Imani was born with sensorineural hearing loss. Doctors are unsure why that occurred, but it’s often genetic; hearing loss runs in her family. “The ability to hear is important in helping children learn to speak,” said Imani’s audiologist, Kim Lawless, “and there’s a reason we have two ears — it helps distinguish speech from noise.”

As the new school year dawned, Vanessa Biggers faced a crisis. Her 9-year-old daughter, Imani, lost one of her hearing aids, and Vanessa, a single mother who was temporarily out of a job, didn’t know how she would replace the expensive device.

It was important to match the lost hearing aid, because Imani’s school had invested in a system that lets her teacher speak through a microphone that broadcasts to Imani’s hearing aid. “It’s like Imani is sitting in the teacher’s lap,” Lawless said.

Vanessa is a strong advocate for her daughter and was determined to replace the hearing aid — perhaps through a bake sale or car wash at church. She was unfamiliar with Kosair Charities but Brother Evans, a deacon at their church in Lebanon, Ky., who also belongs to the Damascus Temple Shrine in West Louisville, is quite familiar.
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anessa contacted Kosair Charities and was amazed at how quickly the process fell into place. Within weeks, Imani had a new Oticon Vigo Pro — just like the one she had before.

“Kosair Charities called and asked what I needed,” Lawless said, “and it was there in a week. That’s just incredible.”