The Downtown Rescue Mission opened its brand new vision clinic, giving residents much needed access to improving their eye health.
There's a lot of excitement about this new vision clinic at the rescue mission as residents are taking advantage of this new opportunity to help improve their eye care.
"I found out at a young age when I first started having eye problems," said Scott Long, a resident at Downtown Rescue Mission.
He suffers from glaucoma. He says it's critical that residents here have access to a vision clinic.
"Having this here to those of us, like myself coming from Chattanooga, no job, had to leave my job, no insurance. It’s a place where they can help us be seen, be treated to try to help our bodies catch up to where our minds are trying to catch up to," said Long.
According to Ashleigh Hayes, the public relations coordinator at the rescue mission, a doctor will volunteer their services on the second Wednesday of every month to help the residents as well as members of the community.
"Sometimes you don’t always realize you don't know how bad your vision is until you get it checked. To be able to see things clearly can affect your life day to day," said Hayes.
Eight patients were seen by Dr. Rica McRoy. They went through a series of eye tests and at the end of their exams had an opportunity to pick some new frames, eventually walking away with clearer vision.
