Miracle-Ear distributes $1M+ in hearing aids in Puerto Rico
Miracle-Ear owners, partners, and hearing care professionals recently returned from a “Miracle Mission” in Puerto Rico, where they came together to help people with hearing loss receive the “Gift of Sound,” the company announced.
In total, the Miracle-Ear Foundation and Miracle-Ear invested more than $1 million into hearing care resources for the community, but the Miracle Mission itself was a two-week event dedicated to working directly with patients to provide and fit them with life-changing hearing aids.
This first-ever Puerto Rico Miracle Mission was led by the Miracle-Ear Foundation, which distributed more than 200 hearing aids to more than 100 Puerto Ricans who could otherwise not afford them.
“Seeing people hear clearly and re-gain the ‘Gift of Sound’ for the first time is one of the most rewarding experiences there is,” said Jenni Hargraves, vice president of the Miracle-Ear Foundation. “I’m immensely proud of our team for supporting these efforts and humbled to be able to be part of this truly life-changing event.”
Citing recent data from the CDC, Miracle Ear stated that nearly 9% of the Puerto Rican population are deaf or struggle with hearing loss, and multiple studies have shown that untreated hearing loss is linked to numerous physical and mental conditions, as well as quality-of-life issues.
For more than 30 years, Miracle-Ear has distributed the “Gift of Sound” to qualified patients through the Miracle-Ear Foundation. In November 2020, during the pandemic and a time of financial challenge for many, the Miracle-Ear Foundation launched the Miracle Mission program — a way to take the mission of the Foundation to people in areas with both high poverty rates and low availability of hearing care.
The first U.S.-based Miracle Mission took place in Selma and Tuskegee, Alabama. Since then, the Miracle-Ear Foundation has completed seven domestic missions and fit nearly 450 people with free hearing aids at those events.
In total in 2022, the Miracle-Ear Foundation has gifted nearly 6,500 hearing aids to more than 3,200 individuals across the United States.
