Community Non-Profit: Focus Ahead
Focus Ahead is a non-profit organization with a mission to raise awareness, advocate, and accelerate research for those affected by rare retinal diseases. Focus Ahead has a goal of bringing community awareness to blindness and moving ahead toward treatment.
Allison and Clint Wolf founded this organization in 2023 after their son was diagnosed at age seven with Inherited Retinal Dystrophy (IRD). Also called Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), this disease causes low vision and progressive blindness. It can affect children at any age. LCA is the most common cause of inherited blindness in childhood, with close to 8,000 people impacted in the United States.
Goals
While the main aim is to bring awareness to this disease, Focus Ahead also seeks to spotlight research and science that can help combat the progression of LCA. At this time, there is no cure, despite ongoing research. Focus Ahead raises financial support for the movement, for use in clinical trials and other forms of treatment.
How You Can Help
Donate
Donations go directly to funding research to find a cure for this disease. And every person who donates will receive a free copy of Elliot’s Mission! Elliot’s Mission is a book written and illustrated by Elliot, the son of Focus Ahead founders Allison and Clint Wolf. In this book, Elliot dreams of being an astronaut one day, even with his vision loss. Donate here!
Attend a Fundraiser
A fundraising event for Focus Ahead ‘Dinner in the Dark’ will take place November 7th, 2024 at Riven Haven Events Center in Moorhead, Minnesota. Registration for this event opens August 1st. This unique dining experience will give attendees a firsthand look at living with LCA and other retinal diseases. Cocktail hour and dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m., with a program at 7:00 p.m., featuring special guest Blind Joe.
Follow Focus Ahead on Facebook for more details about this event!
At Focus Ahead, they believe blindness does not mean an inability, but an ability to do things in other ways not seen.
To learn more about this organization, check out the Focus Ahead website!
