Awarded Grants
Search & Filter Awarded GrantsNew York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
With 69 certified beds, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is one of the world’s leading facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of all diseases of the eyes, ears, nose, and throat, as well as related conditions. Founded in 1820 as the nation’s first specialty hospital, NYEE manages more than 30,000 surgical cases and 225,000 outpatient visits per year. NYEE is regularly ranked as one of the best hospitals in America, according to U.S. News & World Report, and was awarded Magnet status for excellence in nursing care.
Purpose of the Grant
To support the research and planning needed to guide: (1) the future expansion of NYEE’s low vision optometry service and (2) the launch of a sustainable system to refer patients who are blind to vision rehabilitation services in the community.
Amount
$23,500Term
4 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaPerkins School for the Blind
Watertown, MA, USAAbout the Grantee
Perkins is a progressive, multi-faceted organization committed to improving the lives of people with blindness and deafblindness all around the world.
Purpose of the Grant
To support a Perkins International project to strengthen and scale the education of children with visual and other impairments in Latin America’s three largest countries: Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico.
Amount
$1,000,000Term
48 monthsGrant Regions
International, Latin America & CaribbeanResearch Foundation of the City University of New York
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Hunter College, located in the heart of Manhattan, is the largest college in the City University of New York (CUNY). Founded in 1870, it is also one of the oldest public colleges in the country. More than 23,000 students currently attend Hunter, pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in more than 170 areas of study.
Purpose of the Grant
To help sustain the Tri-State New York area’s only college training program for orientation and mobility (O&M) trainers for people who are blind and visually impaired.
Amount
$645,868Term
48 monthsGrant Regions
Entire NY Tri-State AreaThe Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Rochester, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI), founded in 1911, is a premiere provider of vision rehabilitation services to people who are blind or visually impaired throughout the Greater Rochester, Finger Lakes, and Southern Tier areas of New York.
As part of its mission-focused work, ABVI empowers people with vision loss to engage in fulfilling careers by offering a variety of entrepreneurial businesses, including a state-of-the-art contact center, and manufacturing and fulfillment services.
Purpose of the Grant
To build sustainable capacity to reach and provide low vision and rehabilitation services to more visually impaired seniors throughout ABVI’s Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes catchment area and to use the remaining nine percent of the requested funds to research and identify the best option for a new ABVI client-management database system.
Amount
$392,282Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
Upstate NYVIA
Buffalo, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
VIA aims to help people who are blind or visually impaired achieve their highest level of independence.
Purpose of the Grant
To support VIA’s collaboration with VISIONS and Helen Keller Services for the Blind in preparing to launch an initiative to improve the employment programs and job placement outcomes of five vision rehabilitation agencies in Upstate New York.
Amount
$90,000Term
4 monthsGrant Regions
Upstate NYAlphapointe
Kansas City, MO, USAAbout the Grantee
Alphapointe aims to empower people with vision loss to live, work and be independent.
Purpose of the Grant
To underwrite certain renovation, equipment, and training costs associated with Alphapointe-NYC’s move to a new building
Amount
$700,000Term
12 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaAlphapointe — CLONE
Kansas City, MO, USAAbout the Grantee
Alphapointe aims to empower people with vision loss to live, work and be independent.
Purpose of the Grant
To support the renovation of independent living training, meeting, and office spaces on the second floor of Alphapointe’s new building in Queens, the purchase and installation there of adaptive technology, and a small portion of the staffing needed to provide adaptive training services.
Amount
$700,000Term
12 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaAssociation for Vision Rehabilitation and Employment
Binghamton, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
AVRE is a private, non-profit organization that creates opportunities for success and independence with people who are blind or visually impaired.
Purpose of the Grant
To support a multi-media advertising and community outreach campaign to enable Association for Vision Rehabilitation and Employment to recruit and serve more people who are blind needing employment and/or independent living skills training and earn more revenue in doing so
Amount
$200,000Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
Upstate NYBrother James Kearney Scholarship Program
Multiple LocationsAbout the Grantee
The Brother James Kearney Scholarship Program for the Blind (formerly, the Lavelle Fund College Scholarship Program) aims to help make quality undergraduate and graduate education affordable for U.S. residents who are legally blind, financially needy, and attending any of 12 selected private colleges in New York State, Northeastern New Jersey, and Southwestern Connecticut. The program is currently authorized to admit new students through June 30, 2019.
