Free Eye Exams offered for persons experiencing homelessness

Our CoC received this information via email from Denise Jillson, Executive Director of the Harvard Square Business Association:

Free Eye Exams and Eyeglassess for Harvard Square & City of Cambridge homeless individuals, from EyeNetra/Blink!

Dear Friends,  we are so pleased to tell you about our next very special event:

SEEING IN THE STREETS! High-quality eye tests, eyeglass prescriptions and glasses free of charge to our local homeless  population!

Thursday, October 23, 2014, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Rain or Shine 

At the Out of Town News Kiosk Plaza in the heart of Harvard Square!

Brought to you by the Harvard Square Business Association and our community partner EyeNetra, we are excited to introduce you to a kind and generous opportunity for our homeless population. Our board member, and founder of Cambridge Historical Tours, Daniel Berger Jones [who also works for EyeNetra] proposed this event.

Daniel writes, “Please meet Blink: a new mobile service that uses the latest in eye testing technology to provide communities with better vision. Blink is powered by EyeNetra, a Boston-based startup that combines the most advanced smartphone technology from MIT’s Media Lab with a mission to empower the millions of people worldwide whose vision needs are underserved. With our readily portable smartphone technology, we can bring better vision to schools, local glasses shops, neighborhood squares, and even to the streets! We are excited to premiere our Blink service at HSBA’s event, “Seeing in the Street,” which will provide high-quality eye tests, eyeglass prescriptions and glasses free of charge to our local homeless population.  

Friends, we need your help. Please let your clients/guests know about this event and to the extent possible, please register them for an appointment. Name and agency is all we need. Please e-mail me at djillson@harvardsquare.com for an appointment. Walk-ins will be accepted, but folks may have to wait in line. Once their glasses are ready, (in two weeks or so) we will arrange another event to have glasses fitted and checked.

There will be two tents on the plaza where the exams will take place. HSBA staff will be on hand to help organize and serve hot coffee, hot cider and pastries which will be provided by Harvard Square Business Association restaurant partners.

If you would like to volunteer to help out, please let us know.