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GRANT HELPS PROVIDE VISION AND HEARING CARE FOR CHILDREN

The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba recently provided a grant to the Lions Foundation of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario that helped launch a new initiative aimed at making sure children across Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario have the access they need to essential health services.  

Bringing Care Closer: Mobile Vision & Hearing Screenings for Kids aims to make it easier for children to maintain health and wellness. The initiative emphasizes early detection of vision and hearing impairments by bringing screenings directly to the communities where children live, learn, and play.

Many children, particularly those in remote and underserved areas, have difficulty accessing these screenings, a challenge that in the past has resulted in issues going unnoticed. 

“The Lions Foundation believes every child should have the chance to see clearly and hear fully,” said Yulia Zmerzla, Executive Director of the Lions Foundation of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. “Their generosity brings us one step closer to ensuring every child, no matter where they live, has the chance to see, hear, and reach their full potential.”

The Bringing Care Closer program sends a fully equipped mobile outreach unit staffed with advanced optometry and audiology technology. The unit will provide free on-site screenings for the children at schools, daycares, community centres, and public events across Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. The free screenings are available to children of all ages. When a potential issue is identified, families are connected with specialists for follow-up care.

Each mobile unit has the capacity to reach up to 40,000 children per year, an extraordinary impact that grows even further when imagining what could be achieved with multiple units. From small visits serving 150 children to large community events reaching more than 700 participants, the project is accessible to a tremendous number of children. 

Bringing Care Closer is a subsequent step in Lions Foundation’s KidSight program, a volunteer-led program serving communities for over eight years. The program’s rapid growth and the increase in demand for services underscore the need for an expanded approach.

“Strong communities begin with healthy children,” said John Diamond, CEO of the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba. "We’re honoured to support  the Lions Foundation in making sure that every child—no matter who they are or where they live—can see, hear, and thrive.”

For more information about the Bringing Care Closer project, please visit lionsfoundation.org/bringing-care-closer