Purpose of the Grant
To provide financial assistance to U.S. residents who are legally blind, financially needed, and studying at any of 12 partnering private colleges and universities located in New York State, Northeastern New Jersey, and Southwestern Connecticut (Phase 3)
Amount
$320,443Term
12 monthsGrant Regions
Entire NY Tri-State AreaCentral Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Utica, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
CABVI operates as a not-for-profit agency that serves people who are blind or visually impaired, from newborns to the elderly, offering comprehensive vision rehabilitation, employment and technology services personally tailored to meet an individual’s needs.
Purpose of the Grant
To launch in-house physical therapy and occupational therapy services and strengthen and expand adaptive sports services for Utica/Central New York area residents of all ages who are blind and visually impaired
Amount
$472,953Term
18 monthsGrant Regions
Upstate NYCity Access New York, Inc.
Staten Island, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
City Access New York promotes lifelong access to educational, vocational and cultural programs for New Yorkers of all abilities as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that identifies barriers to participation, in schools and in the community, and adapts the content and delivery of programs to the diverse needs of people with disabilities.
Purpose of the Grant
To underwrite pre-vocational education, orientation and mobility training, and at least two paid, semester- or summer-long internships at partner New York City employers for high school and college students who are blind
Amount
$348,739Term
48 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaColumbia University
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Columbia University’s Department of Ophthalmology aims to be the leading international center for innovative clinical care of eye disorders, to advance medical knowledge through cutting-edge research, and to train the leaders of tomorrow in ophthalmology and vision science.
Purpose of the Grant
To support the first conference on tele-ophthalmology in New York City
Amount
$27,000Term
1 monthGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaDr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital
Daryaganj, Delhi, IndiaAbout the Grantee
SCEH is committed to making a lasting impact on the eradication of blindness and deafness in North India, and to be of the best tertiary Eye and ENT care institution in North India by providing quality care to people across all economic sections of the society.
Purpose of the Grant
To establish a scalable and replicable training model for mid-level eye care professionals that, by placing more such trained clinicians at Dr. Shroff’s and other North Indian eye hospitals, will help increase the volume, efficiency, accessibility, and sustainability of eye care in the region’s high-need settings
Amount
$679,116Term
48 MonthsGrant Regions
International, South AsiaEnrichment Audio Resource Services, Inc. (E.A.R.S.)
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
E.A.R.S. is a nonprofit public charity, providing, free of charge, audio lessons that teach adaptive daily living skills to the vision impaired and their caregivers.
Purpose of the Grant
(1) to provide general, unrestricted support for E.A.R.S’s vision rehabilitation services for seniors who are blind or visually impaired and reside in New York City or Westchester County and (2) to enable E.A.R.S to identify and forge a contingent affiliation or merger agreement with a NYC-based agency that would be able and willing – both programmatically and financially – to sustain E.A.R.S. services after its founding President and Executive Director retire
Amount
$51,000Term
18 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaEye Samaritans International
Shreveport, LA, USAAbout the Grantee
Eye Samaritans International was formed in 2012, which now helps and advocates ROP treatment in nine countries including Russia. Money raised helps educate ophthalmologists, neonatologists, and nurses on how they can change the staggering statistics of blindness in children.
Purpose of the Grant
To support the training and equipping of doctors and nurses in the Ukraine and Armenia to diagnose, prevent, and treat potentially blinding Retinopathy of Prematurity in premature infants
Amount
$111,000Term
12 monthsGrant Regions
Europe, InternationalFreedom Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc.
Cassville, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Started by husband and wife team, Eric & Sharon Loori, over 25 years ago, they run a state-of-the-art kennel facility with all the amenities to make guide dogs as comfortable as possible, and structured for training staff. They placed 40 guide dogs in 2017.
