Table
of Contents:
Communicative Disorders/Hearing
& Speech
National
Programs
Adopt-An-Agency
Program
Scholarships
Public
Education Programs
SERTOMA
SAFEEARS!©
Local
Program Options
Hearing
Aid Programs
Hearing
Screening Programs
Communicative
Disorders Sponsorships
National Programs
Sertoma's Board of Directors adopted Hearing
and Speech as a Sertoma Sponsorship
in 1963. Since then, Sertomans have expended millions
of dollars and hours to help people with communicative
disorders. These programs have staff direction and management
in support of local club participation.
Adopt-An-Agency
Program
The Adopt-An-Agency program establishes a relationship
between Sertoma and a nonprofit hearing and speech facility.
It is a practical way for a club to help a local organization
and promote Sertoma's national mission of Commitment to
Communication in every Community.
Sertoma's partnership with these agencies, known as Affiliates,
expands awareness in the community to the pervasiveness
of communicative disorders and the resulting impact on
the lives of individuals and their families. In the future,
we hope that all of our local Affiliates will be the vehicle
to help those in need receive hearing aids or speech therapy
at little or no cost.
More than 240 nonprofit organizations are currently affiliated
with Sertoma. These include hearing and speech centers,
speech pathology and audiology clinics, departments at
universities and hospitals, schools for the deaf, speech,
language and hearing associations, deaf service centers,
school districts, etc.
Sertoma clubs can benefit greatly from the Adopt-An-Agency
program. It provides a vehicle for membership recruitment,
as well as community publicity and the satisfaction of
knowing that the club is involved in credible Service
to Mankind. Clubs support their Affiliates in many ways:
- Serve
on the facility's board of directors
-
Financial support of specific patients
-
Purchase of equipment and supplies
-
Volunteer assistance with screening programs
-
Upgrading facilities
-
Assistance in public education projects
-
Direct financial assistance
-
Volunteer support
Sertoma
Affiliates must be a 501(C) 3 or tax status equivalent and they
must be related to the hearing and speech mission of Sertoma
. With an annual fee of $150.00 paid either by
the facility or sponsoring club, Affiliates receive the many
benefits listed below.
Benefits:
-
Sertoma
Purchasing Cooperative, through which Affiliates
can buy hearing aids, batteries, therapy materials and audiology
and speech pathology equipment from leading suppliers at
discount prices. Each Affiliate can easily save thousands
of dollars annually through the Co-op.
-
Community Service Matching Grants, up to $5,000 per fiscal
year, are available to those Affiliates that qualify. The
Affiliate must be sponsored by a Sertoma club who is a member
of the Foundation. Grants have provided renovations for
youth camps, hearing and screening equipment, program development
and other projects.
-
Professional Education Grants, up to $400 per fiscal year,
for Affiliate staff members to attend workshops, seminars
and conventions to improve professional skills.
-
Consultation by the Sertoma staff in helping Affiliates
establish successful relationships with sponsoring clubs.
Scholarships:
Communicative
Disorders Scholarships
Sertoma's annual Communicative Disorders Scholarship Program,
funded by the Sertoma Foundation, is for graduate students pursuing
advanced degrees in audiology or speech-language pathology from
institutions in the U.S. These scholarships, worth $1,000 each,
are awarded in the spring to help offset the cost of tuition,
books and fees incurred during the following school year. Sertoma's
Communicative Disorders Scholarships Program provides more funds
nationally for graduate level study in communicative disorders
than any other single organization, including ASHA.
The scholarship application form is available on the Sertoma
Web site, www.sertoma.org,
or through the Finance Department at Sertoma Headquarters. Each
applicant must be accepted as a full-time, in residence student
in an audiology or speech-language pathology graduate level
program at an ASHA-accredited institution or approved school.
(See application for grade point average requirements.)
Deaf or Hard of Hearing Undergraduate Student Scholarship
Since this program's inception in 1994, Sertoma has been the
leading funder of the $1,000 scholarships for deaf and hard
of hearing students. Students who have a clinically significant
bilateral hearing loss and are graduating high school seniors
or undergraduate students pursuing four-year college degrees
in any discipline are eligible for the $1,000 scholarship. For
detailed information and an application, please visit the Scholarships
Section of the Sertoma Web site, www.sertoma.org.
Public
Education Programs:
-
Sertoma National Service Project -
SERTOMA SAFEEARS!©
… to hear the future
-
Collaboration With WISE EARS!®
-
A Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Prevention Awareness Project
During May, Better Hearing & Speech Month, the nation's
attention is focused on hearing loss. Sertoma designed SERTOMA
SAFEEARS! educational materials for its clubs
to support their activities in May and year-round. This educational
and awareness program focuses on three areas: youth organizations/schools,
workplaces and general awareness/home and recreation.
