OK School for the Deaf’s Senior Citizens’ Hearing Aid Program gets needed boost thanks to a Masonic Charity Foundation grant

EDMOND – The Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma awarded the Oklahoma School for the Deaf’s Senior Citizen Hearing Aid Program $150,000 grant for 2025.

Many Oklahoma seniors live on fixed incomes and without this assistance are unable to get hearing support or specialized equipment designed to alert those who are hard of hearing or deaf.

“Thanks to this generous grant, we will be able to serve more than 400 clients this year,” OSD Superintendent Heather Laine said. “Clients will not only benefit from hearing aids, but they could receive other specialized technology.”

This grant will help provide critical devices that can make an impact on a person’s livelihood and safety, including amplified phones, alarm clock systems with a bed shaker, light flashing doorbells, and smoke alarms or carbon monoxide detectors.

“These items can’t always be found at the local store. We offer high quality equipment that can be counted on,” Laine said.

Masonic Charity Foundation Board Members Bob Davis and Jack L. Painter presented a $150,000 check to Laine, OSD Equipment Distribution Program coordinator Renate Neal and Director of Outreach and Accessibilities Eric Reed at a luncheon on Feb. 25 at the Hilton Garden Inn and Edmond Conference Center.

“This contribution will help us continue providing essential services to seniors statewide. Their commitment to improving the lives of our senior citizens is truly appreciated,” Laine said.  “This makes a difference in so many lives, and we can’t thank the Masons enough.”

OSD’s hearing aid program is funded by a small fee on telephone service for those who have conventional metal wire or optical fiber telephone connections, known as landlines.

Funding for the program has declined in recent years because many people have switched to mobile cellular phones, which are not subject to the telephone service fee in Oklahoma.

OSD has to delay services when that year’s money runs out, this grant allows more individuals to receive hearing aids or hearing equipment.

“We often receive calls and letters from our clients or their families expressing their gratitude for the assistance we provide. On behalf of those clients, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Masonic Charity Foundation for their on-going support,” Laine said.

To qualify for the Senior Citizens Hearing Aid Program, Oklahoma residents must be 60 years of age, with limited income and a 35-decibel hearing loss in their better ear.

The program pays for an audiology examination, ear mold impression, hearing aid fitting and one non-digital hearing aid per person due to limited funding and the need to serve as many seniors as possible.

“The support of Masonic Charity Foundation means the world for our senior citizens with hearing loss,” Laine said. “Without it, we could not be able to have the impact we do for our senior citizens’ quality of life.”

OSD is a division of the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services.

For more information about the program, email mcole@okdrs.gov, phone 580-622-4909 or visit http://www.osd.k12.ok.us/edp/senior_hearing_aid.pdf.

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