As the holiday season approaches, why not consider giving
back to the community, as this doctor from Oklahoma has
done.
|
|
Dr. Larry Olsen helping a
patient in need. |
|
|
Almost 10 years ago Larry Olsen, OD, felt compelled to do
something more for his community. The owner of Olsen Vision
Care, a family eyecare practice in Edmond, Oklahoma, knew he
wanted to give back in some way, but wasn’t sure of that
next step so he turned to prayer. “I prayed that I would
be able to get out of my comfort zone and do some mission
work,” says Olsen. “Well be careful what you pray for,”
he laughs. “Only a week later I was talking to a friend
about his work at Cross and Crown Mission and was told that
what they could really use is a doctor to provide eye care.”
Cross and Crown Mission, a non-profit based in Oklahoma
City, is an outreach program that provides basic needs to
those who cannot afford them including clothing, food, and
medical care. With that answer to prayer coming so quickly,
Olsen knew he had to make a real commitment to serve the
organization. Since then, he has made a deliberate decision
to close his office on Wednesday afternoons to spend the
time serving those in need in the community he loves. His
optometric clinic provides comprehensive visual exams and
frames and lenses for those patients in need.
One of the things this weekly service has taught him is
that people in need aren’t only in far away places. “Rather
than travel to a third world country, we need only drive 20
minutes into Oklahoma City to help people who desperately
need vision care,” he says. “My daughter Aubree and I
call it our weekly ‘reality check.’ The many blessings
we have become very evident when we meet people without jobs
or who are from abusive homes, or maybe even trapped in an
addiction to drugs or alcohol. Many are completely homeless,
living on the streets. We often wonder: what would these
people have done if we didn’t go to serve at this mission?”
Having their vision corrected does more than improve the
quality of life for these patients in need. For many, it
means much more than that. “Many of them tell us they need
glasses to be able to get a driver’s license or in order
to get a job,” says Olsen. “There are so many visual
needs for so many people. It’s a blessing to us to reach
out to them and in a small way, help restore their dignity
and get their lives in order again.”
Besides the act of kindness, Olsen has found that simply
talking to these people in need like they are human beings
can change their whole attitude. Too many others have
ignored them or talked down to them. “If we could just
reach our hands out and give those in need a little respect,
it can help restore their integrity,” says Olsen. “That
can go a long way.”
Olsen says that his volunteer work for Cross and Crown
has been highly rewarding and he’s so thankful for
becoming involved. “There’s real happiness in doing
something for people that can’t pay you back,” he says.
But Olsen says in addition to being fulfilling, the
experience has also been an eye opening one. Many of the
patients have impacted him over the years. One in particular
stands out. “There was one individual who was very smart
and I couldn’t help but ask him how he could have wound up
in this position, down and out—completely homeless—when
he was so sharp,” recalls Olsen. “I asked him what
profession he used to be in and he told me he was a
pharmacist. He just got hooked on the wrong stuff. He lost
his family, his house—everything. That’s something that
could happen to anybody; A few small mistakes that spiral
out of control. It really puts things in perspective.”
Of all the patients, Olsen particularly enjoys working
with the children. He says it’s been rewarding to make a
difference in their lives. They are innocent victims and
often wind up in horrible circumstances that are completely
out of their control. Olsen says that restoring their vision
may only be a small gesture but even the smallest efforts
can go a long way.
The joy he’s gotten in helping children has also lead
Olsen to become involved in the InfantSEE Program, which is
a public health program, managed by Optometry’s Charity,
The AOA Foundation, in partnership with The Vision Care
Institute of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. The program
is designed to ensure that eye and vision care becomes a
vital part of infant wellness care. Under the program, AOA
optometrists provide comprehensive eye and vision
assessments for infants within the first year of life,
regardless of a family’s income or access to insurance
coverage. Currently more than 7,000 AOA-member optometrists
have volunteered to serve as InfantSEE optometrists. This is
an opportunity for many others to serve as well. Visit
www.infantsee.org for more information.
In addition, Olsen has also been involved with VISION
USA, another AOA Foundation effort. VISION USA aims to help
provide basic eye or vision care to uninsured, low-income
families, free of charge. In fact, since 1991, more than
340,000 low-income working Americans have benefitted from
free eye exams through the program. It’s another great
opportunity for AOA doctors of optometry to donate their
services to those in need.