These materials promote the important message that NIHL (Noise-Induced
Hearing Loss) is preventable, while the SERTOMA
SAFEEARS! national service project additionally
serves to reinforce Sertoma's position as the hearing and speech
service organization.
With hearing loss becoming more common in the United States,
awareness programs serve as an important means to educate the
public about this important health issue. Sertoma clubs are
encouraged to use the program during the month of May, but also
year-round.
Sertoma partnered with the WISE EARS! Coalition to create a
Sertoma service project closely aligned with our mission. The
project enhances Sertoma's identity in order to spread our mission
and attract new members to the organization. Participation requires
minimal financial outlay and time commitment, and the project
can be a viable membership recruitment avenue for clubs. In
addition, it is a program that clubs can expand or adapt to
meet a variety of needs in communities.
SERTOMA SAFEEARS! is easy
for clubs to implement. A committee should be appointed to organize
the project. The committee should review the project manual
and materials available; advise club members about the project;
arrange for printing of materials; personalize handouts to be
used with the club name and contact information; contact local
radio and television stations for placement of the PSAs and
the local newspaper(s) for placement of the newspaper insert
eight weeks in advance of the project kickoff; and order an
adequate supply of Giveaway Kits and Sertoma recruitment brochures.
For more information and to order materials, see the Sertoma
Web site, www.sertoma.org, or call Sertoma Headquarters.
Local
Program Options:
Hearing Aid Programs:
Sertoma Hearing Aid Recycling Program: S.H.A.R.P.
The Sertoma Hearing Aid Recycling Program helps needy people
obtain hearing aids. Clubs collect used hearing aids, have them
refurbished, and distribute them to people in need. If your
club is interested in beginning a hearing aid recycling program,
please contact Sertoma Headquarters.
Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight & Hearing:
AUDIENT
Sertoma clubs can distribute Audient brochures to senior citizen
homes, doctors' offices, anywhere people go, that tell them
how to participate in a program to obtain low-cost hearing aids.
Clubs can order these brochures with Sertoma information on
them by calling (206) 682-8500 or by contacting Sertoma Headquarters.
If you would like more information regarding this program contact
the Sponsorships department at Headquarters.
Hearing
Aid Purchase Program:
In cases where an individual cannot afford to buy a hearing
aid, a club can raise the needed funds to purchase the aid.
Sometimes a dealer will drastically reduce the price of the
aid if he or she knows that it is for a charitable cause. Clubs
can also contact local Sertoma Affiliates that may be receiving
discounts through the Sertoma Affiliate Purchasing Cooperative.
Clubs should realize, however, that the dispenser's cost of
fitting a hearing aid includes much more than the instrument
itself. It includes the cost of ear molds, fittings, evaluations,
follow-up counseling and aural rehabilitation.
Other programs a club might want to take part in would be a
Hearing Aid Repair Program or a Hearing Aid Battery Program.
In order for hearing aids to continue to do their job, they
must be repaired on a regular basis, and batteries must be replaced.
Contact your local hearing and speech resource personnel to
determine the best way to organize such a program in your community.
Hearing
Screening Programs:
Mobile Unit Hearing Screening: The prerequisite for a mobile
unit hearing screening program is the availability of a mobile
unit outfitted with the appropriate testing equipment and trained
hearing and speech professionals to conduct the screenings.
If your club wants to sponsor such a program, contact hearing
and speech personnel in community hearing and speech agencies,
audiology or speech pathology programs at a local university,
public health departments, Easter Seal Society, state or local
hearing and speech associations and medical societies. These
people may be able to provide your club with information on
a unit in the state or region that could be used for a few days
or weeks in your area. Plan ahead. Scheduling is very important.
Youth: For many years, public and
parochial elementary and secondary schools have conducted annual
hearing screening programs. The tendency is to assume that all
schools have such a program; however, this is not the case.
Funding of such programs may have been reduced or eliminated
in recent years. Sertomans can provide a very important service
to young people in a community that does not sponsor such a
program in schools. Hearing screenings can also be done at preschools.
Contact your local preschools, day-cares or schools to see if
they have such a program.
Senior Citizens: The incidence of
hearing loss is very high in people over 65; yet, many senior
citizens never seek audiological services that are available.
The key to an effective hearing screening program for elderly
people is seeking out those who need testing. Such a program
can be organized through senior citizen groups, churches, nursing
homes, retirement communities or community centers.
For more information about these programs, call Sertoma Headquarters
at (816) 333-8300.
Sponsorship
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