Awarded Grants
Search & Filter Awarded GrantsHadley School for the Blind
Winnetka, IL, USAAbout the Grantee
The mission of Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired is to create personalized learning opportunities that empower people to thrive – at home, at work and in their communities.
Purpose of the Grant
To support the updating of key distance-learning braille courses to comply with the Unified English Braille Code: the new code that, beginning in 2016, will set the standard for all braille writing in the U.S.
Amount
$100,000Term
12 monthsGrant Regions
USA Multi-StateHelen 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 Helen Keller International’s ChildSight® Program in (1) continuing to provide free vision screenings and examinations, prescription eyeglasses, and needed referrals to advanced eye care to students in public and parochial middle schools located in low-income neighborhoods of New York City, together with at-risk students in NYC’s alternative high schools, and (2) purchasing new optical equipment to replace old and worn equipment and implementing an electronic data collection system to record all clinical data and drive enhanced service efficiency
Amount
$1,500,000Term
48 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro 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 help support the purchase and implementation of a comprehensive agency-wide Enterprise Resource Planning management information system (“ERP”).
Amount
$250,000Term
12 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 underwrite the hiring of an Outreach Coordinator who will identify a combined total of 125 working-age New Yorkers who are blind and underserved and refer them to the agency’s Rehabilitation Department for employment and other rehabilitation services
Amount
$320,381Term
48 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaHelen 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 provide supervised, paid internships, adaptive job training, and job placement and support services to 9-12 working-age adults who are deafblind
Amount
$391,662Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
USA Multi-StateInternational Eye Foundation
Kensington, MD, USAAbout the Grantee
IEF’s mission is to eliminate preventable and treatable blindness by increasing affordability and access to quality comprehensive and sustainable eye care services worldwide., changing how eye care is delivered and changing systems at eye hospitals and clinics to provide quality eye care in an efficient, productive, and sustainable manner.
Purpose of the Grant
To match, dollar-for-dollar, a Rotary International challenge grant supporting the International Eye Foundation and local partner Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital in building quality, sustainable eye care capacity in the suburbs of New Delhi, India
Amount
$200,000Term
24 monthsGrant Regions
International, South AsiaInternational Eye Foundation
Kensington, MD, USAAbout the Grantee
IEF’s mission is to eliminate preventable and treatable blindness by increasing affordability and access to quality comprehensive and sustainable eye care services worldwide., changing how eye care is delivered and changing systems at eye hospitals and clinics to provide quality eye care in an efficient, productive, and sustainable manner.
Purpose of the Grant
To support the International Eye Foundation (IEF) and its Lima, Peru-based partner, the Clinica Divino Nino Jesus (DNJ), in building, equipping, and operationally launching a DNJ satellite eye clinic in Loreto, Peru
Amount
$235,614Term
24 monthsGrant Regions
International, Latin America & CaribbeanL.V. Prasad Eye Institute of the Indo-American Eye Care Society
Rochester, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Established in 1987, L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) is a comprehensive eye health facility with its main campus located in Hyderabad, India. A World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness, the Institute offers comprehensive patient care, sight enhancement and rehabilitation services and high-impact rural eye health programs. It also pursues cutting edge research and offers training in human resources for all levels of ophthalmic personnel.
Purpose of the Grant
To build the sustainable capacity of 30 L.V. Prasad Vision Centers in the Indian state of Telangana: (1) to screen the vision of 960,000 children ages 0-16 in the centers’ respective catchment areas and (2) to provide prescription eyeglasses, advanced eye care, and low vision and rehabilitation services to those children as needed
Amount
$743,146Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
International, South AsiaNational Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments, Inc.
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Lighthouse Guild is the leading not-for-profit vision + healthcare organization, with a long-standing heritage of addressing the needs of people who are blind or visually impaired, including those with multiple disabilities or chronic medical conditions.
