A few days ago, my mom mentioned she had signed up to volunteer at a Mountain View church, helping out with a free clinic for those who can’t afford basic medical needs.
“While I’m not a part of the church, I do think it’s nice to give back to the community,” she said.
My mom is an optometrist and is currently one of the doctors at Mountain View Optometry on Castro Street. She had volunteered for the program once before, giving out free prescriptions for patients who couldn’t afford to correct their blurry vision.
“This is not to replace a usual eye exam,” she clarified. “This is for people who can’t afford a prescription and need to be able to see.”
The last time she volunteered, she had signed up for a three-hour window, and in that time, she said there was a constant flow of patients. She explained that after receiving a prescription, patients would select glasses frames, and after the glasses were made, patients would pick up their glasses on a later date.
She said the cheapest glasses available at Mountain View Optometry would cost a patient at least $100. Glasses at the church clinic were completely free.
Interested in learning more about Sunday’s free clinic, I reached out to the three parties that make this clinic possible: Mountain View Central Seventh-day Adventist Church, which hosts the event; Life Hope Centers, a humanitarian service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that provides free medical and dental clinics for the community; and Stand4 Inc., a nonprofit that provides food security and resources for low-income families and the unsheltered.
“The goal of Life Hope Centers is to provide free services to those who lack access to health care and can’t afford access to a dentist or to get a new pair of glasses or just basic medical care,” said Tara Vang, assistant to the director of Life Hope Centers. “Life Hope intends to heal.”
Life Hope Centers provides dental services, including cleaning, fillings, extractions and oral health education; vision services, including refraction eye exams and a free pair of prescription glasses; medical screening, including glucose screening, cholesterol screening and lifestyle coaching; and even hair styling.
Additional assistance
This is the third time Mountain View Central Seventh-day Adventist Church is hosting a free clinic, and this year will be the first year additional services outside of dental, vision and medical will be offered, according to Janet Abbey, CEO and founder of Stand4 Inc.
“We’ll also be offering food assistance, so those families who come through who are food insecure will be able to sign up to our food security program that we run twice a month here at the church,” Abbey said. “We’ll be offering a resource center where people can pick from clothing, they will get household items, kitchenware and bathroomware, also diapers and hygiene items and those essential resources.”
And the children won’t be left out either. There will be a kids’ corner with a bounce house and face painting.
“We really want to provide a holistic approach to our community, take care of the parents and really love on those children as well and make sure that they have a great experience while they’re with us,” Abbey said.
Registration for Sunday’s clinic runs 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and services will be offered 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mountain View Central Seventh-day Adventist Church, 1425 Springer Road. Based on previous years’ turnout, Vang estimated 200 people will arrive for assistance and highly encouraged arriving as early as possible to access services, as there will be a line.
“Our goal with this event is really to serve the community. The church exists for that,” said Fernando Leite, pastor of Mountain View Central Seventh-day Adventist Church. “Mountain View Central Seventh-day Adventist Church is here to serve the needs of our community.”
Sunday’s free clinic welcomes additional volunteers. To sign up, call Abbey at (408) 643-0461.
