Compassion. Commitment. Community.
It was a magical moment.
As I sat in my office at Listen Foundation, I heard the sweetest voice tackling— no conquering—a song from the hit movie Barbie, sung with the enthusiasm and volume to match its blockbuster status. And it was coming from an 8-year old Listen kiddo.
I opened my office door quietly so I didn’t disturb the practice and hoped to be able to hear a little more of the magic coming from the therapy room. Nanette Thompson, one of our incredible Listening and Spoken Language Specialists who’s been with Listen for 20+ years, had asked a voice teacher to come in that day to work with her client because— at 8 years old, this amazing child decided she wanted to learn to sing. It started with a few quiet notes that occasionally caught my attention through the paneled doors, but once the chorus began, I was hooked. With my door open, I saw the child’s father sitting in our reception area. It was evident that he too, heard his child’s beautiful voice. He was listen- ing to his precious little girl, who as an infant was diagnosed with bilateral hear- ing loss and who, since 1 year of age has worked with Nan to develop listening and spoken language. And on this day, she was learning to sing.
I saw him gently wipe a tear from his eye and I thought, “This. This is what helping achieve a life of independence sounds like.” I quickly and quietly closed the door and looked for a tissue of my own.
Each week provides another magical moment, and I am so grateful to be here, to see the kind of compassion and commitment that has propelled Listen for- ward for 55 years. 2023 was a significant time of both change and growth for the organization, supported by the strength of our community.
Listen Foundation served 105 unique therapy clients in 2023, a 24% increase over 2022. 22% of all therapy appointments were held virtually, via TeleHealth sessions. This means Listen can continue to serve an increasing number of deaf and hard of hearing children, providing therapy to kids and families who live in rural areas, and areas without access to a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist. And we continue to provide funding for children and families that could not otherwise afford it because we believe developing spoken language should be an equitable right.
Last September, we successfully expanded upon our music parent/tot program with one 6 -week exploratory session. This began a deep- er broadening of our community programs with parent education opportunities, providing families needed support work with their children outside of therapy sessions.
To help us serve the increasing numbers of clients, we know we need to hire additional therapists. But due to the extraordinary rigor of the LSLS (Listening and Spoken Language Specialist) certification program, there are currently just over 1200 LSLS therapists worldwide. In December, we contracted with a bright, young LSL therapist based in Kansas, who will assist with TeleHealth clients. We are so grateful for all 6 exceptional, professional experts who serve Listen’s community! Thank you, therapists!
We signed a new contract with the state’s Early Intervention program in Durango. We now hold 8 state con- tracts for Early Intervention in the State of Colorado, and are exploring a potential contractual partnership with our neighbors in Wyoming.
78 families attended our two Listen CI Camps last summer, an increase of 15% in capacity and a total of 307 campers! These were the largest and youngest sessions in the 22-year history of the program. Families traveled from 32 states, and gave exceptional ratings for their camp experience. We are deeply grateful to the mentors who travel from across the country to share their experience and knowledge, and to Sertoma of Littleton for providing a grant to help us support our mentors’ travel expenses!
We exceeded our goals for both the Non-Event, in recognition of the hard work our Listen therapists are doing every day, and our Live Event, featuring a panel of amazing kiddos! We are extremely grateful to all of our donors and supporters who gave generously to support Listen’s mission and needed work. And, we want to give very special and heartfelt thanks to the Soule Family Foundation, who generously supported the Live Event with a $50,000 Matching Grant. Thanks to all of you, we exceeded it!
Truly, whether you were a one-time donor, or a grantor who has been supporting Listen Foundation for multiple years, we are so very grateful to you. We truly could not do this work without you. Last year, your generosity helped change the lives of 105 children in direct therapy service, over 185 children and parents in community programs, and almost 350 children, parents and siblings who attended Camp. You ARE making a difference!
2024 marks the 55th Anniversary of Listen Foundation! I know the compassion and commitment that is the life-blood of this community will continue. We have some amazing things planned for this year, and we’ll give you a little sampling in this newsletter. I hope you’ll plan to come visit us during a Lunch and Learn or listen to your fellow community members in our podcast.
I am excited to see what’s ahead, aren’t you?
Louanne Saraga-Walters Executive Director