More than 2.7 billion people worldwide do not have access to the visual correction they need. You may not know you need a vision correction until after you have had one.
Thanks to the I-Care Project at Seneca, many students are receiving the eye care they may not have even known they needed.
To date, the I-Care Project has supported 162 students in Seneca’s Opticianry program and students in Seneca’s Youth to Postsecondary (Y2P) and Academic Upgrading (AU) programs at Yorkgate Campus.
Over five years, the goal for the I-Care Project is to make vision screening and eye exams accessible to all Seneca students while educating the community on how to prevent sight loss.
This program has provided free vision screenings, eye exams and prescription glasses, thanks to the very generous support of donors Essilor Canada, Modern Optical, Mood Eyewear, McCray Optical and the Ontario Opticians Association.
More than half of the students who participated confirmed that they have not had an eye exam by an optometrist within the past two years. It turned out that 73 per cent of those students required a new prescription after receiving an examination.
One student required a vision correction of -16.00 RX – the lenses alone would have cost more than $1,000.
“Having new glasses means I can give my eyes a much-needed break after a long day of wearing contacts,” said Jessie Alvarez, Academic Upgrading student. “I have been wearing the same glasses for 15 years.”
The I-Care Project will continue to be offered to students at Yorkgate Campus. In addition to benefiting students, it provides full- and part-time Seneca Opticianry students with work-integrated learning opportunities.
If you would like to learn more about the importance of vision care, and ways to keep your eyes healthy, visit the Ontario Opticians Association website.