BALTIMORE—On June 4, Davis Vision executives will kick off a new partnership with Baltimore’s Health Care for the Homeless and the Maryland Society for Sight to provide vision care and eyeglasses to uninsured homeless individuals.

For more than 15 years, the Maryland Society for Sight has sent its Vision Van to Health Care for the Homeless twice each month to serve individuals with no other access to vision screening and eyewear. Staffed by volunteer eyecare professionals, the Vision Van serves hundreds of homeless individuals each year, according to the society. Now Davis Vision--invited by Maryland’s CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield program, for which Davis is the vision care provider, to support the work of Health Care for the Homeless--has agreed to manufacture the eyeglasses at no cost on an ongoing basis for individuals served through this partnership. In February, CareFirst announced a $300,000 grant to Health Care for the Homeless to help the organization increase the availability of medical services for Marylanders experiencing homelessness.

“The ability to see clearly is fundamental to a future without homelessness,” said Jeff Singer, president and chief executive officer of Health Care for the Homeless. “We welcome Davis Vision to this innovative partnership to help more of our most vulnerable neighbors get off the streets and back into the mainstream.”

“By providing corrective lenses to those in need, we can initiate care immediately and help to correct or prevent conditions that might negatively affect a person’s vision or general health," said Davis Vision’s president and CEO, Joe Carlomusto. “Davis Vision reaches out on an ongoing basis to the communities we serve in an effort to help those who have vision problems and no coverage or means to access proper routine care.”