|
|
Dear Friends and Colleagues, The moment you’ve been waiting for is here! Our opportunity to help our neighbors-in-need with the gift of sight is here is near. Our opportunity to give ourselves and each other the restorative gift of service-to-community is just around the corner. Last year, during two days of hard work and controlled chaos, we were able to offer vision services to close to 900 people. People lined up outside the Convention Center before dawn in a line 5 wide and 4 blocks long. We made an enormous difference for individuals and for the community. It is sad but true that the vision care gap in our country and our community has only grown in the past year. We are up to the challenge. Registration for this year’s Mission of Mercy event is open! The Mission of Mercy dental, eye care and audiology event will take place at the David Lawrence Convention Center on Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2.
As in previous years we’ll run an early and late shift each day. We need your support to make this event a success again.
We need you! Please volunteer for as many sessions as you can. Please recruit your colleagues in eye care. Our colleagues practicing in the community were an essential part of each previous effort. Join us in making Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh 2024 another resounding success. Together, we can create a lasting impact and showcase the power of the Pittsburgh eye care community. We look forward to working alongside you as we change lives, one pair of glasses at a time, one full eye exam at a time. Be part of a transformative team. Sign up as a volunteer by clicking on this link: 2024 MOM Volunteer Registration Form Together in service, Paula, Valeria, Zeila, Jake, Lawney and Jose |
LOCAL RESOURCES |
For more than 100 years, Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh has empowered people who are blind, deaf blind or vision impaired to become independent. Our mission is to change the lives of persons with vision loss and other disabilities by fostering independence and individual choice. Our Comprehensive Vision Rehabilitation Center is nationally accredited by the National Accreditation Council for Blind and Low Vision Services (NAC) and offers custom and individualized programs that are designed to accomplish each client’s goals. Experienced and talented instructors, many of whom are blind or vision impaired themselves, provide instruction in essential areas such as Personal Adjustment to Blindness Training, and Computer Access Technology. We offer Vocational and Employment Services, a Low Vision Rehabilitation Program, and employment through our manufacturing division PBA Industries that contracts with businesses and U.S. governmental departments for signage, manufacturing, textile, and contract work. We also serve people with other disabilities through day programs and vocational and employment services. In Fayette, Greene, and Washington counties we offer employment support services and in Somerset County we offer children vision screenings, transportation services, and support groups. BVRS is heralded by experts in the vision field as one of the top rehabilitation centers in the United States. Our outstanding programs have drawn people from around the nation and some foreign countries. What our clients tell us most often is: “I learned so much! I only wish I had come to BVRS sooner.” BVRS is a private, non-profit agency that believes in independence through rehabilitation. Our roots in the Pittsburgh community are deep. In 1920, the Pittsburgh Blind Association of Oakland was formed to provide employment to people with vision loss. In 1959 the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind of Bridgeville was created to help people with vision loss develop independence skills. Those organizations merged in 1997, and for a short time the new agency was called Pittsburgh Vision Services. In 2005, the Board of Directors gave the agency a new name—Blind & Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh—to better reflect what the agency does and those whom it serves. Today, the missions of both parent organizations are fulfilled through BVRS. We believe that every person with vision loss and hearing loss can be taught to use their other senses and the vision that remains to live independently and with confidence. We believe that every blind person can learn adaptive techniques and develop new skills so they may live independently. That philosophy is at the core of all our services and programs. How may we help you? Blind & Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh 1816 Locust StreetPittsburgh, PA 15219 Phone: 412-368-4400 |
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Library for the Blind and Physically Free public library services are available to eligible Pennsylvania residents who have difficulty reading standard print because of a visual impairment, a physical disability involving the hands, or a reading disability of organic origin. Part of a federal program through the Library of Congress and administered in Pennsylvania by the Carnegie Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, digital audiobooks are distributed on flash drive cartridges playable on a digital audiobook machine, or they can be downloaded directly onto a patron’s smartphone or tablet. All services and materials are completely free, including the digital audiobook player, and the digital downloads are available through a free app. Large print books and audio described DVD movies are also available, and all materials are mailed to the patron’s home and returned to the library through the U.S. Postal Service postage free. In addition, there are never any overdue fines or replacement fees. For more information, please contact the Library’s Outreach Coordinator, Don Ciccone, at 800-242-0586, or email cicconed@carnegielibrary.org. a Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH) is a network library of the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. The staff of LBPH can answer reference questions about anything from the weather to accessible technology. Staff is also available to discuss the latest bestsellers and favorite authors and to suggest new titles you may enjoy. Our print and electronic collections include large print books, audio described DVDs, audio books and magazines, physical Braille books and downloadable audio and Braille services through BARD.
