ST INS CARES-Florida Lions Eye Clinic-Restoring Sight In Southwest Florida

Losing your vision is scary enough. Losing it because you cannot afford care is something our community can change. We sit down with Kyle Hartman, Executive Director of the Florida Lions Eye Clinic, to hear how a small, mission driven nonprofit delivers specialty eye care, eye exams, and life changing surgeries for people who are uninsured or underinsured across Southwest Florida and beyond.

Kyle walks us through the clinic’s origin story and the practical reality of meeting a growing need: a team powered by volunteer ophthalmologists, supported by paid doctors so patients can be seen consistently throughout the week. We also talk about the kind of dedication most people never see, including a retina doctor who flies in from St Louis to treat patients, plus expanding local specialty coverage. Along the way, we dig into what “underinsured” can really mean when your assigned provider is hours away, and how the clinic’s eligibility guidelines help working individuals and families who still cannot pay out of pocket.

The conversation gets personal and specific, from migrant farm workers facing intense sun exposure while picking produce to the everyday moment you realize your eyesight is slipping, like not being able to read signs at a distance. We share why preventive eye exams matter, what cataracts can take from someone’s daily life, and what it feels like when surgery gives that life back. If you’re looking for affordable eye care resources in Florida, or you want to support a nonprofit that restores sight and independence, you’ll leave with clear next steps and real hope.

If this story moved you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend in Florida, and leave a quick review so more people can find the clinic and the care they need.

Florida Lions Eye Clinic
Kyle Hartman
10322 Pennsylvania Ave Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 498-3937
floridalionseyeclinic@fllec.com
fllec.org

State Insurance USA
4450 Camino Real Way Ft Myers, FL 33966
239-567-9992
100 Lovers Ln 3rd Floor Ft Myers Beach, FL 33931
(239) 690-6300
office@StateInsuranceUSA.com
stateinsuranceusa.com
https://www.facebook.com/Stateinsuranceusa
#StateInsuranceUSA
#SupportLocal
#WeLoveOurClients
@Stateinsuranceusa

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Transcript

Welcome And Mission Of The Show

Intro/Close 0:00

Welcome to State Insurance USA Cares Podcast, where we celebrate the heart of our communities. Each episode, we highlight local charities and nonprofits who are bringing hope, help, and healing to those who need it most. Get ready to be inspired by the amazing stories of people making a difference. Because together, we care.

Meet The Florida Lions Eye Clinic

Gail Langner 0:19

Well, good morning. It's Gail Langner with State Insurance Cares with State Insurance USA, right here in Southwest Florida. Today I am so excited to have Kyle Hartman, the executive director of the Florida Lions Eye Clinic, here with us today. And it was so nice to meet you the other day. Thank you so much for the tour.

Kyle Hartman 0:40

You're welcome. Very nice to meet you, and thank you for having me.

Gail Langner 0:43

Oh, of course, absolutely. Well, tell me about the Florida Lions Eye Clinic. Tell our listeners, because I was really impressed to find out that you really are there for the underserved in this area. So would you just go just explain what you do, Kyle?

Kyle Hartman 1:00

Yeah, absolutely. So we were started back in 2007, 2008, uh by four uh eye doctors who have connections to the Naples Lions and the Benita Springs Lions Club. And they found it a basic principle, powerful idea that no one should lose their vision simply because they couldn't afford uh care. And so they started an eye clinic to help the underinsured and give them specialty eye care and surgeries. And so, you know, a lot of people they realized were losing their visions, and they they nobody should do that. So what they did was help Southwest Florida, and this is uh Collier and Lee are our biggest where we give a lot of our patients, but we also serve the whole state of Florida, and so it just is wonderful to see how we can restore someone's sight and restore their independence, their confidence, and the quality

Volunteer Doctors And Specialty Coverage

Kyle Hartman 1:55

of life.

Gail Langner 1:55

Right. From what you were explaining, a lot of the doctors volunteer their time. Is that true?

Kyle Hartman 2:02

Yes. Yes. There we have about nine doctors that are volunteer, and then we have two-paid doctors so that we can see patients every single day of the week. The organization actually started as a volunteer, uh, strictly volunteer. So they would just, if a doctor was available, they would work one or two days, and then the need just continued to keep growing, and they kept seeing uh people needed their vision care. And so it just grew and grew and grew, and now they see we see patients five days a week.

Gail Langner 2:34

Didn't you say that you even have a doctor that flies in?

Kyle Hartman 2:37

Yes, one of yep, one of our retina doctors. Dr. Oak flies in from St. Louis. Uh, he got connected with the clinic uh years ago, and so he'll do two days usually a month, and he'll fly in and then fly out. And we were very grateful too that we just got another specialty retina doctor uh in the local area, and she's doing one day a week on Saturdays.

