The Starkey Foundation – Changing Lives Through The Gift Of Hearing!

Can you imagine not being able to hear the sound of a bird, waves crashing on the sand, your favorite song or the voice of your loved ones? 

The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 466 million people across the globe are living with disabling hearing loss. 

This is most prevalent in developing countries where less than three percent of these individuals can afford hearing aids.

The loss of one’s hearing can affect interpersonal communication, psychosocial well-being, quality of life and economic independence. If the impairment begins at a young age it can impede speech and language development setting the affected child down a path of limited education. Adults that lose their hearing later in life can have their social life affected as it may be embarrassing, cause loneliness, prejudice, or even abuse.  It can also force difficulties with partners, restrict career choices causing occupational stress and low earnings. 

William F. Austin had a vision 50 years ago to have a lasting impact on the world by helping others to hear. His vision turned into reality by starting the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Since then and with the help of thousands of volunteers and supporters, Starkey Hearing Foundation has provided more than 1.9 million hearing aids and care to people in need around the world. Giving the gift of hearing empowers people to achieve their potential.

Through the Starkey Hearing Foundations Global Advocacy initiative they engage global leaders and health professionals to advocate for hearing health. This  approach is helping national leaders form healthcare solutions and strategies within their countries to help people with hearing loss.

This initiative creates access and hearing healthcare for millions around the world. The Starkey Hearing Foundation works in six continents, in more than 100 countries. 

Many countries have partnered with the Starkey Foundation making great strides in a non-existent health and hearing care system. In 2016, with the help of the Starkey Hearing Foundation Kenya developed a National Plan with actionable ways to reduce preventable hearing loss while increasing rehabilitation support services for millions of people. In this plan the foundation worked with leading global health professionals to create protocols for ear care services. Implementation includes creating academic relationships, hearing health care training for community health care workers and health professionals, as well as members of the public. This plan has helped to reach approximately 640,000 in all 47 counties and positively impacting their lives forever. Just two years after in 2018 the countries of Nigeria, Ghana, and Gambia developed their own National policy and strategic plan. Shortly thereafter the Starkey Hearing Foundation provided similar support to both Rwanda and Tanzania in completing their own National plans. Currently, they are working with Malawi, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Tajikistan to complete the same achievement. 

To further support and create an on-going healthcare system, the Starkey Hearing Foundation took the program further by creating the Starkey Hearing Institute that develops academic partnerships with local teams that are educated in and can provide hearing healthcare services. Through this initiative, they have developed the Community-Based Hearing Healthcare model that can be implemented on a global scale.  To learn more please visit The Starkey Hearing Foundation.

_________________________________________________________________________

GIVE BACK GOODS HELPS TO SUPPORT THE STARKEY FOUNDATION!

At Give Back Goods we help support The Starkey Hearing Foundation through the sale of our LSTN “award winning” Bluetooth headphones, earbuds & speakers! 

Proceeds from your purchase help fund The Starkey Hearing Foundation's mission to give hearing aids globally.

Every purchase helps someone hear in the world! 

More than 30,000 people have received hearing aids so far through purchases of these LSTN products.

Shop Now!

____________________________________________________________________

Tara Dodson is the creator of the Living Full Circle Blog and will be our guest blogger each month for Mindful Mondays where she hopes to inspire us to make sustainable choices in our daily lives while at home, traveling, and in the workplace.

She is the mother of three, has an endearing partner, and has traveled internationally since she was a child. She enjoys spending time with her family outside whether it is in the garden, biking to the beach, hiking, or doing a beach cleanup. She serves her local community by working for public service by day, provides sustainability consulting to businesses and organizations on the side with her business, Full Circle Resource Management, LLC, and as co-founder of Keepers of the Coast, she creates coastal educational and sustainability programs. 

As a recent graduate from Southern New Hampshire University with an MBA in Sustainability, her background is embedded in conservation, sustainability, and traveling.  With over 15 years of experience, she hopes that you will join her on this journey of inspiration.

___________________________________________________________________

With each purchase through Give Back Goods you are supporting important causes like clean water, prevention of human trafficking, environmental causes, animal causes and much more. You also support poverty-stricken communities throughout the world through Fair Trade wages & practices. Another very special part of Give Back Goods is that when you make a purchase you are literally participating in a sustainable approach to decreasing our impact to our natural resources like overused land for landfill space, impacts to our forests and pollution of our oceans. 

We appreciate your support in helping us GIVE BACK!