Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Cleamon Moorer, Jr..
Hi Dr. Cleamon, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My journey to founding Eye Care For Detroit evolved naturally from my own experience with vision loss at 21. After recovering through cataract surgery, I have been able to build a career spanning telecommunications, higher education as a business professor and b-school dean, and healthcare leadership as President and CEO of American Advantage Home Care.
While serving homebound patients across metro Detroit, I recognized a significant gap: many residents couldn’t access basic vision care due to mobility, transportation, and financial barriers. In 2022, we launched Eye Care For Detroit to address this need directly.
We began by building partnerships with local eye care professionals and developing affordable solutions like our $17 eyeglass program. We quickly expanded to include mobile screening units that bring diagnostics directly to communities and homebound individuals.
Today, we’re implementing a comprehensive approach to serve 40,000 Detroiters through mobile technology, affordable eyewear, and strategic partnerships with healthcare providers and insurers.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road to establishing Eye Care For Detroit has been far from smooth. Like most healthcare startups addressing underserved populations, we’ve faced substantial challenges on multiple fronts.
Financial sustainability presented our earliest and most persistent hurdle. Developing a viable economic model to serve populations with limited resources required creative thinking while still maintaining a trusted, skilled home health care practice. We experimented with multiple approaches before finding the right balance of grant funding, insurance partnerships, and our sliding-scale payment structure.
Proving our concept faced considerable skepticism initially. The traditional healthcare establishment (as a paradigm) questioned whether mobile vision exams could maintain clinical standards. We had to rigorously document outcomes and quality metrics to demonstrate that bringing care to communities didn’t compromise effectiveness.
Gaining buy-in from key stakeholders proved challenging. Many potential partners had been conditioned to view vision care for homebound individuals as impractical or prohibitively expensive. We spent countless hours in one-on-one meetings with healthcare organizations, creating and pitching pitch decks to community leaders, and funding sources to shift this perspective.
While these challenges tested our resolve, they ultimately strengthened our model. Each obstacle forced us to refine our approach, resulting in a more resilient organization positioned for sustainable impact in Detroit’s vision health landscape.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Eye Care for Detroit?
Eye Care for Detroit was born from personal experience. Born with congenital cataracts and legally blind by age 21, I received life-changing surgery through an act of community kindness. This gift of sight inspired me to create a healthcare model that brings essential services to those most often left behind.
What sets us apart is our innovative dual approach. Through our nonprofit Eye Care for Detroit, we provide comprehensive vision care via both a clinic and mobile units that bring services directly to homebound residents. Our for-profit American Advantage Home Care complements this work by providing essential in-home healthcare services, creating a seamless continuum of care.
Our mantra “I Care for Detroit” is both personal declaration and community invitation. It embodies our commitment to the 40,000+ homebound Detroit residents who lack access to essential vision care. But more importantly, it’s an open call for others to join this mission – whether through support, partnership, or simply spreading awareness.
What truly distinguishes our approach is how we’ve reimagined healthcare delivery for urban communities. By bridging nonprofit vision care (Eye Care for Detroit) with our sister organization (American Advantage Home Care) for-profit home health services, we’ve created a sustainable model that serves those most in need while building lasting community infrastructure.
I’m most proud that we’ve transformed a personal health challenge into a solution that serves thousands. Our work proves that compassionate care and operational excellence aren’t mutually exclusive – they’re mutually reinforcing.
We invite readers to consider how they might echo “I Care for Detroit” in their own way, joining a movement that sees healthcare access not as a privilege but as a community responsibility we all share.
How do you think about happiness?
What truly brings me joy is helping others overcome barriers—whether through our healthcare initiatives, my board leadership roles, being an author, or teaching entrepreneurship as a fixed-faculty member at Central Michigan University.
There’s a special satisfaction in watching someone experience clear vision after years of struggling with blurred sight, or seeing a student grasp a concept that transforms their understanding of what’s possible. These moments of positive impact, large and small, fuel my purpose.
On a personal level, sharing life with my beautiful wife of 25 years and raising our four sons has been my greatest joy and accomplishment. The lessons learned through 25 years of marriage and parenthood have shaped my leadership approach far more than any formal education.
As I approach my 50th birthday next year, I find myself deeply grateful for the life I’m living. There’s a certain clarity that comes with this season—seeing how various experiences and challenges have converged to create meaningful work and relationships. It’s fascinating to reflect on the journey from failure to promise that has defined my path—a story I’ve been documenting across multiple transformations over the years. While I’m excited about Eye Care For Detroit’s future growth, I’m equally content appreciating the journey that has brought us here and the lives we’re able to touch each day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eyecarefordetroit.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eyecarefordetroit/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eyecarefordetroit/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eye-care-for-detroit/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thehomehealthcaretodayshow