Gail Langner 2:59

That's wonderful. That's just incredible. When you look around Southwest Florida, you see so much need, but then there's also people like you that are taking care of that need, and I'm I'm just so grateful, and I know so many others are too. You originally said something about Senator Pasadomo to me the other day.

Kyle Hartman 3:18

Yes, her father was one of the original founders. So out of the four gentlemen who started it, she he was one of them. Uh his name was Alfonso uh Sanati.

Gail Langner 3:29

Incredible. Yep, just incredible.

Ways To Give Through Amazon Wishlist

Gail Langner 3:32

Well, um, let me ask you this. So I know one of the things that I saw on your website is that you can even go to Amazon with your wish list. There are things there that you things that you need and very reasonable, like $15, $20 things that you really could use that people could go on and and just click that button and go to Amazon, and then that'll just be shipped directly to you.

Kyle Hartman 3:56

Yeah, yep, absolutely. That's and it helps us big time.

Gail Langner 4:03

Yeah, that's incredible.

Migrant Worker Eye Damage And Surgery

Gail Langner 4:05

So tell me about the people that you see the most. I know you were saying something about a lot of your patients actually work in the sun without sunglasses, correct?

Kyle Hartman 4:18

Yeah, so with where we are located, you know, we have a lot of migrant workers that come into the fields, amokley. Um, there's even fields out in a steroam. And so when they're farming, they're not allowed to wear sunglasses when you're picking the fruit and the vegetables because they need to be able to see. And the sunglasses would not be able to let them, you know, see the color or you know, any bad spots. So what happens is the sun, uh their their eyes are exposed to the sun all day, and they get little kind of uh it's called digerium, and it's like I want to say like a little growth on their eyes and it affects their vision. So what they have to do is we we come in, we do in-house surgery, so we take care of that and we remove it and then give them medicine to make sure that hopefully that it doesn't come back.

Gail Langner 5:07

Okay.

Kyle Hartman 5:07

So yep.

Referrals And Preventive Eye Exams

Gail Langner 5:09

How do they find you, Kyle?

Kyle Hartman 5:11

Your patient. I want to say it's a lot of referrals, and uh, you know, we work a lot with our part, like partner agencies and local nonprofits here, and we let them know our criteria. And I believe a lot of that comes from from a word of mouth and seeing us. And that's one of our biggest goals is with the growing need. We are trying to make sure that everybody knows that we are here. And I I don't think everybody knows that we we exist. Right. So we want to make sure that hey, we're here, we want to take care of you. And you know, we do surgeries, we do uh especially eye care, we do eye exams, classes, but we a lot of our patients come where their vision's already been affected, and now we have to catch up and and restore their vision. Sure. Get them out and we take it for granted. You don't understand? Like I didn't realize how we take our vision for granted, and then if you start to lose it, you know, you can't do your daily work, you can't do daily activities, and so it really it's it's a shame. So when they come, we we want to I want to make sure that people we'll take care of their eye exams. We're just like a clinic. So come get your yearly eye check. Let's sure catch it before anything happens. So that's one thing, too, that we're also uh besides you know getting referral and people knowing we're here is just come get your eye exam.

Cataracts Stories And Life After Surgery

Gail Langner 6:34

Yeah, I can tell you something as simple. I'm actually having cataract surgery done this afternoon on my left eye, and then my right eye is in another week or so. But what what I noticed is that we were in an airport, and you know, when you look at the board to find out where your connection is, I couldn't see it. And so we knew it was really time, really. So it's um I'm so glad I'm so excited to get that taken care of. So I know exactly what you're saying when your your vision is affected. And sometimes I have to take my glasses off to see distance, which is crazy, anyhow. Um so uh go ahead.

Kyle Hartman 7:10

I'm glad you brought that up because that's like the one of the stories that it when I started, it just hit me because like you said, so you have cataracts, you kind of are starting to see, and like I mentioned, a lot of patients are already severe by the time they get to us. And this one lady uh she came in, she had severe cataracts, and so she couldn't do daily activities, she couldn't drive, she couldn't like um we're in a retirement area here, so you know the kids take care of the parents, and so she couldn't do anything with their grandchildren anymore. And when we took, she found us, got her cataract surgeries, uh, didn't pay a thing. And the fact that she said I was able to pick up my grandchildren again, play with them, and get back to daily life, it's like it just hit me, and you know, it's just wonderful to hear that you know, you're able to play with your grandkids again. So glad you brought that up and how cataracts look.

