Celebrating 10 years of vision testing by OneSight

Have you ever misplaced your glasses? Trying to find them without being able to see clearly is so frustrating! It makes everyday tasks much more difficult, or even impossible.

Imagine how much more difficult it could be to navigate each day without being able to see clearly when you’re facing challenges like not having a secure place to store your belongings, or a safe place to call home.

There can be many barriers that prevent people at risk of or experiencing homelessness from accessing healthcare services. Treatment is often expensive, requires booking appointments and travelling to unfamiliar clinics, and providing ID.

That’s why Martin and the volunteer team from OneSight are committed to breaking down barriers by running specialist vision testing clinics at Hutt St Centre each year. Recently, they hit the ten year milestone!

“It doesn’t take much for someone to find themselves facing homelessness, and people fall through the cracks and miss out on essential healthcare. This can impact their safety, education, and many areas of life.”

“Our team ask people how they’re going and listen to their stories. You never just how much it means to someone to show them kindness.”

Martin remembers the first time he ran a vision testing clinic at Hutt St Centre ten years ago:

“In the first year we came to Hutt St Centre we saw 130 people. Now, we can organise vouchers for people if they need new glasses during the year, as well as running the clinic to check eye pressure and do diabetic testing. This support is lifechanging, because people might struggle getting out to an optometrist.”

“Everyone gets two pairs of glasses that are specially made for them. Having a spare pair is really helpful if people don’t have a safe space to keep their glasses and they might accidentally get broken or lost.”

Martin’s daughter, Madi, joined the team at the recent OneSight clinic, and they ordered 62 pairs of much needed glasses for people doing it tough.

Thank you to Martin and everyone from OneSight for giving the lifechanging gift of vision to people experiencing homelessness.

Thank you to our community. Your kindness means people can access more than 20 visiting health and support services at Hutt St Centre, providing essential care and support in their toughest moments.