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Organization: Unite For Sight

Based in: United States,   US EIN #: 32-0081616 add to cart Request Info
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Quick Facts

Unite For SightŪ is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that empowers communities worldwide to improve eye health and eliminate preventable blindness. Unite For Sight's unwavering commitment to creating a real, lasting impact involves four types of innovative programs: chapters in North America, Global Impact Corps in North America, international eye care outreach programs, and an annual global health conference.

Focus Areas: Education, Health
Countries Served:
All 20 countries:
   Summary by region:

Background

Date Founded: 2000
Number of Staff: 0

Description of Services:
Unite For Sight works with eye clinics worldwide that previously attempted to provide free eye care services in their community, but were precluded by lack of staffing and funding. Unite For Sight's model is unique in that it involves sending students, nurses, public health professionals, and doctors from North America and Europe to serve as support staff to eye doctors in the field, thus enabling community-based screening programs led by eye clinics without the need for paid staff. The screenings are held in rural villages, urban locations, as well as in refugee camps. The clinic's eye doctors diagnose and treat eye disease in the field, and surgical patients are brought to the eye clinic for surgery.
History:
Unite For Sight was founded by Jennifer Staple in her dorm room when she was a sophomore at Yale University. Now Jennifer is 27, and she has grown the organization to be a global nonprofit organization that has provided eye care to 600,000 people in North America, Africa, and Asia. A visionary leader and social entrepreneur, Jennifer Staple was featured in Nicholas D. Kristof's "The Age of Ambition" article in The New York Times on January 27, 2008. Since 2003, Unite For Sight has trained more than 5,200 volunteers to "Unite For Sight" and provide eye care services to 600,000 in their local community and abroad.
Accomplishments & Progress:
Since 2003, Unite For Sight has:

* Provided direct eye care services to more than 600,000 people worldwide
* Coordinated and sponsored 18,471 sight-restoring surgeries by local ophthalmologists at partner eye clinics.
* Engaged and trained 5,281 volunteers to "Unite For Sight" and provide direct eye care services in their local community and abroad.
* Convened more than 2,200 participants from 50 states and from more than 55 countries for Unite For Sight Annual Global Health Conference

Quality Check

Financial Information   Verified
Year 2007 2005 2004
Total Revenue: $689,599 $271,344 $5,597
Expenses:      
        Program Services Expenses: $464,351
(92% of total)
 $125,942
(91% of total)
 $1,319
(41% of total)
        Management & General Expenses: $38,182
(8% of total)
 $2,618
(2% of total)
 $1,915
(59% of total)
        Fundraising Expenses:
(0% of total)
 $9,541
(7% of total)
 $0
(0% of total)
        Total Expenses: $502,533 $138,101 $3,234

Additional Information

Additional Background Information:
At Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana, a dedicated group of refugee volunteers work daily to screen their local community members. Each of the volunteers participated in Unite For Sight eye education programs and received training from Dr. James Clarke, an ophthalmologist located 1 hour from the refugee camp. Every day, the refugee volunteers identify patients with potential eye disease, and the patients subsequently are examined by Dr. Clarke?s eye nurse Margaret Duah-Mensah, who visits several times per month. Those requiring treatment and surgery are brought to Dr. Clarke, and all of their eye care expenses are funded by UFS. The program at Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana is so successful that patients from the neighboring country of Liberia ? a country with only 1 ophthalmologist for the entire population of 3.5 million ? have been reported to travel to the refugee camp just to have their sight restored through UFS?s programs.

Officers & Board

President:
Jennifer Staple
Founder, President and CEO Phone: (203) 404-4900
Development Director:
Jennifer Staple
Founder, President & CEO
Phone: (203) 404-4900
Volunteer Coordinator:
Jennifer Staple
Founder, President & CEO
Phone: (203) 404-4900
Board of Directors and Board of Advisors:
Board of Directors
Jennifer Staple
Eric Bertrand
Sachin Jain
Julia Nemiroff
Yasha Modi

Medical Advisory Board
Dimitri Azar, MD
James Clarke, MD
Peter Egbert, MD
Leon Herndon, MD
Robert Ritch, MD
Geoffrey Tabin, MD
Shachar Tauber, MD
Seth Wanye, MD

Contact Information

Address:
31 Brookwood Dr.
Newtown , CT 06470
United States
Phone: (203) 404-4900
Fax:
Web: http://www.uniteforsight.org

International Philanthropy, Donating, Volunteering, Fundraising, Tax-deductible Donations
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