Chicago Public Schools contracts with many vision clinics around the city to rotate through each school providing free eye exams and glasses. At the end of this past January, Ageless Eye Care came to Lake View High School and thirty-two students were seen for their appointments.
Vision care is often not included in standard health insurance, and glasses can be expensive. Many people need to either pay out of pocket or purchase additional plans to cover their vision needs. Therefore, it is very important to consider the vision care needs of individuals in under-served communities. Many students at Lake View High School fall into such a socioeconomic bracket and can receive healthcare using a sliding scale system at the Erie clinic located within their school.
The day of the vision visit went well. It was somewhat chaotic considering the large volume of appointments and trying to organize the flow of students through the auditorium. It most definitely provided ample exercise, as I spent most of the day wandering through the long hallways to pull students from class for their appointments. Many students expressed their excitement for appointments since they had been having headaches and trouble seeing the board in class.
After about a month of waiting, the glasses arrived. I had the lucky job of distributing them to their new owners by walking from class to class and knocking on classroom doors. Most of the students reacted with elation, since they were anticipating a much longer wait. They were thrilled to now be able to see the board and no longer have to struggle to see in class.
I walked away from service that day feeling like I had made a real impact in the lives of these students. Being a high school student is hard enough, let alone not being able to see your own work or the board. My hope is that with their new glasses these students can get a little closer to academic success and a healthy life.
