643 Homeless San Franciscans receive eye glasses!

I wanted to let you know that to date we have been able to provide 643 homeless San Franciscans with prescription eye glasses in 2016!

Without my glasses I can't do anything.  I can't even see well enough to find my glasses in the morning.  Not only did we help 643 individuals see, we also helped countless individuals avoid headaches, to be able to fill out paperwork to improve their quality of life, to see dangers on the sidewalks and streets and to escape the difficulty of life through a good book.

A few of the individuals at our vision events discovered issues that required further medical care and at least one was able to get a life changing surgery in partnership with the Lions Eye Foundation.

In addition to all the great health effects, individuals who are used to hearing "no" got a major "yes."  "Yes," we can get you a free pair of eye glasses.  "Yes," you can pick out whatever pair of frames you like.  "Yes," the fine folk at Project Homeless Connect where you pick up your glasses can help you improve other parts of your life. 

Thank you for helping us say "yes" to 643 homeless people who needed glasses.  Over the next year we plan to continue our "yes" by partnering with others and doing what we can to patch the holes in San Francisco's continuum of care. 

Thank you for saying "yes" to our HandUp campaign!


Rev. Dr. Megan Rohrer
Executive Director or Welcome and Pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

The total number of individuals who have received glasses though our Homeless Vision Project since October of 2013: 2,530

A huge thank you to St. Paulus Lutheran Church and The Sam Mazza Foundation and the Castro Lions Club for providing major financial support for this project! 

2nd Annual Homeless Vision Event in Kailua-Kona Hawaii

On Saturday, March 22, 2015 the Kona Vision event for homeless residents of the Big Island provided 61 pairs of prescription glasses for those in need.

Services and Partners: The Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity partnered with Project Vision Hawaii, the Kailua-Kona Lions Club and pastor Megan Rohrer from the Welcome Ministry in San Francisco to put on the Kona Vision Event to benefit homeless people and other low-income people with their vision needs.

Dr. Susan Senft and Jenn Brown, staff at Island Eye Care Inc., administered free eye exams. The prescription glasses will be distributed by the church’s HERO Ministry. The Hawaii Island HIV/AIDS Foundation offered HIV/HCV screenings. Lisa Lea, a SNAP outreach specialist for Hope Services, assisted people with SNAP applications.

Representatives from the West Hawaii Community Health Center provided information about services offered at the center and information about signing up for health insurance. Sarah Huddy from the Kona Commons SuperCuts offered free haircuts. A free meal, blood pressure, and blood sugar screenings were also offered during the event.



The total number of individuals who have received glasses though our Homeless Vision Project since October of 2013: 1,232

A huge thank you to St. Paulus Lutheran Church and The Sam Mazza Foundation for providing major financial support for this project!

September and October Vision Event Results in San Francisco

Diamond Heights Event  - 24 participants obtained eye exams and prescription eye glasses at the neighborhood health fair. 

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church - Sunset District- 35 participants got eye exams and prescription glasses at our neighborhood block party.

LGBTQ Connect - Castro District - 49 exams and prescription glasses were given away at this event.

The Gubbio Project at St. Boniface Catholic Church - Tenderloin District  - 35 exams and prescription glasses were obtained for the homeless individuals that sleep at the Gubbio Project.

Presbyterian Church of Chinatown - 25 exams and prescription glasses were given away at this event.

The total number of individuals who have received glasses though our Homeless Vision Project since October of 2013: 823

A huge thank you to St. Paulus Lutheran Church and The Sam Mazza Foundation for providing major financial support for this project!

Three San Francisco Vision Events in June

This month we participated in three vision events throughout the city.  The first was at Project Homeless Connects event in Sunnydale where 59 people got exams and glasses.

The second event was at Sts Mary and Martha Lutheran in the Mission District where we helped get 16 individuals exams and prescription glasses:

The third event was at the Bayview Mission, where we got 24 individuals exams and prescription glasses:

The total number of individuals who have received glasses though our Homeless Vision Project since October of 2013: 471

A huge thank you to St. Paulus Lutheran Church and The Sam Mazza Foundation for providing major financial support for this project!

