More than 33 million Americans have no health insurance.

While the very poorest are entitled to Medicaid coverage, millions more narrowly fail to qualify, but remain too poor to pay for private health insurance.

For the past 11 years, Mission of Mercy has been doing their part to help those who can’t afford health insurance.

People who cannot afford an eye exam now have an opportunity to receive free vision care services as part of a Mission of Mercy program.

Through the support of investors and volunteers, Mission of Mercy has been able to provide free medical exams, free mental health care, free live-saving prescription medication, and now, free vision exams and assistance with eyeglasses at a reduced price.

“It is extremely important that we take care of the vision of our patients. We are one of the first in the nation to have an eye clinic at Mission of Mercy, and we want to continue to offer services that are unique and helpful to our patients,”said Executive Director Sherry Bowers.

Retired ophthalmologist Arnoldo Villarreal is no stranger to providing eye care, including to third world countries. Now he is giving back to those in his own backyard.

“We have a lot of needy people in Corpus Christi that cannot afford the eye care they receive from some of their doctors, and don’t have insurance. By having a charity clinic, we are able to tap that market and see these people for nothing, and give our services and make sure they don’t go blind, and make sure they wear the right glasses. We fulfill their visual needs,”said Dr. Villarreal.

Mission of Mercy is a nonprofit health care clinic that primarily serves low-income, uninsured and underinsured populations.

“Many of our patients, this is the end of the road for them, and they do not have any other resources in our community for free eye exams and assistance with eye frames and glasses. So we are excited to offer this new program to our patients at no cost to them,” said Bowers.

This program just started in May, and right now, they are doing eye exams one day a week on Tuesdays.

Mission of Mercy’s mission is to restore dignity and “Healing through Love” at mobile clinics, providing free health care and assistance with medications. Mission of Mercy’s success will be measured by their ability to provide health care to uninsured and underinsured working families at no cost to those who seek help at their Sandia clinic site and their Medical Center in Corpus Christi.

They have approximately 92 clinic operating days a year usually on Monday and Wednesday of every week.

At each location, facilities are used for patient registration, patient waiting, and meetings with nurses. Patients are seen by physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners.

Clinics are set up like a primary care physician’s office except that no billing office is required. After registration, patients meet with nurses for evaluation.

Nurses, who can perform several tests from our onsite laboratory, screen patients for diabetes, high blood pressure, and other diseases. The patients’ privacy is strongly recognized during the entire visit and process.

For more information visit: https://www.amissionofmercy.org/texas/