Glazer Vision Health Center brings a clearer path to care in Ybor City

A school vision screening can identify a child who needs glasses. Getting those glasses is another matter.

A voucher sent home may never reach a parent. A trip to an optical shop may require transportation a family doesn’t have, time away from work, or reassurance that there won’t be an unexpected bill.

For Lions World Vision Institute President and CEO Jason Woody, those are gaps worth closing.

The institute’s new Glazer Vision Health Center, expected to open in Ybor City in April 2027, will create a permanent destination for children’s eye care while supporting the school and mobile programs that already bring vision care services into the community.

Founded in 1969, the organization built its work around eye donation, transplantation and research. Its community vision programs address another side of sight restoration: finding children whose vision problems might otherwise go undetected or untreated.

From screening to seeing clearly

Working with the Glazer Vision Foundation, LWVI brings screenings and access to glasses to children at Title I schools and other community locations.

Rather than sending a child home with instructions to find care elsewhere, the program brings more of that process to them. Children can choose from about 50 frame styles, giving them a say in something they’ll wear every day.

That choice matters alongside the clinical care. Woody wants children to feel comfortable and excited about their glasses, and families to receive help without feeling singled out by their financial circumstances.

Mobile services can accomplish a great deal, he says, but a permanent center will allow the organization to work on a larger scale and provide a consistent place for families to return.

Plans include evening hours a couple of nights a week and Saturday clinic days to accommodate parents’ schedules. Woody says the organization does not turn people away because they cannot pay.

The aim is to remove a barrier that can affect much more than eyesight. A child struggling to see the board or follow a lesson may appear distracted or have difficulty learning. Identifying a vision problem can help families and teachers understand what that child needs to succeed.

Connecting the care families need

Woody sees the center as part of a more connected network of nonprofit services.

Families experiencing food insecurity may also need eye care. A visit to Feeding Tampa Bay could become an opportunity for a vision screening and a referral to Lions. Likewise, a family arriving for an eye exam might benefit from connections to food assistance or other support.

He would like to see regular gatherings of nonprofit leaders and staff who understand one another’s services and have the authority to make referrals. The goal is continuity, so families don’t have to begin explaining their circumstances from scratch at every organization.

LWVI’s longer-term ambitions include expanding its reach across 10 counties, with vans that bring care closer to families. The organization also is discussing a possible future expansion into services for working-age adults with Hillsborough County. Those conversations remain preliminary, Woody says, with funding an important consideration.

Building on Ybor’s history

For Woody, expanding in Ybor connects with the neighborhood’s tradition of mutual aid, where social clubs and community institutions helped workers and their families access care.

He wants the institute to carry that spirit forward as the neighborhood changes.

LWVI is part of the Tampa Medical & Research District, and Tampa General Hospital’s proposed expansion into east Ybor could create additional opportunities for collaboration. Woody says it is too early to specify how those relationships will work, but sees potential for referrals and coordination based on each organization’s capabilities.

At the Glazer Vision Health Center, that broader ambition begins with the experience of walking through the door.

A professional, welcoming environment and modern equipment are part of the plan. Woody wants families receiving assistance to feel the same respect, confidence and sense of belonging they would expect anywhere else.

Learn more at lwvi.org.