In March, Vision Resources of Central Pennsylvania (VROCP) was slated to start a two-year campaign to bring awareness to the services the agency provides the blind and visually impaired and attention to the increasing numbers of eye-related diseases. Vision Resources will celebrate its 100th anniversary in March 2021, and the agency wants everyone to join the organization in a successful launch of the next century of service to the region.
Vision Resources began its history as a community benefit organization in Harrisburg in March 1921. Over the years the nonprofit grew and expanded its responsibilities to include Cumberland and Perry counties. The organization adopted the name Tri-County Association for the Blind at that time, which it used until the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind (PAB) asked if the agency would also take on responsibilities for Franklin County.
Now that the organization covered four counties, the name Tri-County did not fit. Also, following a name-change study by Leadership Harrisburg, it was identified that about half of all people who were referred by their doctors to the agency for eye examinations would not make the visit because of the word "blind" in the name. Hence, the board of directors and management team elected to change the name to Vision Resources of Central Pennsylvania, dropping the word "blind" and more clearly describing the organization and its mission.
Now the agency faces new challenges, and it is working to prepare itself for its next century of service. Over the next two years, Vision Resources aims to bring more public awareness to the expanded numbers of eye-related diseases, the agency's programs and prevention services, and businesses the organization operates to generate income and offer employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
Increased numbers of clients will require increases in financial support to meet the future demands. In response, Vision Resources has created the 2020 Vision Endowment Fund to establish a perpetually reliable and predictable source of income to the organization as it moves forward. The endowment will also serve as a means for donors to make a legacy gift to VROCP and sustain all that the organization provides for years to come.
To learn more about Vision Resources, its 100th anniversary celebration, and the 2020 Vision Endowment Fund, readers may contact Paul Zavinsky at 717-238-2531 or pzavinsky@vrocp.org.
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