About VIPS Louisville
Before 1985, children who were blind/visually impaired in Kentucky & Southern Indiana had no access to early intervention services for their vision-specific needs. That all changed when a group of concerned citizens, lead by Sharon Bensinger, formed the idea to start VIPS. Mrs. Bensinger had no personal connection to anyone who was blind, other than being employed by American Printing House for the Blind Research Department. However, it was in that job that she took countless numbers of phone calls from desperate parents looking for services for their blind child.
With $20,000 in startup grants from WHAS Crusade for Children and Metro United Way, VIPS was born! Mrs. Bensinger was the first employee and began with a caseload of 14 families. Since that time, VIPS has grown into an impactful agency, serving approximately 500 families a year across two states, with office locations in Louisville, Lexington, and Indianapolis. VIPS Louisville operates Kentucky’s only full-time preschool for children with visual impairments, a nationally accredited program and Jefferson County, KY’s first five-star rated child care facility.
Have a question?
Contact the VIPS Louisville office for more information!
Why is early intervention so critical for these children?
DID YOU KNOW?
90% of what a child learns
is through their vision.
85% of the foundation of learning happens the first 5 years of their life.
How does your donation benefit a child who is blind or visually impaired?
Your donation directly impacts the life of children who are blind or visually impaired in Kentucky and Indiana.
Featured Grantor for VIPS Louisville
Louisville Downtown Lions Club
The Louisville Downtown Lions Club is a major supporter of VIPS-Louisville, having donated nearly $320,000 since the year 2000. These gifts have impacted VIPS families greatly, as they have funded our teachers to provide critical early intervention services. The Louisville Downtown Lions Club has also supported VIPS in the following ways:
• Presenting Sponsor of the Stampede for VIPS 5K
• Give For Good Louisville matching sponsor
• Capital Campaign donor
• Family Retreat
• VIPS mini bus contributor
The Louisville Downtown Lions Club is part of the world’s largest service club organization, which is comprised of 46,000 clubs and 1.4+ million members. Members do whatever is needed to help their local communities, with emphasis on vision issues. The Louisville Downtown Lions Club hosts its bi-monthly meetings at the VIPS office in Louisville.
Wish List
- Clorox Wipes
- Lysol Spray
- Hand Sanitizer
- Face Masks
- BlueTooth dual pairing Speaker set
- Cricut Maker Machine
- Cricut mats
- Self-Adhesive Laminating Sheets, 9" x 12”
- Astrobrights Cardstock, 8.5" x 11", 65 lb “Vintage" 5-Color Assortment
- All colors of cardstock especially white and black
- White construction paper
- Adhesive Hook and Loop Velcro, Black, 1-Inch x 10-Foot Industrial Grade and Wear and Tear Resistant
- Crayola Silly Scents Twistables Crayons, 24 Classic Crayola Colors Non-Toxic Art Tools for Kids 3 & Up, Scented Self-Sharpening No Mess Twist-Up Crayons
- Washable Glue
- Colored duct tape
- Elmer’s Jumbo Glue Sticks
- Dry Erase Markers (black) thick and thin
- Scented markers
- Play-doh (small containers)
- Large paint brushes (large handles)
- Washable paint
- Acrylic paint (all colors)
Recently Posted Articles
Welcome to the Simon & Estelle Knoble VIPS Family Resource Center
In late October, our Indiana staff officially moved into the new Family Resource Center located at 1212 Southeastern Avenue, just east of downtown Indianapolis! This center will not only house offices and storage for our staff, but, more importantly, will be a hub for VIPS parents to receive more resources and programming, and allow for…
Read More
Lilly Endowment Inc. and Nina Mason Pulliam grants bring VIPS near capital campaign goal
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. —Visually Impaired Preschool Services (VIPS) Indiana announced it has received grants from Lilly Endowment Inc. and the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust in the amounts of $300,000 and $250,000 respectively for its Envision the Future capital and operations campaign. The grants are instrumental in helping VIPS complete the future Family Resource Center near…
Read More
Isaac’s Arrival
On January 19th, I was on bed rest and about to go crazy. I was 4 cm, 80% effaced, and knew that Isaac could be born any day. That evening, as I was watching TV, I thought my water broke and it was finally time to go to the hospital and give a *natural* birth.…
Read More