As of this week, we have a new partner at the Mission: Philippe Rochette, also known as Bonhomme à lunettes. Philippe and his team of fellow opticians set up clinics in community organizations all over the city to help people who need glasses to get them at affordable prices. You must come with your prescription from an optometrist and they will fit you for glasses at rock bottom prices. But why don’t I let them tell you about what they do? The following is from their bilingual website. They will be at the Mission Thursdays from 1-3PM until at least June.
QUALITY AFFORDABLE GLASSES FOR ALL
Le Bonhomme à lunettes, aka Philippe Rochette, is a nomadic optician working with community organizations in the Greater Montreal area and Montéregie with a great choice of affordable glasses with all the options, for men, women and kids. Honesty, simplicity and solidarity are the keys to understanding our philosophy. Possibility of $20 glasses for welfare recipients.
THE BONHOMME’S MANIFESTO
Glasses are not a luxury. Seeing clearly is a necessity. My mission is to make glasses affordable to everyone. How do I do that? It’s actually pretty simple. When you buy glasses from me, here’s what you are NOT paying for: head office space, a huge ad on a billboard along the highway, or a ‘prestigious’ name on the frame. You don’t pay for those things simply because I don’t have any of them. I trust word-of-mouth and the dynamism and loyalty of community organizers.