Purpose of the Grant
To support the continued operation of the New York City chapter of the National Association of Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI) and the building of a sustainable NAPVI-New Jersey chapter at the St. Joseph’s School for the Blind in Jersey City, NJ
Amount
$447,090Term
48 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaOrbis International
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Orbis International is an NGO that brings people together to fight avoidable blindness through a network of partners to mentor, train and inspire local teams to fight blindness in their own communities.
Purpose of the Grant
To reduce avoidable blindness and vision impairment among children in West Bengal by increasing the availability, accessibility, and sustainability of pediatric eye care services throughout the Susrut Eye Foundation’s eye care system
Amount
$543,750Term
48 monthsGrant Regions
International, South AsiaRenew International
Plainfield, NJ, USAAbout the Grantee
RENEW International has over a 30-year record in revitalizing parish life in more than 150 dioceses in the United States, touching the lives of 25 million people through its ministry services. RENEW International has also reached many thousands outside the United States, having served people in 23 countries, across six continents and in 44 languages and dialects.
Purpose of the Grant
To support the formatting, proofreading, printing, and promotion of large-print materials for visually impaired participants in a new RENEW faith-formation program entitled, “Be My Witness”
Amount
$30,000Term
24 monthsGrant Regions
USA Multi-StateThe Priory in the USA of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem
Washington, D.C., USAAbout the Grantee
The Order of St John is and has always been apolitical, and its work furthers the cause of peace in the Middle East. In a land where ethnic and religious divisions still fester and the situation changes daily, The St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group has made real the ideal of peoples united, not divided, by their faiths. Inspired by Christian ideals, the hospital treats mostly Muslim patients with the help of many Jewish physicians who assist in training.
For many years the Hospital Group battled trachoma, a disease that once regularly blinded thousands and still reappears occasionally. The Hospital Group has always dealt with traumatic injuries to the eyes, whether as the result of industrial or domestic accidents or violence. It also treats inherited diseases, such as the congenital cataracts common in the Palestinian community, as well as all other diseases of the eye, from amblyopia to glaucoma.
Purpose of the Grant
To purchase the phaco-emulsification machine needed to open a second operating theater at St. John’s new eye clinic in the Gaza Strip, thereby facilitating the delivery of 400 additional cataract surgeries per annum (starting in 2015-16)
Amount
$120,000Term
12 monthsGrant Regions
Asia (Outside South Asia), InternationalUNRWA USA
Washington, D.C., USAAbout the Grantee
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN Member States. UNRWA also receives some funding from the Regular Budget of the United Nations, which is used mostly for international staffing costs.
The Agency’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance, including in times of armed conflict.
Purpose of the Grant
To ensure that approximately 7,000 refugee children will be provided with glasses annually
Amount
$100,003Term
12 monthsGrant Regions
Asia (Outside South Asia), InternationalVISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
Started by six women in 1926 and pioneered racially integrated programs in the early 1920’s,VISIONS is a 501c3 nonprofit rehabilitation and social service agency celebrating over 90 years of service, assisting people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired to lead independent and active lives in their homes and communities, and educating the public to understand the capabilities and needs of people who are blind or visually impaired so that they may be integrated into all aspects of community life.
Purpose of the Grant
To underwrite the launch of a sustainable healthy aging program for blind and visually impaired seniors participating in VISIONS’s Center on Aging
Amount
$180,000Term
24 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaAravind Eye Foundation
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
The Aravind Eye Foundation, formerly the Friends of Aravind, was founded in 2000 to support the Aravind Eye Care System in its mission to eliminate needless blindness and spread Aravind’s sustainable model of high-quality, patient-centric healthcare throughout the world.
Purpose of the Grant
To support the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology (LAICO) in helping 25 eye hospitals on the Indian sub-continent sharply increase the volume, affordability, quality, and sustainability of their surgical and other eye care services.
Amount
$975,328Term
48 monthsGrant Regions
International, South AsiaBrother 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
$245,860Term
12 monthsGrant Regions
Entire NY Tri-State AreaCancerCare, Inc.
