Here is support Group

The Uveitis and Ocular Inflammatory Disease (OID) and Uveitis Support Group is a patient education and support resource founded in 1996 by Frances Foster MS, NP, the late John Hurley, LISWC, and through the support of Dr. C. Stephen Foster due to a need by many patients to connect with others with our rare disease.

Our mission is to educate patients, their family members, loved ones, and friends, and the medical community about ocular inflammatory disease and to facilitate the exchange of information and emotional support between members.

Destructive inflammatory diseases of the eye such as uveitis are the third leading cause of preventable blindness in developed countries. We are deeply committed to raising awareness of the causes and effective treatment of uveitis and other ocular inflammatory diseases to prevent blindness in a treatable disease. Anyone living with uveitis or other form of ocular inflammatory disease is welcome to join us, along with your family members, friends, and others.

We are a Self Help Group. As a self help group, we share our stories or experiences with our ocular inflammatory disease to help each other cope better and live better with a chronic eye inflammatory condition.

There is no membership charge, ever, for participation in our programs or resources. Support Group expenses are underwritten by voluntary, tax deductible contributions to the Foundation. Donations or participation in fundraisers are always welcome.

We are indebted to C. Stephen Foster, M.D., for his encouragement, support, and unbelievable personal commitment to our mission and activities. None of this would have been possible without Dr. Foster’s energy and passion to communicate and reach out to patients everywhere who live with ocular inflammatory disease, and to the physicians who care for them.

The OID and Uveitis Support Group maintains a web page specifically for kids/family, teachers, and parents. We also have an online support group page for teens, parents, and adults that are accessible through Facebook to anyone living with ocular inflammatory disease. In addition to these online resources, we hold monthly support group meetings using a virtual platform with zoom along with other events. Please see the calendar for upcoming support groups via zoom. All we ask is that you follow the ground rules for each support platform.