My Nonprofit Reviews

Although I had had hearing loss for more than 30 years, I knew very little about it until I found HLAA. Through the annual conventions, newsletters, the activities of the local chapter, the website, HLAA has provided me with invaluable information and support that I could not get elsewhere. Because I serve on the board, I see the workings of the organization first hand. Staff and fellow board members are hardworking, creative, and efficient, making the most of available resources. There is no equivalent organization dedicated to the health and welfare of adults with hearing loss, which affects one in five adults, and we are very lucky to have HLAA to keep not only its members but also legislators and community leaders educated and aware of the needs of people with hearing loss.

I have just become a board member of the Hearing Loss Association of America but I have been a member since 2010, and my review is based on my experience as a member.

I have had hearing loss since 1980, which got progressively worse until by 2009 it had deteriorated to the extent that I was profoundly deaf in one ear and close to it in the other.

I left my long time job as a journalist at the end of that year, and suddenly found myself without hearing, without a job, and really without any sense of what kind of life was open to me.

I had not heard of HLAA until March of 2010. I signed up to go to the Annual Convention, just to see what it offered. I was amazed by the resources discussed at the convention, by the expert advice offered, by the advocacy for people like me. I became an active member of the national organization and then of the Manhattan chapter, where I met many others with hearing loss like mine.

Joining HLAA literally restored my life, and gave me the confidence to figure out how to live productively with hearing loss.

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