Inspiring Progress: Paco Padilla’s Path of Giving | Envision Blog

Inspiring Progress: Paco Padilla’s Path of Giving

By Beth Walker • Mar 27, 2024
Paco showing two people a table full of low vision technology.

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Francisco “Paco” Padilla moved to the United States from Mexico in 2009. In 2010, while working as a truck driver in Texas, he lost his eyesight over a two-month period due to a genetic eye disease. In 2011, he found a job at Envision that brought financial stability to his family and has now been working for Envision for 13 years as a Production Lead at our manufacturing facility in Wichita. Paco is someone that doesn’t take his good fortune for granted and has spent much of his life paying it forward by taking white canes and other assistive tools for people with vision loss back to his Mexican hometown of Tepetitlan de Morelos.  

Paco goes back to Mexico every 6 months and every time he returns home, he takes more items back with him to give to the blind and low vision community, including white canes, which he purchases every month using money out of his own paycheck. During his most recent visit in March of this year, he took a kit of magnifiers and optical lens glasses, provided by the Envision Vision Rehabilitation Center, giving them to the Samartin Public Library in his hometown.  

“Whenever I provide tools for people with vision loss in Mexico, they are so grateful,” said Padilla. “Many use PVC pipes or sticks to navigate around because white canes aren’t readily available and magnifiers and other tools for low vision aren’t really sold in stores. Just last year, the Mexican government approved people with vision loss to receive disability checks, so it is just very different from the opportunities available in the United States.” 

While Paco makes trips to Mexico all the time, this time was different; it was an emergency trip due to the very recent passing of his mother. “I couldn’t bring as many items back this time as I would have liked to because it was so quick,” said Padilla. “But my mom taught me the most beautiful thing in life: sharing love.”  

At the Samartin Public Library, employees are ecstatic to have low vision tools available for the public. One employee even plans to visit schools in Mexico to give presentations and demonstrations. Paco encouraged the library to do this regularly to teach people how to use these tools, and they will remain at the library for those who visit and want to learn how to use them. 

In the future, Paco plans to come back again to take tools to a nearby town his uncle lives in, who is the mayor. Every time he visits his hometown, those in surrounding areas always ask him to visit and he plans to visit as many nearby towns as possible to provide them with tools to thrive.