{"id":304142,"date":"2026-07-23T21:23:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/304142\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T21:23:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:23:06","slug":"seeing-clearly-in-the-neighborhood-caring-for-queens-ny-the-mr-rogers-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/304142\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing Clearly in the Neighborhood: Caring for Queens, NY, the Mr. Rogers Way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<br \/>\n            &#13;<br \/>\n            This Partner Post was provided by VSP Vision\u2122.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" itemprop=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Cavallaro-Collora_300.jpg\" alt=\"Crista Cavallaro, OD and Maria Collora\"\/><br \/>Crista Cavallaro, OD, (l) and Maria Collora.<br \/>My practice sits just steps from one of the busiest cities in the world, yet Sunnyside has an unmistakable small town feel. People stop in just to wave hello, and there\u2019s a warmth here that often reminds me of Mr. Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood\u2014a close knit community where I\u2019m grateful to live and work.<\/p>\n<p>My relationship with VSP\u2122 began back in optometry school when I won a $2,000 VSP scholarship for an essay on the importance of private practice. I didn\u2019t know then how big a part VSP would play in my future. Years later, when I was ready to leave a commercial practice and finally open my own cold start, VSP became an important resource once again when I met with them at Vision Expo for guidance. After I opened, a rep helped us meet the criteria to participate in VSP Premier Edge\u2122, and in that first year alone, our revenue increased by $70,000\u2014all from VSP patients.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" itemprop=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Cavallaro-Graduation_400.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Cavallaro graduation group photo\" style=\"width: 300px;\"\/>\u00a0<br \/>\nGrowth took time\u2014pandemic plot twists included\u2014but by years seven and eight the practice had surpassed anything I imagined. VSP Premier Edge brought a steady flow of new patients, and once they arrived, we kept them through genuine service and high-quality care. VSP\u2019s diverse frame lines through Marchon and Altair make it easy to serve patients across different budgets and lifestyles, and Unity lenses provide consistently clear, comfortable vision, something my associate and I appreciate from wearing the new Unity v3 progressives ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, I joined PECAA Max, which has been a game changer. The exam rebates alone make it a simple, worthwhile addition to our bottom line, and I\u2019m excited to start taking advantage of other membership benefits to help my practice grow.\n<\/p>\n<p>At the center of everything is the joy of helping people see better. I\u2019ve had patients tell me they never thought they\u2019d see this clearly again\u2014moments that remind me why I opened my own practice.\n<\/p>\n<p>Looking back\u2014from that scholarship essay to building a thriving practice in this little \u201cMr. Rogers\u201d corner of Queens\u2014VSP has been part of every step. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vspproviderhub.com\/blog\/vsp-vision\/seeing-clearly-in-the-neighborhood-caring-for-queens-ny-the-mr-rogers-way?utm_source=Jobson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">As Eye See It<\/a>, my legacy is simple: taking care of my neighborhood and helping people \u201cC Clearly\u201d every single day.\n<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n            &#13;\n        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; This Partner Post was provided by VSP Vision\u2122. Crista Cavallaro, OD, (l) and Maria Collora.My practice&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,115280,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-304142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-partner-post-nurturing-a-healthy-practice-vsp-vision-christa-cavallaro-od-c-clearly","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}