While Service to Mankind is our brand, hearing health is our international mission. Since 1963, Sertomans throughout the United States have devoted themselves to serving those living with hearing loss. Our programs, grants and scholarships are dedicated to providing vital support services, awareness, education and more. So much of what we do, we do not do alone. Like so many other nonprofit organizations, we rely on partnerships with private and public entities to strengthen our impact. It is easy to understand how this can benefit us as an organization. However, partnerships do not make sense if they do not ultimately also benefit the intended audience.
The most obvious benefit of building these partnerships is access. The more help an organization like Sertoma has, the better access recipients will have to services. The Hearing Aid Project thrives because of our strong relationship with hearing health providers throughout the United States, as well as hearing aid manufacturers. These relationships ensure that we are able to provide the refurbished hearing aids that our program relies on and the hearing health professionals we need to treat our clients.
Next up, partnerships allow organizations to dedicate time and resources to education. It gives them access to subject experts. Sertoma has leveraged such relationships as we begin the lengthy process of updating our SAFEEars! program. This important hearing health initiative educates children and families about noise-induced hearing loss. This type of awareness is critical to teaching people how to avoid and replace unhealthy hearing behaviors, and we would not be able to release this information without the professional guidance of those assisting us with the process.
Finally, we have equitable care, which is closely related to the other two aforementioned benefits. The types of public health programs organized and supported by organizations like Sertoma have a goal of equitable care for all citizens. After all, it’s in our name – Service for Mankind. We want to provide meaningful change and care for underserved populations. We do this with programs like HAP and Hear2Help, our initiative focused on providing cost-free hearing aids to children in Missouri and Kansas.
Keep in mind that underserved here can mean nearly anything from inner cities and rural remote areas to those who may be missed due to race, creed, orientation, socioeconomic status and more. Tulane also includes communities coping with natural disasters, extreme poverty or disease outbreaks. Our partnership with the Red Cross has afforded us the opportunity to send free hearing aids to Los Angeles after the wildfires, the Carolinas after hurricanes and to the Southeast after flooding. We also work closely with international medical missions to provide older hearing aids to international patients, with clinics and nonprofits all throughout the United States to share batteries and cleaning tools, local nonprofits in the Kansas City area to take part in local screening drives, and more. There are so many opportunities to help those who need hearing health assistance, and so much of these chances aren’t possible without the organizations that we work with.
Our reach doesn’t stop there. We collaborate with international medical missionaries to distribute refurbished hearing aids to patients abroad, and we work with clinics and nonprofits across the U.S. to provide essential supplies like batteries and cleaning tools. Locally, we partner with Kansas City-based organizations to participate in hearing screening drives and community health events. The opportunities to serve are vast—but many would not be possible without the strength of our partnerships.
In every effort—from local screenings to international aid—Sertoma’s hearing health work is amplified by the partnerships we’ve built. These collaborations not only expand our reach but also deepen our impact, ensuring that more people receive the hearing health support they need. Together, we are living our mission of Service to Mankind—creating lasting change, one person at a time.