Oklahoma City Community Foundation, through its Opportunities for Children iFund grant program, provided $5,000 to support Hearts for Hearing’s annual summer camp which serves children with hearing loss. Sixty-five children, along with fifty volunteers – many of whom are former campers – participated in this year’s event June 21 – 24, at Trinity Church OKC. Hearts for Hearing’s mission to teach children born deaf to listen and talk combines technology, audiology services, and listening and spoken language therapies and achieves outcomes among the best in the country.
“Summer camp is special because it allows us to bring together children who are often the only one in their family, classroom, or school – even their hometown – who wear a hearing device such as a cochlear implant and understand that they are not the only child to rely on technology to listen and talk,” says Joanna Smith, founder, and CEO at Heart for Hearing. “The fun activities, camaraderie, and friendships they form helps build confidence and esteem which enables our children to compete academically and socially on par, in many cases better, than their typical hearing peers,” adds Smith.
Camp leader, Lindsay Hanna, Hearts for Hearing’s Chief Quality Officer and Listening and Spoken Language Specialist says, “This grant makes our summer camp possible, and we are extremely grateful to the Oklahoma City Community Foundation for its support,” and adds “Our summer camp was also recently recognized by Metro Family Magazine as the Best Specialty Camp in the metro area.”
Hearts for Hearing provides the first set of hearing technology to children it serves at no out-of-pocket costs to families and provides speech therapy appointments conducted in tandem by a pediatric audiologist and a listening and spoken language specialist. Its mission has expanded to become a comprehensive hearing health clinic for not only children but adults as well. It provides industry-leading services, technology, and research services. For more about Hearts for Hearing, visit www.heartsforhearing.org.
Founded in 1969, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity that works with donors to create charitable funds that will benefit our community both now and in the future. An initiative of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation Trustees, the iFund grant program utilizes gifts from donors to support services for children and the elderly, as well as provide access to health care. To learn more about the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, visit www.occf.org.
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About Hearts for Hearing: Hearts for Hearing is a comprehensive hearing health clinic for both children and adults headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK with clinics in Tulsa and Shawnee. It was founded as a 501(c)3 to provide funding for the first set of hearing aids for children with hearing loss in Oklahoma. Its mission has expanded to become a comprehensive hearing health clinic for both children and adults. It provides industry-leading services, technology, and research services. Its collaborative model of audiologists and speech-language pathologists working together helps enable the best outcomes for its patients.