Jill N. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team
The VSP Mobile Eyes® clinic spent a week in the Bay Area of California earlier this year partnering with five local charities. I was lucky enough to have the chance to join Niki M., Mobile Clinic Specialist, at the Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco where VSP partnered with Project Homeless Connect (PHC) to provide free comprehensive eye exams and free eyewear to homeless individuals. I left Sacramento early that rainy Wednesday morning excited and energized to finally see the clinic in action.
When I arrived I was fortunate to have Niki take my keys to expertly park my car
behind the clinic. What a gal, not only can she drive a 45 foot RV in the city, she can also parallel park like a champ. Fortunately, the rain had stopped by this time so I was able to take some good pictures before the first rush of patients started arriving.
I was quickly brought up to speed on how to help patients select frames (honesty is always appreciated),
measure for bifocals and note prescriptions. After always hearing Niki talk about the amazing people she meets on a regular basis, it was surreal to witness some of those people first-hand. It was inspirational to realize these were real people, who had dreams, aspirations and truly were in need and were so grateful to have the opportunity to see again. Something so basic and important, yet so many of us take for granted.
Those four hours went by so fast, yet we were able to help so many people. Niki even managed to fit in a quick chat with a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle who was doing a story on veterans and was interested in the work the clinic did, specifically the priors day work it did in the Tenderloin district.
All in all, the Mobile Eyes clinic helped over 411 people in the Bay Area in just five days. I was just as grateful to have the chance to witness our mission in action. You can keep up to date on where the clinics are at vsp.com/community and clicking on the 2009 Event Calendar. You can also follow the clinics on Twitter! @SeeLia & @SeeZar
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