Megan

Megan has been hard-of-hearing her entire life and “doesn’t know what it’s like to not wear hearing aids.” Before coming to Washington for a job, she lived in a state “that didn’t have services at all,” so by the time she moved, her hearing aids were 15 years old and no longer worked. As a school psychologist, Megan knew she would be “dependent on my ears, listening to students talk to me,” and that she would not always be able to read their lips. Still, she didn’t think she could afford new hearing aids.

Megan’s audiologist recommended Northwest Access Fund, and she applied for a loan. She describes the loan process as “very upfront, very easy, and very uncomplicated.” She was able to get in-the-canal hearing aids, which suit her needs much better than the receiver-in-the-canal hearing aids she previously used.

Megan explains that, for her, “it’s critical to have these aids to be able to function in a ‘normal society.’” She is thankful for the service the Access Fund offers, particularly because it is “often overlooked. Nobody thinks about how much hearing aids cost, even though there are millions of Americans who are hard-of-hearing.”