For the past 17 years, the Eye Care for Kids Foundation has helped

children from ages 3 to 18 to have access to eye care for free. The
foundation has expanded and now focuses on school districts other than
HISD. This allows students to be awarded with glasses if they cannot receive
glass on their own. Even though this is a blessing on its own some parents do
not take the opportunity. During the short amount of time one has spent in
the organization, one of the few issues the organization is trying to solve is
the voucher redemption rate. A lot of parents are not redeeming the
vouchers for multiple reasons. Some issues these parents have are lack of
transportation, and meagerness of time. Parents are unable to find ways to
use the resources that are available to them for the amelioration of their
child. Not only do the parents take responsibility for this faux pas, but the
children also do. Yet, the real question is not why parents dont take their
children to get a regular and free checkup, but what can organizations such
as Eye Care for Kids provide in order to make these events happen for the
families, and how to vanish poverty among these individuals.
Families who live under the poverty level cannot physically make time
in their very busy schedules to take care of minor issues such as eye care.
These families are struggling to get by every day, and sometimes have little
to nothing to eat. As of 2013 about 30 percent of Houstons residents live
below the poverty line which is roughly about 512,859 people in the Houston

area. These families are often times the people nonprofit organizations focus
on. For example, Eye Care for Kids most of the time focus on the children
who are living below the poverty line in order to offer them an opportunity to
grow in their studies. Without the proper means of vision a child cannot
strive in school.
The vice president from the Eye Care for Kids foundation has
enlightened this author about the real experiences children face in school .
She was asked the question of why she decided to help children who are
struggling in school and her response was, This is actually a very interesting
story. When I was in elementary school, I was struggling a bit and often
would receive comments from the teachers such as "You need to pay better
attention in class" and "You need to keep up with the class - don't be lazy!
Comments like this increased as I moved up through grades, and I didn't
know why. I was trying my very best, but clearly still receiving negative
comments, and would often hear words like "lazy", "distracting" or "slow".
The fact of the matter was that I couldn't see the chalkboard! My parents
were not aware, even though my father was a physician and my mother took
me to the doctor for all of my scheduled appointments. No one thought to
check my eyes! After a few years of struggling, we final figured out that I was
not "lazy" at all. I needed glasses! I would never want another child to go
through what I did, and truthfully, the negative words stuck with me through

the years. If this was avoidable, I had to be a part of it. I have now been
involved with Eye Care for Kids for almost six years. Dr. Wishnow is an
amazing person, and to have an opportunity to work with him and partner
with the entire team at ECFK has been an incredible experience. Which
explains why so many individuals spend an extended amount of time trying
to come up with solutions to solve issues such as awarding eye care for
children. These children often get blamed for these awful grades when in
reality it is not their fault for the lack of product they are contributing.
When Michelle Des (vice president of the Eye Care for Kids foundation)
told this writer a few solutions staff members could possibly solve the
success rate within the community. We will always strive for a better
redemption rate, though gaining access to the families we serve can
sometimes be a bit of a challenge. We find that they may move, change
schools, or their living circumstances may change literally within a month or
two. We will move to an automated system, making an online resource more
effective for them, and will continue to do the very best we can connecting
with them via phone and mail. Simply, it is the effort being made at the Eye
Care for Kids offices on a daily basis that really makes the difference . Making
the phone calls and consistent follow up has been the reason we have had
the success over the years. We will continue to look for more efficient ways
to stay in touch with the families as we grow. So there is an urge among the

staff to communicate with these families who often do not answer their
phones to inform them of the opportunity they have been given. Therefore,
the redeeming rate of these vouchers would increase if one were to
communicate with these parents more often.
Although there is plenty of communication with these parents
sometimes the staff has to take matters into their own hands. Des spoke
about how screening had increased the amount of vouchers redeemed and
distributed. There is an old saying, "You don't know what you don't know".
By screening children, we give them an opportunity to receive the help they
need to not only survive, but succeed in life. Children naturally want to learn,
discover, and broaden their knowledge. When we are able to help a child
step out of the dark and into a world that has shapes, lines, and letters, we
help them to see a brighter future. We make a difference for life. By
providing screening to children who without us would have none, we give
them a resource that without us, they would not know. They may be the first
in their family to graduate high school, or go on to college. Maybe our efforts
provide them with on opportunity to gain better employment than their
parents. Perhaps that means their children will have a better chance in life,
and that is our ultimate goal. In order to make this a bigger success, one is
working with the Houston Academy staff so that the students that attend
that school will have results, since this school does not have a school nurse.
Most of the screening itself takes place in school such as the one described
above. One believes that to make results happen one needs to take matters

in their own hands and go out in the real world to gain experience. This was
exactly why one decided to go into the nonprofit section.
The question is whether or not we can combat poverty among the
community in order to expand the knowledge children can receive, but how .
There are many ways one can try to solve this issue but it will keep rising
among the community. For example, providing more job fairs in cities with
high poverty line percentages. The thing about poverty is that it will always
be present. There is ways to stop it from time to time, unless the whole
population can offer jobs, and a stable income there is little to do.
Along with an expansion of knowledge I have opened my mind to major
part of the population. I learned how much poverty affects the community, I
learned that in order to expand a project, one must solve other problems
along the way. This new knowledge will allow one to fight for what is worth
fighting. If there is no solution at this moment, there will be one sooner or
later, and that is okay. This project allowed one to see the world in a
different perspective and thats what is needed in a world of leaders. One
was enlightened of how research was supposed to take place, and how one is
supposed to solve big problems. Furthermore, a big role that plays a part in
research and gaining knowledge is how one interacts with professionals in
the field of that specific study. For example, when speaking with a vice
president of an organization one must act composed, and formal. Avoid any

slang or inappropriate language when there is an interview taking place. This

extensive research has allowed this writer to observe the nonprofit sector,
and has pushed this individual to strive to expand this business on my own,
after college. Therefore, in order to solve big issues one must work
individually to solve one problem at the time. Firstly work with families on a
one on one level so that the staff is aware of the whole application process
more precisely. Second the nonprofit sector could partner up with other
nonprofits in order to lower the poverty line among city populations. Thirdly,
encourage more screening among school who do not have a school nurse, so
that the program can be more recognizable and more stable.

Works Cited
Edelman, Peter. "The State of Poverty in America." The American Prospect.
The American Prospect, 12 June 2012. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
State and Country Quick Facts." United States Census Bureau. United States
Census

Bureau, 02 Dec. 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.