Gail Langner 8:05

You notice it's time to get them, you know, you know, it was funny because it for me it was like I would like the signs on the road that were far out. I've noticed it probably more distance than I did anything else. It was seemed fuzzy. And um, the eye doctor said, I bet you anything if you took your glasses off, you might be able to see distance better without your glasses. And I went, holy cow, she was right. And so, you know, it really really does make a difference. So I'm so excited to get these done, and then I'll get a new prescription and we'll be back back on normal. Um, you were talking about the people qualifying.

Eligibility Requirements And Income Limits

Gail Langner 8:37

Um, Kyle, what what does it take? What are the qualifications to see you?

Kyle Hartman 8:41

Yeah, so we uh you either have to be uninsured or underinsured. And underinsured means if you don't have a local doctor here, depending on like your Medicaid, Medicare, especially for kids, they usually have a uh your primary doctor's in Tampa or you know, very far away. So that doesn't count. So we will see you because you're your primary doctor is far, and then you're a Florida resident, which just means you have to prove that you live in Florida. So, you know, you may not come from a different state or a different country, and that's your ID, that's fine. We will we'll we will that's we'll work with you. We just want to make sure that you, you know, you live here, you're in you're you live in Florida. And then if you're at or below the 300% poverty line, and right now one person who's making $46,000 that would can that would be at the 300% level. And for like a family of four, that's 96,000. So a lot of our area fits that those numbers.

Gail Langner 9:41

I can see that they would.

Funding Sources And Impact Of Donations

Gail Langner 9:43

How do you get the word out? I mean, other than maybe this, I hope this helps. I really do, sincerely.

Kyle Hartman 9:50

Yep, I I'm working on that. Um, so just connecting with everybody in our our area here. So kind of like you know, like you, our partner agencies, we have uh the Lions Club, uh for Meyer Speech Lions Club is a big time uh helper.

Gail Langner 10:06

Oh, they're a great group.

Kyle Hartman 10:07

So we are just uh the Benita Springs, the Naples ones, they all help us, and so we just kind of like I said, we're just getting out there. I would love to do some more marketing and we have a newsletter, but just you know, slowly getting that word out there.

Gail Langner 10:25

When we when we're off this call, I have some ideas. Maybe you and I can um only just because of the nonprofits that that we've donated to in the past. I know they might be a really good way for you to to connect and help each other. So I'll when we're when we're done with this podcast, I'll um maybe we could chat. Um so how do you get your money?

Kyle Hartman 10:49

Uh individual donors, foundations, grants. And yeah, so that's pretty much our biggest that's where we get it. And we uh are so grateful and thankful for everybody who does donate. It's it's huge. It every small act of support can change somebody's life. So it's and you you make such a difference to when you donate to us. Uh like last month, if you donate a dollar, it actually turns into four dollars. Like that's the value that we're able to provide. And you not just that, but you're given a person regaining their vision. So it affects everything, their ability to drive, work, read, care for themselves, connect with the family. That's what you're given. So priceless. Yeah, it's priceless. Exactly. That's yep. So we're just so grateful for the partnerships and the and the donors who help us out and are able to take, you know, help our patients.

How To Donate Volunteer And Connect

Gail Langner 11:51

So if someone wanted to donate or maybe volunteer, absolutely. Okay. How would they reach you, Kyle? What's the best way to get in touch with you?

Kyle Hartman 11:59

You can go on our website, uh www.flec.org, and you can donate through there, or you can give uh me a call or email me, and I would be glad to to chat about our mission and who we serve and how we do everything. And I'm glad to meet you as well. Um I'm open for coffee and breakfast and you know, just talk about how we can help our our area here, Southwest Florida, and help, you know, people regain their life.

Gail Langner 12:28

So okay. Awesome, Kyle. Well, thanks an awful lot for being um here with us today and taking time out of your day. I know you're a really busy guy, so I appreciate you doing this. And um, we will make sure that you get this link and and you can use the link anyway you'd like. Obviously, we're gonna put it on our website and our Facebook page as well. So we'll try to do our best to get the word out. So thanks so much for joining us today.

Kyle Hartman 12:51

Uh, thank you so

Closing Message And Support Links

Kyle Hartman 12:52

much for having me.

Intro/Close 12:52

It is absolutely thank you for joining us on State Insurance USA Cares. We hope today's story uplifted and inspired you. If you'd like to support or learn more about the incredible work happening in your community, visit StateInsuranceusa.com or call 239 567 9992. You can also visit CaboWaboJim.com. Until next time, be sure to let your sun shine and keep sharing good and positive vibes wherever the waves take you.