Mindful Eyes Foundation

One of our favorite parts of our events is hearing the stories of the people we help. Last week we met a wonderful soul who told us, "I need new glasses because I'm starting a new life." After being released from prison, he detailed the beginning of his inspirational work with Black Men Speak, Inc. & Men of Color. Please check them out.

We are overjoyed to have heard his story, and help an additional 20 people that day. We dispensed 11 brand new prescription glasses with the help of Bad Ass Optical Lab, selected frames for 9 more, and performed 1 vision screening. Of course we could not have done this work without the one and only Scott Balestreri, the magical Dr. Michelle J Hoff, and our extraordinary student volunteers. Thank you Surina Khurana, Joanna Toner, Michelle Yoshimoto, and Divya Reddy.

On August 24th Berkeley The Berkeley Free Clinic had their 50th anniversary celebration. With the help of one of our long standing volunteers, Michael Hahn and I manned the Mindful Eyes table.
Mindful Eyes Foundation started a partnership with BFC in 2017. At our first event we helped 5 people. Now we see between 20-25 people in about 2 hours twice a month. Since that first event, we’ve made glasses for 267 people and performed 54 vision screenings and referrals for ocular health treatment.
Our Quality to Care goal is not about serving large numbers of people. It’s about making sure we serve the needs of each person to elevate their quality of life.
I’m so proud of what we have accomplished and I excited to see what we can do in the future.

We saw a whopping 21 people during our hour and a half event tonight at The Berkeley Free Clinic. Thankfully, we had the help of some seasoned volunteers in order to dispense 10 pairs of glasses, perform 6 frame selections, perform 4 vision screenings, and provide 1 referral for a possible bacterial conjunctivitis. Please consider donating to Mindful Eyes Foundation so that we can stay busy offering vision services to those who cannot afford it 😀. https://mindfuleyesfoundation.org/donate/

Thank you to Dr. Hoff, Scott Balestreri of Bad Ass Optical Lab, Tiffany Pham, Divya Reddy, and Surina Khurana who came in to help even with a walking cast on. We couldn't do it without you! 💙

Wednesday August 14th was a bit of a challenge for us. Berkeley Free Clinic was without power for most of the day. We weren’t able to do any vision screenings but we dispensed 11 pair of glasses and did 11 frame selections in the lobby. Thanks to the very dedicated student volunteers from UC Optometry and Scott Balestreri of Bad Ass Optical.

I will post this on the right page this time! We saw 15 patients tonight!

Another Mindful Eyes event, another reason to celebrate accessible eye care! This past week we helped 13 fantastic people - We dispensed 7 prescription eyeglasses, performed 4 frame selects, and performed 2 vision screenings. Vision is so important throughout our daily lives, and we look forward to continuing to provide eye care resources so that our community can thrive.

Thank you to The Berkeley Free Clinic for giving us a space to hold our events, Bad Ass Optical Lab for their excellent work, and all our volunteers. Couldn't have done it without you Dr. Hoff, Dr. Dister, Roscoe SweeptheLeg White, Mai Lee, Divya Reddy, Michael Bernardi, Chris Yee, and Bonnie Ho.