Helping vision-impaired residents part of the plan for nonprofit

A nonprofit organization with statewide reach has been working to improve the quality of life for Alaskans with blindness and low vision for nearly five decades.

The Alaska Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired is the only statewide training and resource center for vision rehabilitation for all Alaskans with uncorrectable sight loss. Since 1977, the organization’s professionally accredited staff has worked with clients ranging in age from teens to senior citizens. The mission is always eliminating vision loss as a barrier to employment, community participation, or quality of life.

Population growth in the Mat-Su greatly increased demand for services here. By 2010, a Valley-dedicated staffer was added.

Recognizing the value of such a position to residents, the Mat-Su Health Foundation awarded ACBVI a $267,702 grant in November to help fund services in the community, including the position of Valley outreach coordinator, filled for many years by Jacque Olsen.

“We would not be able to provide our services to the extent that we do to Valley residents without the grant we receive from the Mat-Su Health Foundation,” she said. “The unmet demand is huge, our support groups are thriving, and our mailing list and client list have grown every year.”

The nonprofit Mat-Su Health Foundation, originally created as the Valley Hospital in 1948, has been making investments like this in community health and wellness since 2007, when it became part owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Since that time, while working to ensure the hospital continues to meet the needs of a diverse and growing population, the Foundation has channeled more than $160 million of its share of hospital profits back into the community through scholarships, sponsorships, and grants to nonprofit organizations around the Valley.

In addition to the recent grant, the Health Foundation also provides ACBVI with an office in its Crusey Street location. Caren Ailleo, development and communications director for the Alaska Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, said the office space increases Olsen’s ability to serve those in need locally because of the partner organizations located in the same building.

“It makes it easier to meet our clients, provide services and to communicate with other agencies that provide needed social services to Valley residents,” Ailleo said.

Whether assisting blind seniors with skills and aid that will help them maintain independent living, or helping vision-impaired youth further their education or prepare for a work environment, Ailleo said ACBVI is all about helping clients meet their life and work goals and contribute their talents to family and community.

“The Mat-Su Health Foundation provides the funding, support and advocacy that enables non-profit organizations, such as the Alaska Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, to provide their much-needed services to the Valley residents,” she said. “We, along with others, would not be able to do the outreach that we do without the Mat-Su Health Foundation.”

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www.alaskabvi.org