Sight Savers got its start back in 1996 when CEO and founder Jeff Haddox decided it was time for somebody to do something about the thousands of Alabama kids who couldn’t see due to low vision. Some were legally blind. It didn’t have to be this way.

Not content to wait around for somebody else, Haddox stepped up to tackle the job himself. In his 20 plus year role as a vision scientist, Haddox knew personal stories of Alabama children who would never succeed in school, learn to read a book, see a sunset, or look into their Mother’s face all because they weren’t being screened, examined, and treated for vision problems. He knew many children could be corrected to 20/20 eyesight, while others with more serious low vision conditions, could maximize their sight with enhanced technological advances.

“But, families didn’t know,” said Haddox. “Children weren’t getting the care and treatment they needed, most times, not out of neglect but lack of information. Families simply didn’t know that by age four, children should have their eyes examined. Many people don’t realize even today the importance of early eye screenings, and children can’t articulate their vision needs. Many problems can be treated and 100 percent corrected if discovered early enough.”

Armed with the belief that all children deserve the right to see, and steeled with the commitment to make a difference, Haddox was a man on a mission. While his concerns were with all children, his special passion was with the families for whom eyeglasses were a luxury item and the more sophisticated technological vision aids, a financial impossibility.

In 1996, Haddox and Sight Savers set out to bring renewed hope to as many children as this young and struggling organization could serve. The number that year, was eleven.

But, from those humble beginnings, and from the vision, commitment, and leadership of one man, SIGHT SAVERS has become the NATIONAL MODEL FOR CHILDREN’S VISION.