To make this a reality the Foundation focuses on three areas of programming
Clinical Services * Education * Music
FHSR Clinical Programming: FHSR directly funds these key support positions at The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago:
The Hart Family Cochlear Implant Education Coordinator, Bilingual Social Workers and the Loaner Hearing Aid Bank.
FHSR Education Programming: FHSR partners with the Chicago Hearing Society through their CHOICES program to fund the expansion of the READ literacy program and DEAR Day throughout Central and Southern Illinois.
FHSR Music Programming: Created to commemorate the Foundation’s 60th anniversary in 2018, the Music to My Ears Program provides tuition free early childhood music classes, individual instrument lessons along with classroom and after school programing, to bring music into the lives of children living with hearing loss.
Music To My Ears Scholarship Program
One year of tuition-free early childhood music classes
The Foundation for Hearing & Speech Rehabilitation (FHSR) is proud to partner with The Merit School of Music and The Old Town School of Music to create the Music To My Ears Scholarship Program commemorating the Foundation’s 60th Anniversary. The Scholarship provides one-year of tuition-free early childhood music classes for children (up to four years of age) and instrument lessons for children (over four years of age) who are deaf/hard of hearing living in Chicago and the surrounding Suburbs.
Music to My Ears Scholarships applications are currently available.
Louise Hart, Board Director
Louise Hart, long time Board Director, passed away peacefully at her home on May 1, 2020 at the age of 99. As a founding member of the Foundation for Hearing & Speech Rehabilitation (FHSR), Mrs. Hart helped to shape the mission of the Foundation and provided an unmatched level of commitment to helping individuals who are living with hearing loss.
Louise Hart had been associated with the Foundation for Hearing & Speech Rehabilitation since the early 1950’s. As a parent of a young deaf daughter at the time, she jumped at the opportunity to become involved in the Foundation. She served as the first President of the Women’s Board and held that position on two other occasions. Mrs. Hart, along with her friends, was a skillful fundraiser and used these talents to coordinate several extremely successful events. She later joined the FHSR Board of Directors where she served in a variety of roles, in addition to continuing her strong fundraising efforts.
In 2007, Mrs. Hart provided the initial funding for a crucial support position at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, the Hart Family Cochlear Implant Education Coordinator. This position provides support for families of children who have been recently identified with hearing loss and are candidates for a cochlear implant. The Coordinator is the bridge out to the academic community and plays a key role in the child’s education. This position directly supports over 150 children and their families each year, helping to place these children on a path to communication and academic success. The Education Coordinator is the only position like this in the Chicago-land area, and it would not have been created without Mrs. Hart’s keen insight and forward thinking.
In 2018, the Hart Family Foundation stepped forward to support the creation and initial funding drive for the Music To My Ears program to honor the Foundation’s 60th Anniversary. This program provides a year of tuition-free early childhood music enrichment classes for children born with hearing loss up to four years of age.
While we are deeply saddened by the loss of such an amazing person, the Directors and Staff of FHSR draw on Mrs. Hart’s passion to support deaf /hard of hearing children and will work diligently to continue her legacy of hope.
