Conexus for Children's Vision
Changing Lives One Student at a Time
According to Tim Gresham, president and CEO of Conexus for Children’s Vision, the statistics are startling. Consider that 80% of what a child learns in a normal classroom setting is through vision. One out of every four school-aged children has a vision problem significant enough to impact learning, and in schools with a higher rate of poverty—where Conexus focuses its efforts—that number increases to one out of every three students. Children whose vision is less than 20/20 are three times more likely to fail a grade in school, and 70% of juvenile delinquents have an uncorrected vision problem. The time kids spend on computers, tablets, iPhones, and screens has only exacerbated the problem.
Conexus Vision provides young students with state-of-the-art vision screening at schools throughout Virginia. Conexus (a Greek word meaning alliance) is a Chesterfield-based nonprofit, formerly known as the Virginia Affiliate of the National Society to Prevent Blindness, that is committed to changing these statistics and helping children in Virginia see better and live better.
“Our mission is to eliminate poor vision as a barrier to a child’s success in school – and in life,” says Tim, who answered an ad for a development director in 1986 and has made a 39-year career of it. “For years we did this by training school nurses to provide vision screenings. Today, the goal is to complement the services provided by school nurses whose time is stretched thin. We have evolved into an organization that uses cutting edge technology to provide actual vision screens to students. Now in 52 school divisions across Virginia, our VisioCheck program has screened over 100,000 students in 2024 alone and more than 500,000 students since it began.”
Checking vision becomes a fun activity for young children and if needed, they can choose frames onsite after their exam.
The state mandates that students be provided with vision screening in kindergarten, second or third grade, seventh grade, and again in tenth grade. VisioCheck programs use the safe, non-invasive pluoptiX® digital screening technology to check for nearsightedness, farsightedness, focus, pupil size and corneal reflexes.
“This is the very best vision screening available in the world today,” says Tim. “One of the beautiful things about our program is it doesn’t require anything from the child so we can screen children who are non-verbal, have a language barrier, or are on the spectrum.”
Using a hand-held device, Conexus technicians circulate the classroom visiting each student. They stand about two feet away, so from a student’s perspective, it’s almost like having a picture taken. “A good quality technician can screen an entire classroom in 20 minutes. It’s fast and it interrupts less of their day,” adds Tim.
While services are free to students, Conexus fundraises to purchase equipment used in the clinics as well as vans to transport it. “It’s truly a public-private partnership,” explains Tim, who says Medicaid reimbursements cover about 60% of their costs, with 40% coming from donors in the community.
Tim Gresham, Conexus president & CEO, is dedicated to improving vision for children which can help them succeed in school. Conexus first connected with TowneBank in 2018 when they needed a line of credit to help with cash flow. Tim recalls, “The bank we were with told me they could probably do it, but it would take two to three weeks and I had payroll coming up! My board chairman called a friend at Towne who connected us to Curt Straub, senior vice president and commercial banker. Curt said, ‘I think we can get this done for you.’ And that was it. I sent him our latest financials and our last audit and later that day he called and said, ‘Okay, we’re all set. I can get you a check tomorrow.’ Curt personally delivered the check and said, ‘This is not conditional on you moving your business to us, but if you would ever care to do that, we’d love to have you.’ I thanked him and a few months later I called Curt and we moved everything to Towne. It’s been a real blessing for us.”
With no immediate plans to retire, Tim sums it up well, “We know that with our help attendance is better, behavior is better, and academic performance is better among these kids. We’re making a huge difference in their lives. Nothing compares to the joy on the face of a child who puts on their glasses and can see clearly for the first time. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
For more information, visit ConexusVision.org.