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Our Vision Care Partners

National Headquarters  |  March 20, 2017

Our ability to offer free vision screenings and prescription glasses to underprivileged and underserved populations in California is strengthened and made possible thanks to several valued partnerships. The Vision Mobile Clinic program depends on our alliances with the partners we are introducing in this blog, for whom we are truly grateful.

Tzu Chi Medical Foundation operates our mobile clinic programs and its partnership with Kaiser Permanente – who provide care and coverage in Fresno, California – began in 2002, when we only offered vision care services through joint outreach events and permanent clinics. Kaiser’s grants and in-kind support through the services of their doctors and nurses have been invaluable from the start of our vision care mission.

CalViva Health – a Fresno County managed public health care plan that operates under the Medi-Cal Managed Care Program – has also partnered with us in outreach for many years, supporting our annual participation in Binational Health Week, “one of the largest mobilization efforts in the Americas to improve the health and well-being of the underserved Latino population.”

Since we launched the Vision Mobile Clinics, our alliance with CalViva Health has expanded and they give us yearly grants to operate the program, while their parent company, Health Net, now also contributes a grant for the hiring of an Optometrist and their assistant for a year.

The Vision Mobile Clinic program is also currently partnering with Eye-Q and Saint Agnes Medical Center. Let’s begin with expressing our gratitude to Eye-Q, “Fresno’s leading comprehensive eye care provider” that has been serving Central California since 1956 and “bringing the latest advancements in eye care to Fresno.” They joined forces with us on our vision care mission in 2015, helping us recruit optometrists through their extensive network.

Eye-Q helped us find Dr. Dehesa, an optometrist who is thrilled to work with us:

This has been so rewarding. I love to give back to the community. This is really my dream come true for a job.

And the organization is as thrilled about our partnership as we are, as the statement on their website attests:

EYE-Q is proud to consistently contribute to the Tzu Chi Vision Mobile Clinic! This state-of-the-art bus helps children all over the Central Valley by providing them with eye exams and prescription glasses. In 2017, the Mobile Clinic hopes to give 10,000 students vision screening exams, and give 2,000 students the glasses they need!

Our partnership with Saint Agnes Medical Center is another we greatly appreciate. The mission of this organization is to “heal body, mind, and spirit,” values inspired by the Sisters of the Holy Cross who opened the original 75-bed Saint Agnes Hospital in 1929, now “a 436-bed, state-of-the-art Medical Center campus.”

Saint Agnes gives us grants that help us operate our Vision Mobile Clinics, and their nurses have volunteered with us during our medical outreach events for many years. Together, we are currently exploring an opportunity for our Vision Mobile program to provide vision care services for their social cases.Thanks to our track record of medical care outreach and the recommendations of our partners, Tzu Chi Medical is also collaborating with community programs such as The Children’s Movement Fresno and Cradle to Career Partnership of Fresno County.

The Children’s Movement of Fresno’s mission “is to inform and support individuals and business, community and government leaders in Fresno County to make the well-being and education of children a priority in every decision.” Since our Vision Mobile Clinic program is of great benefit to schoolchildren who have undiagnosed vision problems that impact their reading level and academic achievement, we are part of their health action workgroup “Community Level Outcome: Third Grade Literacy.”

By collaborating together with the well-being of children at heart, we and our partners have been able to fulfill the mission of Cradle to Career Partnership of Fresno County: “to strengthen educational and community support systems through collaboration and build the capacity for all children and families to achieve success.” As their video “One Pair of Glasses Can Change a Child’s Life” attests, the result is a beautiful story, indeed.

We are thankful for these thriving partnerships and look forward to forging new alliances in order to expand the reach and scope of our medical services. As a society, we have the power to make a positive difference in the world, but we must take action and work together. Your support of our medical mission on behalf of underprivileged children, families, and communities is invaluable. Please help make dreams of a better life with health care come true.

Join our online premiere of “Ernesto’s Miracle” and discover the difference our Vision Mobile clinics and partners are making in the lives of those with vision problems.

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