By Anita Ruff, Executive Director, Oasis Free Clinics
Have you ever taken a moment to close your eyes and ask yourself what your life would be like if, when you opened them, everything remained dark? To have your vision gone? How would you navigate your world without sight?
I think about this often. As my mother aged, she became legally blind, thanks to a disease called macular degeneration. Over time, her field of vision narrowed so significantly that she had to stop driving, and everyday tasks like grocery shopping became challenging. She had always been an avid reader, but the loss of sight required a transition to listening instead of reading books. While this was a huge loss for her, she was also fortunate to have a medical provider who caught it in its early stages, had insurance to cover the prescriptions that helped delay progression, and a network of friends to help her around the house.
At Oasis, we understand the importance of healthy vision for our patients. In addition to the quality of life aspects, your ability to see impacts what job you can have, how you get around in our community, and where you live. We know this, and yet, historically, it has been a struggle to find free or affordable eye care for our patients.
A few years ago, I asked our Clinical Director, Michelle, what the clinic needed and what services were missing. She immediately said, “Get us an optometrist.” As she said it, my inner voice said no way was that happening.
Two days later, I got a call from Dr. Mark Alexander, a local optometrist, asking if we could use his help. Call it divine intervention, manifesting, or plain old dumb luck. But Dr. Alexander’s call opened the door to Oasis providing critical vision care for our patients.
Dr. Alexander got to work putting together an eye exam room, procuring the equipment needed to provide great vision care. Then he got to work seeing our patients (no pun intended!). What he found was a lot of people had foregone eye care for a very long time. Many had old prescriptions and were making do with glasses that were no longer helpful. Dr. Alexander also found that several of our patients were at high risk for glaucoma, a degenerative eye disease that can lead to blindness. We found funding to help buy new glasses for people who needed them and connected with a great organization that sold them to us at a discounted price. Thanks to Dr. Alexander and VIP Eyes, many of our patients were seeing clearly for the first time in years.
How does makes a difference? We had a patient who had lost her glasses and couldn’t afford new ones. She was taking a class and couldn’t see the chalkboard or her teacher’s slides. She became downhearted and frustrated. She mentioned this during a medical visit with Michelle, who promptly scheduled her with Dr. Alexander. After her vision exam, we helped her get new glasses. She returned to her class, eager to learn. With her spirits lifted, she found purpose and satisfaction by helping her struggling classmates.
The next time you look around and see the beautiful face of a loved one, the stars twinkling low in the sky, or the pages of a book, say a little thanks – for your ability to see and for people like Dr. Alexander who make it possible for others to have healthy vision. Both are incredible gifts.
Oasis Free Clinics is a non-profit, no-cost primary care medical practice and dental clinic, providing exceptional, patient-centered care to uninsured members of our community. For more information, please call 721-9277 or visit www.OasisFreeClinics.org.
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