Hearing Made Available to Those in Need
Davis Family Foundation Gives $20,000 to ReHAB Participants

Bangor, Maine – Forty people of the 100 people on the waiting list at the Warren Center for Communication & Learning’s Regional Hearing Aid Bank (ReHAB) won’t have to wait much longer. They are getting hearing aids thanks to a grant by the Davis Family Foundation of Falmouth, Maine.
The Davis Family Foundation said in their letter to the Warren Center, that “we share your enthusiasm for this project and hope our gift will contribute to its success.” The realization of the program is dependent upon the donations of funds and hearing aids by members of the community. The generous gift of $20,000 from the Davis Family Foundation will allow the Warren Center’s five year waiting list to be whittled down to two years. This means that, although we will be able to serve many members of our community, still others will continue to wait to receive a hearing aid from the ReHAB program. Those who wish may contribute monetary donations or hearing aids to the program to help those in need.
The ReHAB program addresses community needs by making hearing aids and related support services available to qualified adults in Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock, Waldo and Washington counties. Each qualified participant receives a complete hearing evaluation to determine if a hearing loss exists and specific hearing testing to see whether or not a hearing aid will be of any benefit. If it is determined that a hearing aid would be beneficial, the participant is supplied with either a new or reconditioned behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid. All costs associated with the hearing aid including the testing, manufacture of ear molds, fitting the aid and the aids themselves will be covered by the ReHAB program. The program also provides full repair coverage for one year, batteries for the hearing aid and a “dri-aid” maintenance kit to help keep the aid in good working order.
The price of a hearing aid now starts at around $800.00 and can exceed $4,000.00 for high-end digital models. Currently, neither Medicare nor Medicaid offer coverage of hearing aids for adults over age 21. Considering the number of older Maine residents living in poverty or on fixed incomes the cost of even basic hearing aids are beyond reach – even when they have an identified hearing loss.
Since its inception in 2002, 144 ReHAB recipients have received a hearing aid through the program.
The grant monies will go to refurbishing donated hearing aids, the manufacture of the ear molds and the warranties and services provided totals $500 per participant in the program.
We currently have a two year waiting for applicants, many of whom are over eighty years of age at the time of their application.

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Organization Background:

The Warren Center for Communication & Learning is Bangor’s oldest not-for-profit professional speech and hearing center. It provides evaluations, therapies and technologies in the areas of speech, language development and hearing to the children and adults of, Eastern and Central Maine.

The Davis Family Foundation is a public charitable foundation established by Phyllis C. Davis and H. Halsey Davis of Falmouth, Maine, to support educational, medical and cultural/arts organizations located primarily in Maine. The foundation was established following Mr. Davis's retirement as President and Chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc. Their overriding goal for the foundation was simple and straightforward: “to make grants where they will do the most good and where our gifts make a real difference.” The foundation has provided over $32.8 million in grants since its grant making activities began in 1986.