We want our families to know just how much we care.
Last year proved to be a very successful year for providing tissue for corneal transplantation. The gift of sight. Sometimes we forget who made this possible, where did the corneal tissue actually come from? It comes from those generous people that registered to be a donor, along with the family that supports and honors their loved one’s decision. It is because of this act of kindness, we are able to continue our mission.
Every day, we work diligently to secure the opportunity to improve a life through corneal donation…
All of the recipient success stories we share are exceptional. From time to time we find something that is extraordinary. Shu Wei is that extraordinary story…MIS shares in his journey from dark to light.
Asked to recount his life’s work, Dean Vavra casually calls it a career he “fell into.” But it is clear that fate played a part, from his growing up with three visually impaired brothers to his serving two combat tours in Iran and Afghanistan. He was an ophthalmological technician Army reservist.
Vavra today is CEO of Miracles in Sight, an eye bank that is already the second-largest in the country and growing apace. The eye bank garners revenues of more than $10 million a year and employs 93 workers, 78 of them at its Winston-Salem headquarters on West Point Boulevard.
Read the full article at the Triad Business Journal.
Miracles In Sight takes great pride in partnering with doctors and technical staff at eye banks around the world.
Dr. Uman Mathur, Associate Director with Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital, our sister eye bank in Delhi, India was our guest this week at Miracles in Sight… his work in India is very inspiring and we love to hear about the progress he is making in Delhi.
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That two nonprofit companies grew up side-by-side in the Triad is not nearly as surprising as the growth and evolution they’ve experienced in employing those who are blind.
Greensboro Industries of the Blind (IOB) has not only continued, diversified and expanded its traditional lines of commerce, but recently contracted with the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency to warehouse and deliver a wide variety of goods within 48 hours. It’s a move lucrative enough to warrant IOB inking a five-year lease of 108,000 square feet of warehouse space in Greensboro.
Meanwhile, Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind (IFB) is already the largest U.S. employer of the blind and visually impaired in the U.S., and it continues to evolve. In what one employee calls “our best kept secret,” it has installed a full-scale eyewear retail operation that follows the LensCrafters model for providing made-to-order eyeglasses in designer frames.
Read the full article at Triad Business Journal.
While Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind and Greensboro Industries of the Blind are creating jobs for people with visual limitations, Dean Vavra and his colleagues are helping people regain vision — and in many cases return to work.
As CEO of Winston-Salem’s Miracles in Sight, Vavra leads the second-largest of about 75 eye banks in the U.S., a shrinking fraternity of organizations involved in corneal transplants. The Winston-Salem-based nonprofit had about $10 million in revenues last year, and today employs 91 people, 80 of them in Winston-Salem and 11 in South Carolina.
Read the full article at Triad Biz Journal
