VSP Eyes of Hope Mobile Clinic Helps 83-Year-Old Detroit Resident Overcome 20 Years of Poor Vision with Free Eye Care Services
Jake Newby
| 4 min read
Healthy vision is a cornerstone of healthy aging. It prolongs independence. Katherine Lawrence – an 83-year-old Detroit resident who has struggled with cataracts for the better part of two decades – knows this.
It’s why she feels so blessed and grateful to be a part of the VSP® Eyes of Hope® mobile clinic event – in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan – at Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit.
“I’m excited and I’m just so thankful,” Lawrence said, one week before having her eyes tested at the two-day mobile clinic event on Detroit’s east side. “I’m thankful that people are thinking about seniors. We’re not forgotten. We got a whole lot of living to do.”
VSP’s mobile clinic provides “hope” to residents like Lawrence, who need it the most
VSP Eyes of Hope events increase equitable access to no-cost eye care and eyewear for individuals in need by addressing barriers of income, distance and disaster. To date, Eyes of Hope has provided access to no-cost vision care for more than 4.3 million people in need.
Folks without vision insurance walk away from these events with solutions to their vision problems. Patient qualifications include a family income within 200% of the federal poverty guidelines and no vision insurance.
Lawrence will add to that list of 4.3 million people after next week’s event, where she will receive a long overdue eye exam.
In her late 60s, Lawrence began to struggle to see out of her right eye. She remembered having to strain and squint more than ever before. She found out she had a cataract in her right eye, which she later had surgically removed. But when a second cataract developed in her left eye a few years later, she wasn’t financially able to have another surgery.
“Money became a problem,” Lawrence said. “Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, my eyes are kind of closed shut. I put some hot water on them to kind of separate my eyelids. And then I just keep going. I can see OK out of my right eye. But I have a hard time reading fine print.”
Lawrence wears store-bought reader glasses, but she knows she needs prescription-strength glasses. She just hasn’t been able to afford them.
“When (this event) came up at church last week, I knew it was a blessing,” added Lawrence, who worked as a nurse for most of her life until she became a fulltime caretaker for her late mother.
Lawrence said she’s most excited for everyday reading to finally become easier, to become second nature like it is so for so many others.
“Reading labels, when I go in the store, they are printed kind of small,” Lawrence said. “And then reading the paper or reading a book. Anything. I don’t want to have to squint and try to have someone else tell me what it says. That’s kind of embarrassing. Fixing this will help with independence. All of us seniors, we want to be more independent, that’s all.”
Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church is the very same church Lawrence has attended since childhood. She will be picked up by the Mt. Pleasant church bus, which transports seniors and families in need of a ride to and from church-sponsored events. When the bus arrives at its destination Friday morning, Lawrence and others will receive their comprehensive eye exam and prescription glasses at no cost.
Beyond just her own personal needs, Lawrence recognizes how crucial VSP’s Eyes of Hope mobile clinic events are for older adults. She knows seniors sometimes suffer in silence or tolerate daily struggles because of financial problems or lack of access to care. Events like these make it so they don’t have to.
“A lot of times, seniors don’t say anything,” Lawrence. “But they need the glasses, and they just go on and do without. But thank God we don’t have to do without anymore.”
Visit MIBlueDaily.com next week to see video of Lawrence reacting to her eye appointment.
Photo credit: VSP
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