On October 28th 2012, our life group visited Hoskins Park Ministries to provide breakfast to the men who resided there and to listen to Johnny Allen preach. After experiencing a truly moving service, the optometrist in our group, Mark Gifford, noticed a need. He asked the residents if they were getting eye care. We found out that most of them were not, so we decided that we should find a way to help.
We had several meetings to discuss the logistics behind providing the guys the eye care they needed and decided to bring the clinic to them. It didn’t take us long to realize the clinic wouldn’t be a one-time event. The concept of Seeing and Believing was born.
Over the next several months, we acquired the equipment we needed to go mobile. With the help of Wake Forest Law School and 501 Pro, LLC, Seeing and Believing became incorporated.
On March 15th 2014, we held our first event and successfully provided eye exams for 10 men at Hoskins Park Ministries. We also provided them with several brand new frames from which to choose. After prescriptions were filled, glasses were handed out to the 10 men after morning worship on March 30th. This completed our first successful Seeing and Believing event. Not only were the lives changed for several of the men, but so were the lives of the life group members.
On July 28th 2014, Seeing and Believing officially received 501(c)(3) status from the IRS, qualifying us as a tax-exempt charitable organization.
Our life group still meets every other Thursday morning from 6:15-8:00am at Caribou Coffee in the Park Road Shopping Center in Charlotte. Drop by anytime if you want to learn more about what we are doing. We’ll even pick up the coffee.
