Dennis Peterson
Organizer
Sacramento, CA
