Wheaton vision center hope new name means more donors

Fundraising for Wheaton's Deicke Center for Low Vision hit a consistent hurdle over the years: Potential donors said, "We've already given to the Deicke Center."

Unfortunately, they often meant another one.

There's the Deicke Center of the Marklund Children's Home in Winfield, the Deicke Center for Nursing Education in Elmhurst, and even the Ryall YMCA on Deicke Drive in Glen Ellyn.

The vision center is solving the problem by changing its name. Starting Friday, it is the Spectrios Institute for Low Vision at Deicke House.

The unusual name hails from two sources: "spectrum" representing the wide range of services, and "trios" based on the center's three-pronged approach of treating head, heart and eyes.

"It defines who we are," said Diane Levine, the center's director of development.

Founded in 1986, the Deicke Center always has focused on working with people who have low- vision disorders, such as macular degeneration or glaucoma.

Center officials worked with the Taproot Foundation - an organization whose experts do pro bono work for nonprofit groups - to create a high-profile brand and message.

One of the things the group first was told is that they'd need to consider a name change, Levine said.

"It would be beneficial because Deicke was difficult to find on the Internet," she said.

While the vast majority of its clients now are in their 70s and 80s, the next group of people likely to suffer vision problems requiring the center's care are tech-savvy baby boomers.

"They are accessing things through the Internet, so we have to make sure we can be found there," Levine said.

The group also has a new Web site: spectrios.org.

Spectrios will have an open house to showcase its services from 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 16 at 219 E. Cole Ave., Wheaton.