The Dr. Jose Sanchez Lions Eye Clinic, has provided eyeglasses and free cataract surgery for low-income Florida Keys residents for more than half a century.

People who can't afford an appointment with an eye doctor, and those who need cataracts removed, can apply for financial help at the clinic, which relies on Key West optometrist Daren Oppenheimer to fit and provide new glasses for Lions Club clients.

Depending on the cataracts, patients can receive surgery in Key West or Miami.

Oppenheimer continues a 40-year family tradition by serving Lions Club patients. His father, Stephen Oppenheimer, began seeing eye clinic patients around 1970.

The two determine the vision range of the Lions clinic patients and examine the inside and outside of the eyes to determine if there are other problems, the younger Oppenheimer said.

"We see an average of 10 to 15 eye clinic patients a month, and do it at cost," he said. "We don't make any money. It's for people who can't afford anything and can't see. I see people with very poor vision riding their bikes around and I don't know how they do it. They keep it to themselves."

People of all ages can get cataracts, he said. Some cataracts occur in older patients, but other kinds can affect kids, he said.

"Kids come in who have never had an eye exam and can't believe how well they can see once we correct their vision," he said. "It's a quality-of-life issue. It's amazing these people walk around and can't see the leaves on the trees,"

Sanchez, the man for whom the clinic was named, was an eye doctor who originally had an office on Fleming Street near the county courthouse. After helping some Lions Club members in the 1950s, Sanchez set up a clinic at the Lions clubhouse in 1960.

The organization provides 300 to 400 pairs of glasses a year.

The Eye Clinic is open Monday - Wednesday from 9am to noon.  

You may stop by or call during those hours.  305 296-5466