Our Mission

Help One Now empowers families in developing countries through high-capacity local leaders with proven solutions to end extreme poverty.

We invite you to come alongside a growing network of supporters and join this story of hope, transformation, and progress. Together, we use our gifts, talents, and resources to help end extreme poverty and build the Kingdom of God here and now.


The Community

In La Vega, Dominican Republic, Help One Now partners with Rod Davis, founder and Executive Director of TEARS, through Education and Entrepreneurship.

Rod and his team serve Barrio Maria Auxiliadora and Barrio Juan Bosh. These two communities are home to approximately 30,000 Dominicans, many of which are widely affected by extreme poverty. For over 20 years, Rod and his team have been walking alongside families in these communities building multiple sustainable development programs including high-quality education from preschool through adulthood, clean water, agriculture, discipleship, bible school, and sports. They have also established a community health and wellness program that currently offers medical, dental, and mental healthcare to these communities and the surrounding areas.

The Need

Over the years, the TEARS team has observed the K-12 students they serve struggle with vision problems during class. They have found that their parents can neither afford an eye exam nor purchase the necessary glasses. They have also observed adults in the community suffering from headaches and other vision-related symptoms, and lacking the appropriate knowledge of how to address this need and improve their quality of life.

The Solution

Help One Now envisions adding an optometry office to the Health and Wellness Program in order to further address persistent challenges associated with a lack of access to healthcare in the community.

The optometry program would provide eye exams and reading glasses at a very low cost (and free when necessary), as well as generate revenue to increasingly cover the expenses of optometric supplies over time.

The vision care program will provide eye exams for the more than 500 students in the TEARS educational system, provide glasses to those who need them, as well as eye care education. It will also benefit families in the community with free eye exams and provide glasses, information, and education for those who need eye care. As part of the Health and Wellness program, it will operate out of a consultation office at the Health and Wellness Center located at the TEARS school.

Funding and Sustainability

This project will make eye care geographically and financially accessible to members of the Maria Auxiliadora and Juan Bosh communities. Socio-economic evaluations of patients will help tailor assistance to individuals and families and provide care on a sliding scale ranging from free of charge to low cost, depending on each patient’s need.

The cost to purchase eye care equipment and establish an eye care program in the TEARS Health and Wellness Clinic is — $50,000.  

An initial 2 years of operational funding will be needed in order to launch the program, with the goal of the eye clinic being fully sustained through patient fees and other income-generating programs by the end of 2023.

The cost to fund 2 years of eye clinic operations is — $40,000.

The TOTAL COMBINED BUDGET to establish an vision care program and fund 2 years of operations is — $90,000

This $90,000 contribution will:

• Establish this vital program in La Vega, DR with quality equipment and qualified staff

• Ensure adequate funding to full clinic sustainability at the local level

• Provide the resources necessary to track the success, impact, and effectiveness of the program

• Fund the gathering of stories that share the tangible impact of the program on students and families in the community