Unite For Sight at a Glance Organization Founded: 2000 |
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Founded By A College Student Jennifer Staple-Clark founded Unite For Sight in 2000, during her sophomore year at Yale University. Since that time, Jennifer has developed Unite For Sight into a global nonprofit organization that has provided eye care to more than 1.9 million people in North America, Africa, and Asia. A visionary and social entrepreneur, Jennifer Staple-Clark has been featured twice in Nicholas D. Kristof's columns in The New York Times, and she received the American Institute of Public Service's 2009 National Jefferson Award For Public Service, which is regarded as the "Nobel Prize" for public service. |
Innovative Programs Provide Quality Care To 1.9 million Unite For Sight's innovative programs in Ghana, Honduras, and India have provided the highest quality of care to more than 1.9 million of the world's poorest people, including more than 87,378 sight-restoring surgeries. The eye care is provided by local eye doctors. In 2008, Unite For Sight sponsored 5,011 of the 14,053 cataract surgeries performed by Ghanaian eye clinics, 36% of all cataract surgeries done in Ghana. In 2009, with Unite For Sight's collaboration with four partner ophthalmologists, Ghana increased its surgical volume to 17,366 annual surgeries. Unite For Sight's outreach programs with the four partner eye clinics provided 46% of all cataract surgeries performed in Ghana in 2009, and these 8,060 surgeries were provided for patients living in extreme poverty. Unite For Sight was directly responsible for 92% of the cataract surgical increase in Ghana between 2008 and 2009. By 2010, five of the forty-five ophthalmologists in Ghana were partners of Unite For Sight, and these five ophthalmologists continue to provide more than half of all eye surgeries in Ghana. |
Unite For Sight's Model Unite For Sight supports local eye clinics worldwide by investing human and financial resources in their social ventures to eliminate barriers to eye care for patients living in extreme poverty. With Unite for Sight’s support, the clinic outreach efforts extend to individuals in villages sometimes located seven or more hours from the closest eye clinic. All of the eye care services are comprehensive, including examinations, diagnosis, treatment, surgery, and education by local doctors. Barriers to care are further eliminated by funding surgeries and providing transportation for those requiring advanced ophthalmic care at the eye clinic. The outreach teams provide the patients and villages with follow-up care regularly throughout the year, and postoperative outcomes and quality of care are monitored by Unite For Sight. |
9,900 Fellows Trained Since 2003, Unite For Sight has trained more than 9,900 fellows to eliminate preventable blindness in their local communities and abroad. These fellows participate in Unite For Sight's international Global Impact Corps and local University Chapter programs. All volunteers participating in Unite For Sight's international Global Impact Corps program work daily with local ophthalmologists, local optometrists, and local ophthalmic nurses to eliminate patient barriers to care and to facilitate comprehensive year-round eye care for patients living in extreme poverty. Unite For Sight prides itself on offering the best global health experience for our Global Impact Fellows, coupled with the highest quality of healthcare delivery programs with our partner eye clinics in Ghana, Honduras, and India. |
Important Facts About Unite For Sight
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