Contact us: Address: 4724 Baum Blvd. Pittsburgh PA 15213 Phone: 412.687.2440 or 800.242.0586 |
The Urgent mission of the Foundation Fighting Blindness is to drive the research that will provide preventions, treatments and cures for people affected by retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, Usher syndrome and the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases. The Foundation is a beacon of hope for those affected by these blinding diseases. Join the fight and help us accelerate our mission. |
Contact us: Phone 724-553-3114 105 Brandt School Rd Ste 204 / Cranberry Twp PA 16066 |
The Mission of the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children is to nurture the unique abilities of individuals with blindness and visual impairment through educational excellence and a lifetime of learning. We envision Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children as a global leader in education and advocacy for individuals with blindness and visual impairment. Located in the heart of Oakland, Pennsylvania, the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children is a one-of-a-kind educational facility committed to training visually impaired students with additional disabilities. The School also provides vital early intervention and outreach services to visually impaired students, with or without additional challenges, throughout western Pennsylvania. As a private institution chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the School educates approximately 180 enrolled students annually from 242 school districts within western Pennsylvania. Students may enroll at age three and they can continue until 21. Our students benefit from the experience and expertise of staff who focus on helping students use their “residual” vision to the best of their ability. The curriculum emphasizes the acquisition of life skills. Certified teachers of the visually impaired and qualified therapists and health professionals collaborate on planning and implementing effective, individualized educational programs. The School accepts students as young as age two, though many enroll in later years. A student can remain until the end of the school year when he or she turns twenty-one. Seventy-five percent of those who enroll will complete their education at WPSBC. Contact Us!ADDRESS:201 North Bellefield Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15213 PHONE:vv412.621.0100 FAX:412-621-6012 |
The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of 58 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States. CORE works closely with donor families and designated healthcare professionals to deliver the gift of hope by coordinating the surgical recovery of organs, tissues and corneas for transplantation. CORE also facilitates the computerized matching of donated organs, tissues and corneas. With integrity and compassion, our goal is to bridge the gap between donor families, health care providers and transplant recipients so that we may forever transform lives. Mission Vision Values
|
.jpg)
SAFE EYES AMERICA
Society Mission
To act as the voice of ophthalmologic medicine in the Pittsburgh area, to serve as a patient advocate in promoting preventive eye care, quality medical and surgical care and rehabilitative services for individuals with ophthalmologic diseases and to advance the knowledge, science and practice of ophthalmology, to assist in the improvement of the quality of ophthalmologic medicine and training therein, and to promote integrity in the practice of ophthalmic medicine.
Pittsburgh Ophthalmology Society | 850 Ridge Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Email: npopovich@acms.org | Phone 412-321-5030 x110
Need more information? Contact Nadine Popovich, POS Administrator
Safe Eyes America is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the delivery of the highest quality medical and surgical eye care to the American public. The organization is dedicated to:
- Promoting the delivery of the highest quality medical and surgical eye care to the American public.
- Educating the public, federal and state legislators, and regulators on the vital importance of medical education and ophthalmology residency training in the delivery of the quality of eye care that the public deserves.
To learn more, visit: https://www.safeeyesamerica.org/