Kathleen Conneen

Kathleen Conneen has volunteered at Stout Street Eye Clinic since April 2002. The eye clinic provides free eye care to homeless people in the Denver metropolitan area.

In 2012, Stout Street Eye clinic provided eye care to more than 1,500 homeless patients. Conneen is one of 60 volunteers who staff the clinic and help change lives by providing eye care. Clients, who receive glasses after not being able to see, can now read newspapers and job applications, they can cross the street safely without risk of getting hit by a car. Their quality of life is greatly improved. If you wear glasses, and imagine life without them, you can understand the impact of these services.

Conneen is an important and integral part of this eye clinic for the last 11 years. She has been an advocate in the community for our clinic. She takes the knowledge she has gained from her patients about the impact and reality of homelessness and recruits neighbors and friends to volunteer. Through her advocacy, the clinic has grown and been maintained without advertising. Each volunteer she has recruited, after working with and providing eye care to homeless people, takes back to their community and understanding of why these services are necessary.