In our work to prepare children for kindergarten, we strive to address unknown health needs. Since many of our Head Start & ECEAP kids come from low-income and/or families of immigrants and refugees, we are often the first line of defense for vision screenings, dental exams, vaccinations, and the process of building a medical history.
Our “Hearts, Hope, and Hearing” crowdfunding campaign is about expanding those efforts to do even more by providing hearing screenings. Purchasing the Maico EroScan will allow us to screen a large number of children very quickly. By providing hearing screenings, we hope to achieve the same kind of results we found with our vision and dental exams.
We’ve chosen to focus on hearing screenings, because of the results we’ve seen in other areas. For example:
“Zoey was not able to focus on objects, identify colors, and her attention was very limited during group time. When fall screenings for vision took place, Zoey was referred to a specialist who was able to fit her for glasses. Soon, her self-confidence went through the roof, she was able to focus, participate during group time, and caught up with her peers academically. This would not have happened without the screenings we provide each fall.”
“We had a Ukrainian student who would not eat or speak. He constantly held his hand to his cheek. Mom also reported that he wasn’t sleeping well. We originally thought it might be a cultural issue associated with eating different foods at school and home. During our screenings for dental issues, we had Smile Partners come in and it turned out our little guy had some decaying teeth. Although it took some pushing to get the parents to take the child to the dentist, they did finally pursue treatment. After having some work done, our little student came back smiling, eating, and talking. Two years later, the same family was enrolled in our program with a younger sibling and the older child who started with us came in with braces!
These are just two examples of the amazing results we’ve achieved by providing vision and dental exams. By providing, screenings for hearing loss, we hope to achieve even more, but to do that we need your help. For our “hearts, hope, & hearing” crowdfunding campaign, we hope to raise $4,000. To help us reach our goal, click the link below. Once your there, be sure to share the link with your friends and family via social media.
https://www.crowdrise.com/heartshopeandhearing/fundraiser/kyfs
-Kent Youth and Family Services
