Center for Excellence in Rural Health

New Eyes for the Needy

In 2006, New Eyes stopped issuing vouchers directly to individuals in Kentucky, and began issuing vouchers only through Kentucky Homeplace. This new process reduces paperwork, ensures that caseworkers close to the clients evaluate their need, permits clients to receive vouchers quickly, and enables agencies to prioritize and plan out their voucher distribution.

You can read the full story in the Winter 2005 Rural Health Update (pdf).

Kentucky continues to lead the nation in requests for assistance from New Eyes. The most recent statistics indicate that 19% of the rural population have incomes below the poverty level and over 500,000 residents lack health insurance.

Eligibility

New Eyes for the Needy purchases new prescription eyeglasses for low-income individuals in the US through a voucher program. To be eligible for our program, applicants must:

• Be in financial need.
• Have had a recent eye exam. New Eyes does not pay for eye exams.
• Have no other resources available to them to pay for glasses, including federal or state programs or assistance from local charitable organizations. A New Eyes voucher typically covers only the cost of a basic pair of single or bifocal eyeglasses.

New Eyes does not endorse the purchase of more costly glasses at a client's additional expense. The intent of our program is to help those most in need. Clients who have sufficient resources to supplement our voucher should not be eligible for our program.

See Also

• New Eyes Application (pdf)
• New Eyes for the Needy, Inc. Official Website (external link)