We are proud to feature this guest blog from the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Their work has a profound impact on lives across the world.
 

Hearing is the foundation for building relationships, connecting us to the people we love and the world around us. More than 360 million people (32 million children) worldwide have hearing loss. With barriers to communication and connection with the mainstream world, many people with hearing loss struggle with language development and lag behind in education and economic opportunities. If communication barriers are removed, children and adults with hearing loss perform just as well as their peers. However, the challenge, particularly in developing nations, is finding the resources and creating the infrastructure necessary to unlock this potential.

Starkey Hearing Foundation is dedicated to overcoming these challenges by using hearing as a vehicle to reflect caring and improve the lives of people in need around the world. This organization conducts hearing missions in the United States and around the globe in an effort to bring the gift of hearing to people in need. It fits more than 100,000 hearing aids annually through global hearing missions and the daily efforts of its domestic application-based Hear Now program. As a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, Starkey Hearing Foundation has pledged to fit more than one million hearing aids this decade.

“Hearing is a powerful gift that brings people together, opens doors and empowers individuals to reach their full potential,” said Bill Austin, founder of Starkey Hearing Foundation. “The transformation we see in each person is unmistakable. By being able to hear, these people can grow closer to their families, follow their dreams and become an inspiration for others who face similar struggles.”

Starkey Hearing Foundation is the global leader in developing sustainable, community-based systems of hearing care. The organization believes that each community is its own best advocate and works to empower local residents to create ownership over local hearing health care services. It does this by partnering with schools and nongovernmental organizations to promote hearing health awareness, to identify patients in need and to work to sustain proper use of hearing aids. The Foundation recruits, trains and incentivizes local volunteers to ensure the long-term success of the program.
For more information on Starkey Hearing Foundation, visit website.