VSP Blog

Today’s post is written by guest blogger Smith Wyckoff, an Associate Marketing Manager with Transitions Optical. Smith manages the mobile clinics partnership with VSP. 

The clinic staff gather together with a patient at the Illumination Foundation event.

Looking back on the 2^nd year of Transitions Optical’s partnership with the VSP Mobile Eyes program, I am thoroughly impressed at the way this outreach program delivers on its promise to provide eyecare and eyewear to those in need.  In every community across the United States, there are those who cannot afford proper eyecare and often are unaware that their vision needs correction.  At each and every event, we provide comprehensive eye exams and glasses to those who need them.  The response is resoundingly gracious and humbling to those who volunteer their time.  It’s always especially gratifying to see patients’ faces light up when they learn that not only are they getting brand new eyeglasses, they are also getting them fitted with Transitions lenses that very day!  [Note: this is for patient’s seen on the Eyenstein mobile clinic.]

Since VSP founded the program after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated New Orleans and Southeast Texas in 2005, in 2011, we had the opportunity to provide crisis outreach after a series of tornadoes ripped through northern Alabama and Joplin, Missouri.  For over 7 weeks, the clinics team was able to see hundreds of patients who had lost their homes and possessions.   For those of us requiring vision correction, try to imagine how difficult it would be to go a day without glasses – let alone all of your other possessions.  Throughout this relief program, the Mobile Clinics team was aided by volunteers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry.  Similarly, In Joplin, the Missouri Optometric Association stepped in to provide assistance.

Folks wait outside the clinic to have their eyes examined

Over the past two years, we’ve visited over 50 organizations and seen nearly 3,000 patients.  Our partnership clinic, Eyenstein, has traveled across America from our headquarters near Tampa, Florida, to help organizations in Chicago, Pittsburgh, New York City, Washington DC, Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and many, many more.  At Transitions Optical, we’ve supported nearly all of these events with volunteer support and have had almost 30 employees participate to date including kid-focused events at schools for our Eye Didn’t Know That! activities.  The roles at these events vary from trip to trip, but we could not be a valued partner with VSP without our volunteers and I am extremely thankful for those who have spent time on Eyenstein.

In true Transitions Optical style, we have set out to find opportunities to partner through outreach with industry leaders.  To date, in addition to those mentioned above, we’ve held successful events with the Essilor Vision Foundation, Prevent Blindness America, SVS Vision, Hoya, the Georgia Optometric Association, and the National Optometric Association.  We’re always looking for the right partners to help bring more impact to outreach events.

Sometimes patients have needs that go beyond 20/20 vision correction.  This is where VSP’s comprehensive vision exam trumps traditional vision screenings.   The volunteer doctors onboard Eyenstein detect cases of amblyopia (lazy eye) on almost every trip.  This condition is easily corrected if caught early enough.  We have also detected juvenile diabetes, high blood pressure, detached retinas, and other disorders that can impact much more than just vision – and many can be corrected if detected early enough.

During my most recent outreach in November – helping the homeless population of Orange County, California – I was taken aback by the sheer volume of health services being provided: flu shots, dental checks, hearing exams, pregnancy tests, STD diagnosis, and rows upon row of people waiting patiently for eye exams.  A special thanks to the Illumination Foundation for all that they do and for holding this annual event that helps so many.

I’m excited to see where 2012 takes us and how we can improve the current program to see more patients and continue to give back and increase the awareness of both comprehensive eye exams and protecting your eyes.