In 2026, the Eye & Ear Foundation and its Community Outreach Committee created the Advancing Care Together (ACT) Program, which secures ongoing funding for community care in Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology. ACT allows the Eye & Ear Foundation to work directly with companies that want to specifically support delivering essential vision and hearing services to those in need throughout the Pittsburgh region.
“Access to high-quality vision and hearing care can change the course of a person’s life. Through ACT sponsorship, we are bringing that care directly to neighbors who might otherwise go without—and helping build a healthier, more connected Pittsburgh region,” said Lawton Snyder, Eye & Ear Foundation CEO.
The National Institute of Health predicts that the prevalence of vision loss will double by 2020, leaving some of our most vulnerable neighbors at greater risk of losing vision. The Department of Ophthalmology has a long history of providing free eye care for underserved communities around Pittsburgh. ACT sponsors would be supporting initiatives such as Eyes on Wheels, eyeVan missions, and the patient navigation program, bringing vision care to the patients who need it most.
“Our community outreach programs are built around a simple idea: we need to bring eye care to people who might otherwise go without it,” said Evan L. Waxman MD, PhD, Division Chief, Comprehensive Eye Service, Professor of Ophthalmology, and Founder and Director of Eyes on Wheels. “Support from ACT sponsors helps us do that, whether through mobile eye care, free community clinics, or helping patients navigate the healthcare system. That support makes a real difference in our ability to reach people who need us most.”
Only 18% of adults who would benefit from amplification wear hearing aids in the U.S. Untreated hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline, social isolation, falls, depression, medical adverse events, and increased hospitalization. For younger adults, access to hearing health supports social interactions, access to education, and employment. For our youngest community members, access to hearing supports speech and language development and educational success. Barriers to hearing care include lack of insurance coverage for hearing aids, access to clinics, lack of transportation, time, trust, and knowledge of the health care system.
HearUP works to bridge these gaps. HearUP (Hearing Education and Resources for Underserved Populations) supports individuals in the community living with hearing loss who lack access to essential care. That includes older adults striving for continued independence, people seeking employment or educational opportunities, recent immigrants adjusting to life in a new country, and others for whom untreated hearing loss creates daily challenges. ACT sponsors support Community Hearing Clinics and Communication Van, bringing accessible hearing care to those who need it most.
“ACT has literally allowed us to ‘act’ on our goal of bringing care into the community with our Communication Van,” said Catherine V. Palmer, PhD, Director, UPMC Audiology, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication Science and Disorders, and Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. “Without these funds, we would not have been able to provide hearing care to an additional 180 individuals this past year who could not get to our brick-and-mortar clinics.”
There are four levels of sponsorship opportunities, as well as the ability to direct a donation to the ACT program via EEF’s website. For more information, reach out to Craig Smith at craig@eyeandear.org.