Dear Friends,
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Prior to our founding in 2017, only a small percentage of Colorado families with very young children who are blind or visually impaired received in-home vision services.
Today, A Shared Vision's teachers are the leading providers of these critical and federally mandated early intervention vision services in the state. This past year, our teachers supported 212 children and their families, providing 1,675 educational service visits. In fact, in the 55 counties we served in 2022, our teachers provided 70% of all education service visits in Denver/Boulder metro, 87% in the Fort Collins and Greeley communities, and 86% of all services in Colorado's rural communities!
Our teachers are the cornerstone of the community that supports families with very young children who are blind or visually impaired.
With graduate degrees in visual impairment, our team of 16 licensed Early Intervention Teachers of the Visually Impaired are uniquely qualified to meet the needs of families. As one parent commented, “Our teacher is in our corner cheering us on and providing the tools and techniques for our child’s success.” A Shared Vision is a unique, virtual “home” that encourages licensed Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI) to provide early intervention services across the state. Our home includes financial support and a breadth of services, support, and technologies that allow our teachers to excel at what they love most – supporting families with babies and toddlers who are blind or visually impaired.
However, we are experiencing a shortage of licensed teachers to meet the growing demand throughout the state. At any point in time, 20 to 30 families are waiting for ongoing services until a teacher becomes available.
We are leading efforts to define resource needs by geography, secure funding for competitive compensation, and encourage and attract TVIs to support the unique needs of our families in rural and urban communities. We are grateful for the support of many individual donors and foundations – including the James Hynd Trust for the Blind, the Buell Foundation, the Anschutz Family Foundation, and LONG Building Technologies, Inc. – who make our mission possible. In 2022 we raised $126,393 in donations and grants, which supports the breadth and operationalization of our programs that support our families and build a stronger community of early intervention professionals.
Thank you for your continued partnership! Your board,
Stefanie Hamilton Paula Landry Steven Lindauer Susan Raymond |
Our Team
View a picture to learn more about a team member.
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Home Vision Services Program
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Esmeralda, age 17 months (Aurora)
Our experience with A Shared Vision has been wonderful. Not only did we receive helpful resources, but we did so in a caring and understanding way which is so important to us while we navigate challenging medical diagnoses. Our A Shared Vision teacher shows care and empathy while helping guide us through best practices for our child. This is a difficult quality to find while navigating a cold and distant medical world. Thanks for all you do! |
Our Teachers and Their Families
One Step at a Time
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Off to School
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Willa, age 12 months (Denver)
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Parent Reflections
I was very nervous about my son’s Cortical Visual Impairment. When we first met our teacher I felt like she was on his team immediately. She helped me understand CVI and how to engage my son. She has made all his vision complications a little less scary. Our teacher communicates well with other members on our daughter’s team. I am impressed by her extensive knowledge of vision impairments and how that correlates with other developmental delays. We are so grateful for the value that she brings to our life! Our teacher helps not only with our son’s visual needs but also provides resources to support his overall development and will go above and beyond to find answers for all of our questions. |
Family Support Program
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We provide education, community connections, and support for families of children with visual impairments through group activities (virtual and in person), our monthly newsletter, website resources, and social media. Our goal is to improve the capabilities and the emotional health of caregivers who raise children with visual impairments.
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Family Events
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As pandemic restrictions lifted, our teachers led our return to in-person and virtual events for their families in 2022. They hosted five virtual “Mystery Parties” on topics ranging from preparing for preschool to making a sensory gel bag to strategies parents can use when raising a child with cortical visual impairment. Families enjoyed these events so much they asked for more virtual time to socialize and share ideas.
In September, our families were invited to a free event to meet the miniature horses from McNicholas Miniatures at a park in Centennial. |
Volunteer Events
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Learning Experiences & Sensory Recipes
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In 2022, we published "Learning Experiences: For Families of Very Young Children Who Are Visually Impaired." The book was dedicated to our teachers, without whom the ideas for the book wouldn’t be possible.
We also continued to develop (and taste!) new sensory recipes complementing our cookbook which we published the prior year. A big hit with our families.
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Education Program
Vision Screening, Birth to Age 3
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Financials
Jack, age 10 months (Golden)
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A Shared Vision early intervention services are provided at no cost to families. Unlike center-based programs, we do not charge tuition or other fees to the families we support.
While a part of the costs to deliver home vision services are paid by Colorado’s Community Centered Boards using federal IDEA Part C and other state funds, we rely on support from our donors to deliver the breadth of our programming. We are a nimble, virtual organization with very little overhead. None of our expenses include brick-and-mortar structures or other capital investments as early intervention vision services are best provided in families’ homes - the ideal model for delivery which is substantiated through years of research. In 2022, we continued to invest in programs that benefited our families and provided additional financial support for our teachers, leveraging in part the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) grant we received in 2021. |
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Statement of Financial Position
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Statement of Activity
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Thank You!
Annalise, age 8 months (Craig)
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The many individuals and organizations who gave to A Shared Vision deserve all the credit. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of so many children and families in Colorado. The following donors helped make our programs possible.
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