Purpose of the Grant
To provide general operating support for Freedom Guide Dogs for the Blind, the Northeast’s lowest-cost provider of guide dogs for people who are blind
Amount
$360,000Term
48 MonthsGrant Regions
Entire NY Tri-State AreaHelen Keller International
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Founded in 1915, Helen Keller International is dedicated to saving and improving the sight and lives of the world’s vulnerable by combating the causes and consequences of blindness, poor health and malnutrition.
Purpose of the Grant
To support the second phase of an initiative to scale up diabetic retinopathy diagnostic and treatment services in Bangladesh
Amount
$512,397Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
International, South AsiaHelen Keller Services
Brooklyn, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Since 1893, Helen Keller Services (HKS) has been committed to improving the lives of individuals who are blind, visually impaired or have combined hearing and vision loss.
Purpose of the Grant
To support a new summer sleep-away camp devoted to building independent living and pre-vocational skills in Long Island youth, ages 10-15, who are legally blind
Amount
$284,495Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaKupona Foundation
Saratoga Springs, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Kupona Foundation is dedicated to providing high quality healthcare to those who need it most in Tanzania.
Purpose of the Grant
To support Seva Canada in helping Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT): (1) undertake needs assessment and planning work for its eye division and (2) define an actionable business plan for reaching and serving much larger numbers of lower income people who need eye care
Amount
$35,200Term
4 monthsGrant Regions
Africa, InternationalKupona Foundation
Saratoga Springs, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Kupona Foundation is dedicated to providing high quality healthcare to those who need it most in Tanzania.
Purpose of the Grant
To support Kupona Foundation’s Tanzanian affiliate CCBRT (Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania) in using Aravind-like hospital-improvement strategies to increase the volume, efficiency, affordability, and sustainability of CCBRT eye care services
Amount
$451,991Term
30 monthsGrant Regions
Africa, InternationalNational Braille Press
Boston, MA, USAAbout the Grantee
National Braille Press supports a lifetime of opportunity for blind children through braille literacy, and provides access to information that empowers blind people to actively engage in work, family, and community affairs.
Purpose of the Grant
To scale up the distribution of braille literacy bags to New York State families with children aged 0 to 7 who are blind
Amount
$162,303Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
Entire NY Tri-State AreaNortheastern Association of the Blind at Albany Inc. (NABA)
Albany, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
NABA provides a wide range of services to individuals with visual impairments, including training and placing legally blind adults in professional employment, and providing rehabilitation services to seniors with age-related vision loss. NABA, with over a century of experience, continues to help individuals overcome the challenges of vision loss, enabling them to lead more productive, independent lives. NABA also provides free vision screening for children 18 months to 4 years old through our KidSight Program.
Purpose of the Grant
(1) To help enrich and expand NABA’s existing afterschool and summer programs for youth who are blind and (2) to launch a small but growing pilot program to advance the full integration of NABA youth into mainstream afterschool and school programs that generally serve sighted youth
Amount
$253,350Term
42 monthsGrant Regions
Upstate NYRutgers University Foundation
Brunswick, NJ, USAAbout the Grantee
Created in 1973, the Rutgers University Foundation advances Rutgers’ pursuit of excellence in education, research, and public service. The foundation provide sthe bridge between donors and the schools and programs, faculty, and students that make up this university to help to match caring people with satisfying and meaningful opportunities to make gifts that have an impact on Rutgers.
Purpose of the Grant
To support Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC) in launching a peer tele-support mental health program for New York City and Northern New Jersey residents who are blind or visually impaired
Amount
$365,604Term
24 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaSeva Foundation
Berkeley, CA, USAAbout the Grantee
Seva works with local communities around the world to develop self-sustaining programs that preserve and restore sight.
Purpose of the Grant
To expand the capacity of two mentor eye clinics in Latin America to train current and aspiring Allied Ophthalmic Personnel (“AOP’s”) at the mentor clinics, themselves, and to support the mentors in helping at least 10 mentee eye care groups in Latin America build their own capacity to train AOP’s