Today, May 20, 2020, our Ear Community Organization turns 10 years old!
IT’S BEEN A DECADE!
Ten years ago today, months after my youngest daughter, Ally, was born with Grade III Microtia and Aural Atresia of her right ear, I sat down at my laptop and decided to start a support group for Microtia and Atresia families right here on Facebook called the Microtia and Atresia Support Group. Today, our support group has close to 9,000 members in it. One year later, on June 11, 2011, my family hosted our first Microtia family picnic in Denver, Colorado where we had over 100 people attend including one Microtia repair surgeon. The following year on August 16th, 2012, Ear Community became a nonprofit organization. Since May 20th, 2010, we’ve never looked back!
Over the past decade, our organization has brought nearly 15,000 people together at 70 of our events here in the United States and in other countries. Our educational website has helped tens of thousands of families and medical professionals connect and learn more about Microtia and Atresia. We have helped children and adults in need who have hearing loss by donating over 130 bone conduction hearing aids. We have helped 15 college students with college scholarships. We’ve been to the FDA, initiated genetic research on Microtia and Atresia…we’ve advocated on Capitol Hill and even had legislation introduced that will help tens of thousands of children and adults obtain insurance coverage for bone anchored hearing aids and cochlear implants.
* A special thank you to Heidi Jeffs who not only is my only Ear Community employee besides myself, but for all of her passion and energy to help me help Ear Community do the good that our organization does! Thank you to our support group admins for all of their help and to all of our picnic host families who have helped make our picnics happen over the years! Thank you to our board members and to our donors too, for your tremendous support to our organization!
A very special thank you to our amazing sponsors who have supported Ear Community all these years, helping educate about all options and put smiles on our community’s families at our events!
Platinum Sponsors: Cochlear Americas and Oticon Medical
Silver Sponsors: Med-EL, Stryker and Medtronic ENT
💙👂🦋💙👂🦋💙👂🦋💙👂🦋💙
Thank you for being a part of Ear Community all these years!
Melissa Tumblin
Founder – Executive Director
and our entire board of directors!
www.EarCommunity.org
