Fact Sheet 2017 MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD The EyeSight Foundation of Alabama (ESFA) is proud of the eye health and vision projects it has supported for the past two decades, from vision screenings for children to summer camps for those with vision impairment to eye care for the medically indigent and research into
partnership with Research to Prevent Blindness and Susan and Dowd Ritter is
supporting the Ritter/RPB Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology Research at UAB, resulting in the recent recruitment of an internationally renowned vision scientist.
blinding eye disease. The foundation began its work in
Similarly, ESFA has collaborated for the past three years with
1997 with an endowment of about $60 million, derived
national partner Prevent Blindness, the nation’s leading
from the sale of a specialty eye hospital. ESFA holds in
volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to
perpetuity nearly $50 million which is carefully invested
fighting blindness and saving sight, to lead the Alabama Vision
and from which it continues to award grants. The ESFA
Coalition. The AVC’s goal has been to help grantees and
Board of Trustees also advises Regions Bank on grants
agencies increase and enhance their impact on eye care in
awarded from the Carl and Pauline Buck Trust held at
Alabama through collaborations and partnerships. Each of
Regions Bank. Counting those grants, as of July 2017
these examples illustrate ESFA’s intent to strengthen the
ESFA has awarded $66+ million to 60 organizations and
impact of every grant making dollar we contribute by amplify-
programs in Alabama.
ing the work of our grantees.
$66,302,585 Awarded/Directed since 1997 *includes $1,360,361 through Regions/Buck Trust Strategic funding partnerships are critical to leveraging
the impact of ESFA’s grantmaking. We are partnering, for example, with the University of Alabama at Birmingham on the Vision of Excellence, a matching fund with the School of Medicine that supports the research efforts of the UAB Department of Ophthalmology. That collaboration has enabled the department to advance in National Institutes of Health funding from 38th nationally in 2012 to 17th in 2016, with expectations of an even higher ranking in the 2017 rankings to be published by the BlueRidge Institute in 2018. Another ESFA/UAB matching grant
program is the Research Acceleration Initiative, an effort that encourages collaboration among vision scientists across all related disciplines at UAB. A three-way funding
AREAS OF SUPPORT ESFA awards grants in the following areas: • Public education regarding preventive and routine eye care and vision screening • Eye care for the medically indigent • Low vision and rehabilitation service • Improved geographical access to general and specialty eye care services • Education and training of eye care professionals and scientific investigators • Research in the prevention and treatment of eye diseases, disabilities or impairment prevalent in Alabama and the development of effective methods of treatment, surgery or rehabilitation • Basic science research on the visual system
MISSION To serve as a catalyst to improve eyesight through
research, education and access to care
VISION Making a difference in the eyes of the world