“Thank you so much for your generous donations to the EyeRide Foundation.  My name is Allyson White.  I was born with congenital cataracts and subsequently had a retinal detachment, which caused me to lose my vision in my left eye.  I have worked with children since I graduated from college in 2005.  I love working with children and it helps me manage struggles I’ve had with my mental health.  Since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic the MBTA (public transportation authority in Boston).has implemented service cuts.  The MBTA has eliminated the bus route that takes my from my apartment to the school I work at.  I am extremely grateful for the contribution the EyeRide Foundation has made toward my transportation costs for get to/from work.”

” i want to thank the Eye Ride Foundation for giving me this transportation grant.  I have been looking for work for several years, with little success.  A huge hindrance in my acquiring work is transportation.  With this grant i am able to apply for a teaching job in the next town.  If I get it, I will be teaching Math in a home school/farm environment.  The llama farm provides and excellent backdrop in which young minds can develop early stem skills. And (the) Uber fee to this job is $45 each way which prohibits one from applying for this job.  Eye Ride Foundation gives me the ability to share my academic and traditional art skills with my Community

“I am so very gratefulfor this money from EyeRide.  Especially during this time (Covid-19 pandemic) it feels like a blessing from the sky (crying).  I will be able to get to dialysis without botheringfamily for money.  A millionthanks to EyeRide and God.”

It was so hard for me to accept a donation but it was harder for me to think about losing my independence.  Eye Ride Foundation’s generosity is enabling me be continue receiving the medical care I need to help prevent blindness.  I have to pay for private transportation to my doctor’s office and would not be able to do it without Eye Ride Foundation’s help.

Thank you so much for helping me! I have struggled to get to places for so long, and as I have gotten older it has been really hard not having independence. Thanks to you, I am able to go places that I was previously not able to go to. I can meet up with friends and get to appointments without relying on others for rides. Thank you EyeRide for helping me!

As the Executive Director of the Florida Outreach Center for the Blind and a blind person myself, I am aware of the critical need for visually-impaired individuals to have access to transportation.  My husband, who is also blind, and I know what it is like to be prisoners in our home because of no public transit service.  We had to leave our beautiful house and friends to move to a large city with a transportation system.  I can not express how wonderful it was to do everyday activities like take our children to school functions, go shopping, and participate in community events without having to beg someone for a ride.  Having access to transportation allowed us to become active in society and establish the Center which provides jobs and training for blind individuals.  Once while traveling on local para transit system, I heard a fellow consumer say she had to choose between a gallon of milk and paying the bus fare.  This is a reality for blind people living on a fixed income and is evident to those of us at the Center when a student doesn’t show up for classes because they have run out of money.  Blindness can be reduced to a mere nuisance when we have the proper tools and training.  Thanks to the assistance of the Eye Ride Foundation, individuals with severe vision loss will have access to transportation that will enable them to accomplish life-sustaining activities and live independently.

As an optometrist I treat many patients with visual impairment of all ages.  Through the generosity of Eye Ride Foundation, it gives me great pleasure to know that these people will be assisted with their transportation needs to provide life changing independence.