See to Succeed completes another successful mission with CFISD

The Houston Health Department’s (HHD) See to Succeed program reached an incredible milestone in 2023. By the year’s end, they had served over 100,000 students since its inception, a result of the hard work and hard-earned results of the program that equips students with much-needed glasses. And after serving 1200 students in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD) this week, the program shows no signs of slowing down.

See to Succeed is a public-private partnership kid’s vision program that addresses the critical need of sight and eye care by providing comprehensive eye exams and glasses to school-age students in Houston and surrounding areas. They work with area school districts and charter schools to bus children field-trip style to their high-volume vision clinics during the day throughout the entire school year. About 150 HHD staff, volunteers, and doctors spent the week in Cypress with students from elementary school up to high school to receive testing.

According to See To Succeed Program Manager Jacy King, her team begins planning in the summer and prepares their West End location, where most students will travel to for their testing. King estimates that her team travels about 4 times a year to larger districts to reach students in those areas.

The program mirrors incident command logistics to run the multi-unit clinic and it is quite a well-oiled machine. When the students arrive, they are tested for near and distance acuity, color blindness, and stereo-depth perception. Afterward, they meet with doctors to receive further testing and diagnostics before they pick out their favorite frames. Once they’ve completed testing, optometrists create their glasses, deliver them to the various schools later, and make any necessary adjustments before students can take home their new specs.

“It’s amazing to see how we’ve grown,” King said. “This program was built from a pilot launched in 2011. Fast forward to 2024 and we are a staple in the community. We are our own standing program that has several partnerships throughout the city that help make See to Succeed what it is today. And we see an immediate impact. The kids get their glasses and they’re doing better in school, they’re not absent as much, and they’re passing classes. It’s neat to provide that service during the school day.”

Last year’s milestone was great, and King hopes the program keeps up the momentum to make way for expansion opportunities.

“My dream is to have a home building so we can serve more kids,” King said. “We have the capacity to see up to 10,000 kids per year but really, we just want to see as many kids that we need to see. I want See to Succeed to be around as long as possible and even spread to farther areas across Texas because the need is everywhere.”

Its success is a testament to the great employees and staff that are dedicated to the program. A number of the people who work the mission full-time are retired members of HHD, who jumped at the chance to work with this important service. See to Succeed Chief Nurse Carolyn Mitchell retired seven years ago but has worked with the program ever since.

“I think it’s a great evidence-based program,” Mitchell said. ‘We see good results and I enjoy working with kids. I also enjoy coming back to socialize and have the opportunity to bond with other health department employees. It’s a rewarding opportunity to still be connected to the health department.”

The team will head to Pasadena ISD next to provide life-changing glasses to deserving students. Special thanks to all of the community members who volunteered the entire week, HHD staff, nursing school students from Prairie View A&M University and Texas Woman’s University and all the dedicated optometrists.