Upcoming Events

• July 18th - Bayview Mission, Bayview District
• August  31st - Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, North Beach District
• September - St. Aidan's Episcopal Church, Diamond Heights District

This weekend Grace Evangelical Lutheran in San Francisco we held another Health and Vision Event in San Francisco and 24 individuals were connected to proscription glasses.

  A big thank you to all the partners and volunteers who made today's event a success, including:

• 
• Welcome
• St. Paulus Lutheran Church 
• Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
• Dr. Soss
• Project Homeless Connect
• The Castro Lions Club
• And many others.

This project was made possible because of financial support from St. Paulus Lutheran Church and the Sam Mazza Foundation.

 

Our next event will be held at St. Cyprian's Episcopal/First United Lutheran in San Francisco on May 24th from 10am-3pm at the corner of Turk and Lyon.

Individuals connected to prescription glasses since our project began:349

Results of the Kailua-Kona Vision Event: March 29, 2014

This weekend at the Old Airport in Kailua-Kona we held our first Health and Vision Event in Hawaii: 291 meals were served, 105 participants signed-in to receive services, 74 individuals were connected to prescription eye glasses, 62 individuals checked their blood pressure, 51 were screened for diabetes, others received haircuts, toiletries and clothing.

News coverage of the event:

1. Before the event: West Hawaii Today
2. After the event - cover story: West Hawaii Today

 A big thank you to all the partners and volunteers who made today's event a success, including:

• 
• Welcome
• St. Paulus Lutheran Church 
• Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity 
• HERO  (Help Everyone Regardless of Outcome)
•  Island Eye Care
• The Kona Lions Club
• And many others.

This project was made possible because of financial support from St. Paulus Lutheran Church, the Sam Mazza Foundation and the Grace Family Winery Foundation.

Our next event will be held at Grace Lutheran Church in San Francisco on April 12th from 10am-3pm.

Individuals connected to prescription glasses since our project began:325

Results for the January 18, 2014 San Francisco Health and Vision Event: Polk Gultch District

Today at Old First Presbyterian Church we held another San Francisco Health and Vision Event: 86 individuals received toiletries and socks, 55 individuals received sleeping bags, 43 individuals were connected to prescription eye glasses, 41 women received bras from  Be a Dear and Donate a Brassiere, 40 had their portraits taken by photographer Vince Donovan, 15 people got follow up appointments with social workers at Project Homeless Connect's Every Day Connect, 8 people signed up for Assurance cell phones, 7 individuals visited nurses, others recieved lunch, books and clothing.

 A big thank you to all the partners and volunteers who made today's event a success, including:

• SF CARES
• Old First Presbyterian Church
• Welcome
• St. Paulus Lutheran Church
• Project Homeless Connect
• Be A Dear and Donate a Brassiere
• Walgreens
• Vince Donovan
• Seminarians from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary 
• The Castro Lions Club

This project was made possible because of financial support from the Sam Mazza Foundation.  

Our next event will be held at St. Francis Lutheran Church (152 Church Street near Market) on February 22nd from 10am-3pm.

Individuals connected to prescription glasses since our project began: 166

Update on December 19th Event

We hope to see you all Thursday, from 12-4pm at Old First Presbyterian  (1751 Sacramento near Van Ness) for our Health and Vision Event.  Here are a few updates about the activities that will be at the event.

First, our phoropters have not arrived yet, so we will not be able to have eye exams at this event.  Instead, we will be signing individuals up for an unadvertised event where they can get their exams and will have appointment slots, so they don't have to wait around all day.  Only individuals who have signed up at our event or through the special outreach of SF CARES will be able to participate in this opportunity. Exams will be available at our January event. 

We have also learned that Walgreen's will not be joining us to provide flu shots for individuals on Medicare A and B.

The following are the current list of confirmed opportunities for our event on Thursday:

• Nurses
• Photography
• Project Homeless Connect's Every Day Connect (sign up for free cell phone service)
• SF PATH (signing up for health care)
• Lunch
• Clothing
• Socks
• Books
• Signing up for prescription glasses

Vision Success Story

One of our participants stopped by today to show off their new pair of bi-focal glasses.  Check them out.

A big thank you to our partners and Project Homeless Connect and VSP for helping this individual get the eye glasses they desperately needed.

And thanks to all of you who are supporting our project. 

Glasses given out to date - 63