Growing vision sees sight for all

Sometimes those who have received help in the past are the first to offer a helping hand when they see others in need.

UMKC students Chanukya Dasari and Birju Solanki founded the Kansas City Free Eye Clinic (KCFEC) with the sole intention of helping those who are struggling because they knew the difference they could make.

As a farmer in rural India, Dasari's grandmother had very limited access to preventative health screenings and developed advanced cataracts and glaucoma.

"When she arrived in the states, her vision was saved by the generosity of university physicians who, at the time, overlooked her inability to pay for services," Dasari said. "It was with this desire to help people that I entered medical school and made service learning a priority early on in my education."

After noticing many of the free health clinics in Kansas City lack comprehensive eye care, Dasari and Solanki realized there was a void to be filled and it was doable.

"Vision care services are relatively straight forward and low cost, yet deliver dramatic results," Dasari said. "Simple prescription glasses can be the difference between someone who is legally blind and someone who sees 20-20. A 15-minute cataract procedure can cure someone who has been visually impaired for a number of years."

Founded in 2008, KCFEC became the first of its kind locally to provide accessible visual health services to the Kansas City Metro by creating a nexus between concerned health professionals, organizers and patients in the community.

Since its inception, KCFEC has received several awards and was honored in 2009 by former President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting in Austin, Texas.

All services provided by KCFEC are funded by grants and donations from community supporters.

Dasari said they attribute the success of KCFEC to the support UMKC and its faculty/alumni have shown every step of the way.

"I have been fortunate to have mentors along the way that afforded me the confidence to carry out my endeavors," he said. "UMKC Entrepreneurial and Legal Services has been a tremendous resource in getting the organization off the ground. The UMKC School of Medicine and Department of Ophthalmology also have also been very supportive."

Going further, Dasari believes the spirit of support is what defines UMKC.

"The skills I learned in the classroom had immediate relevance to the real-world. The practical understanding of subject matter, I feel, is what defines UMKC's student community."

Recently, the organization partnered with the UMKC Sojourner Free Health Clinic to begin offering services there.

"Dr. Jean Hausheer, residency director of UMKC department of Ophthalmology, has been instrumental in getting ophthalmology residents of UMKC involved with the initiative," Dasari said.

But the vision does not stop here. Dasari hopes to start clinics across the country and around the world.

"The eventual hope is to set up a national network of free eye clinics that can begin tackling the challenges of vision care," he said. "We are in preliminary talks with several pilot groups nationally, and in Europe, helping to set up local initiatives."

The motivation for Dasari and Solanki to keep going comes from the patients' personal stories of vision loss, they said.

"With health care costs soaring in this country and the decline in the economy, many people are finding it more difficult to compete in the workforce with a disability," Dasari said. " At our last free clinic, we took care of a former painter, who lost his job, due to vision impairment. He was very thankful to receive his free glasses, so he could now find employment."

They receive e-mails every day from people who need new glasses but can't afford the eye exam and prescription.

Sometimes, these requests are made on behalf of school-age students, by their parents, who are concerned about their declining academic performance and difficulty reading.

To help support the mission of KCFEC or to seek eye care, visit www.kcfreeeyeclinic.com.

UMKC students are eligible for the ReadyFrames program, which provides glasses for as little as $10.

alang@unews.com