A mission to provide vision care to the remote First Nations community of Bella Bella, located on Heiltsuk Territory on the West Coast of British Columbia, was recently carried out by Clearly eyewear. The community, which has a population of approximately 1,600 people, is home to many children who lack access to necessary eye care. Dr Alisa Lipson, a paediatrician involved with the Bella Bella community, reached out to Clearly expressing the acute need for vision care among children in the area. On February 21, the Clearly team travelled from headquarters in Vancouver and spent a week in Bella Bella, setting up to perform eye exams and dispense eyewear at the local school. We chatted with Dr. Justin Asgarpour, chief vision and mission officer for Clearly, about this important work. —Vita Daily
Hi Justin! Please tell us a bit about yourself to start.
Hi my name is Dr. Justin Asgarpour and I’m the Chief Vision and Mission Officer at Clearly. My primary focus is to raise awareness about eye health and the importance of regular eye exams. After graduating from the University of Alberta and the New England College of Optometry, I started my own practice partnered with Clearly – Asgarpour Optometry (AO). I am passionate about improving access to eyecare through the development of clinical infrastructure that provides comprehensive eye exams, which include pediatrics, geriatrics, and pre- & post-operative care. In addition to my practice, I have also been involved in the College of Optometrists of British Columbia, where I helped develop policies and programs to elevate the proficiency and effectiveness of optometrists in BC. I am committed to Clearly’s Mission to eliminate poor vision by raising awareness around the importance of eye health and preventative care, and developing better access and affordability to eye care. At Clearly, we have multiple initiatives that serve this vision. During our monthly Clearly for Community events, we host pop-ups at local shelters and community centres to provide visually impaired individuals with prescription glasses and educate them about eye health. When a customer purchases a pair of glasses, Clearly donates a pair of glasses on behalf of the customer at no additional cost. We also strive to ensure our customers can access the affordable eyewear they need by offering competitive pricing, with prescription glasses starting at $9 and contact lenses starting at $4. We also recently became the only eyewear provider in Canada to offer direct billing both online and in-store, so our customers are able to apply their vision insurance benefits in the checkout, save upfront on the cost of their glasses or contacts, and avoid having to pay out-of-pocket.
Please tell us about Bella Bella, located on Heiltsuk Territory on the West Coast of British Columbia.
Bella Bella is a small coastal community located on the traditional territory of the Heiltsuk Nation on the West Coast of British Columbia. The village is situated on Campbell Island and is only accessible by water or air. Bella Bella is home to the Heiltsuk First Nation, which is a self-governing Indigenous Nation with a population of around 1,600 people. Healthcare, including eye care, in Bella Bella faces significant challenges due to limited resources and the remote location of the community. There is currently no full time eye care provider in Bella Bella. This can be challenging for residents who require frequent eyecare or have complex eye health issues. In such cases, they may need to travel to nearby towns by air or sea for more specialized care. This can be challenging for residents who have limited financial resources.
How did Clearly first connect with this First Nations community? What are some of the challenges faced by the children in Bella Bella?
Dr Alisa Lipson, a pediatrician involved with the Bella Bella community, reached out to Clearly expressing the acute need for vision care among children in the area. She explained how most kids in Bella Bella that have serious vision problems are cared for through ophthalmology at BC Children’s Hospital. However, children that need routine vision care, like an eye exam, often must travel almost 500 kilometers to an optometrist in Vancouver or Nanaimo. When a young patient of hers arrived at an appointment with broken glasses and no easy way of getting them replaced, she decided to reach out to Clearly. When I spoke to Dr Lipson and learned about the lack of eye care resources available to children in Bella Bella, I was determined to help.
On February 21, the Clearly team travelled from headquarters in Vancouver and spent a week in Bella Bella, setting up to perform eye exams and dispense eyewear at the local school. Can you tell us more about the mission, how it benefited the community there and, in turn, how it impacted the Clearly team, and yourself?
As an optometrist participating in the mobile clinic, I was amazed to see that about 100 children had signed up for our services in Bella Bella. My team at Asgarpour Optometry provided fully subsidized eye exams while Clearly offered free prescription glasses to those in need. As we conducted our exams, we observed a higher prevalence of refractive errors, astigmatism, and sight-threatening amblyopia in the indigenous population. This echoes a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health. Typically, only one in four children across Canada requires vision correction, but in Bella Bella, the figure is much higher. It was concerning to learn that the majority of children who attended our clinic had never had an eye exam before. About 65% of them required glasses to correct their refractive errors. The Canadian Association of Optometrists reports that 80% of learning is visual, and untreated vision issues can cause children to develop at a slower rate and experience frustration with learning. It’s essential to identify and correct these issues early, and I’m glad that we could make a difference for these children in Bella Bella.
What are Clearly’s ongoing efforts to help communities in Canada and around the world, including its Free Glasses for Kids program?
Good vision is critical for children’s development. We want to ensure that kids can learn, grow, and live to their full potential – and that begins with being able to see the world around them clearly and correctly. Our Mission to eliminate poor vision means we are deeply committed to improving access to eyewear and eye care services for people in need, both in Canada and around the world. We take great pride in our ongoing efforts, including our Free Glasses for Kids program, which aims to provide free prescription glasses to children age 10 and under, available exclusively at our retail locations. To date, we have provided over 9,836 pairs of glasses to children in need, and we remain committed to expanding the program to reach even more children in the future. In addition, we have donated over 750,000 pairs to people in need through our Buy One Give One program. When customers purchase a pair of glasses from Clearly, a pair is donated on behalf of the customer at no additional cost. These glasses are distributed to people in over 50 countries through our partnership with the Essilor Vision Foundation. As part of our Mission, we’re dedicated to spreading awareness about the importance of eye health. Our Clearly for Community initiative is an employee-led organization that supports people in our local communities. Clearly for Community team members volunteer at various events in partnership with organizations such as Tim Hortons Foundation, Providence Health Care, TFSS, The Gathering Place, The Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society, BC Housing, Coast Mental Health, AIDS Vancouver, and seniors’ residences in Vancouver. Together, we provided over 2,500 pairs of prescription glasses to those who could not afford them. We also donated 2,000 pairs of glasses to Canadian Vision Care, an organization that provides essential eye health services and eyewear around the world. We firmly believe that everyone deserves access to quality vision care, regardless of their financial situation. We will continue to work hard to make this a reality, one pair of glasses at a time.
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