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
CancerCare® is the leading national organization dedicated to providing free, professional support services including counseling, support groups, educational workshops, publications and financial assistance to anyone affected by cancer. All CancerCare services are provided by oncology social workers and world-leading cancer experts.
Purpose of the Grant
To underwrite financial assistance and counseling services to 200 financially needy Tri-State New York Area residents with ocular cancer or other vision-affecting cancers
Amount
$360,000Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaCancerCare, Inc.
New York, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
CancerCare® is the leading national organization dedicated to providing free, professional support services including counseling, support groups, educational workshops, publications and financial assistance to anyone affected by cancer. All CancerCare services are provided by oncology social workers and world-leading cancer experts.
Purpose of the Grant
To underwrite a third-party evaluation of CancerCare’s Lavelle-supported financial assistance program for financially needy Tri-State New York residents with ocular cancers or other vision-affecting cancers
Amount
$54,000Term
12 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaCity 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. We are 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 vocational education, career exploration, orientation and mobility training for New York City secondary school and college students who are blind or visually impaired through participation in paid internships at local museums and cultural institutions
Amount
$180,000Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
NYC Metro AreaDominican College
Orangeburg, NY, USAAbout the Grantee
The aim of Dominican College is to promote educational excellence, leadership, and service in an environment characterized by respect for the individual and concern for the community and its needs. Founded by the Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt, the College is an independent institution of higher learning, Catholic in origin and heritage. In the Dominican tradition, it fosters the active, shared pursuit of truth and embodies an ideal of education rooted in the values of reflective understanding and compassionate involvement.
Purpose of the Grant
To provide continued core support to Dominican Colleges Teacher of the Visually Impaired Programs (M.S. degree and certificate).
Amount
$387,834Term
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 scaling up of diabetic retinopathy diagnosis and treatment in Bangladesh.
Amount
$360,783Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
International, South AsiaHimalayan Cataract Project
Waterbury, VT, USAAbout the Grantee
The Himalayan Cataract Project works to eradicate preventable and curable blindness in the developing world.
Purpose of the Grant
To partner with Nepal’s Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in launching and operating a new Community Eye Center (CEC), strengthening and sustaining an existing CEC, and creating a new Secondary Level Eye Center (or “Community Eye Hospital”) in three underserved areas of Nepal. By the grant’s end, these Tilganga units are expected to be delivering a combined total of more than 3,000 cataract surgeries per year.
Amount
$250,000Term
36 monthsGrant Regions
International, South AsiaInternational Eye Foundation
Kensington, MD, USAAbout the Grantee
IEF’s mission is to eliminate preventable and treatable blindness by increasing affordability and access to quality comprehensive and sustainable eye care services worldwide., changing how eye care is delivered and changing systems at eye hospitals and clinics to provide quality eye care in an efficient, productive, and sustainable manner.
Purpose of the Grant
(1) to help four leading socially oriented hospitals in Latin America expand their capacities in providing primary, surgical, and sub-specialty eye care, increase the number of patients served, strengthen their eye care training and research capacities, and provide support to mentee clinics and (2) to strengthen the capacity of IEF itself – together with its Latin America-based partners in eye care training (“the Delta team”) – to manage an increasing number of eye care capacity-building and sustainability projects
Amount
$588,978Term
30 monthsGrant Regions
International, Latin America & CaribbeanLearning Ally
Princeton, NJ, USAAbout the Grantee
Learning Ally is dedicated to helping students with print disabilities, including blindness, visual impairment, and dyslexia. Learning Ally improves the way students learn at home and in the classroom.
Purpose of the Grant
To pilot-test a national program to help 500 U.S. students who are blind or visually impaired learn and succeed in college by: (1) training students to self-advocate with fellow students, professors, and college administrators and (2) providing them web- and phone-based access to mentors in adaptive paths to college success