MEI Provides Care at Shelters

Starting in February, the UH Mobile Eye Institute is providing vision care to residents of three shelters in the greater Houston area: the Houston Area Women’s Center, the Fort Bend Women’s Center, Bay Area Turning Point and Bridge Over Troubled Waters.

“Children who live in shelters frequently do not obtain the comprehensive vision examinations they need because of their residential instability and factors pertaining to anonymity,” said Dr. Doris Forte (’76) and founder and CEO of You’re Living Proof and a survivor of domestic violence.

“Now, due to a collaboration between our organizations, these four shelters and the MEI, these children—as well as their mothers—will receive the vision care they need,” said Dr. Forte. “We call this vision service project “Eye See A Need” because we recognized that vision problems prevent children from functioning optimally in many aspects of their lives, including academically in the classroom. Left unaddressed, such negligence handicaps a child’s mental and social development, and is in fact, a subtle form of abuse.”

“Our faculty and students have been providing critical vision care with the MEI for almost three years, and this is our first opportunity to provide care to this very deserving population,” said Dr. Gavin Gerondale, director of the Mobile Eye Institute. “We’re hopeful that providing care to the shelter residents is something we can incorporate into our college’s externship program we can continue to provide vision care to survivors of domestic violence.”