Songs for Sound Helps Music City Hear the Music

    NASHVILLE, TN, December 07, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- One in five people struggle with hearing loss in the United States. From the child who is missing classroom instruction, to the teenager who cranks the music up too high, to the adult who avoids social gatherings - hearing loss is everywhere.

Songs for Sound is hEAR to help. The Nashville-based charity is the life calling of Jaime Vernon, whose 9 year-old daughter Lexi is deaf and was nearly missed when doctors repeatedly dismissed her parents' concerns. Lexi was finally diagnosed at Vanderbilt's Bill Wilkerson Center at 14 months old. She received life changing bilateral cochlear implant surgery a few months later.

Lexi turns 9 this week and is a thriving third grader and athlete. She is deaf, but she can hear thanks to cochlear implants and her family has started a national movement - The Hear the Music Project - to identify and support people with hearing loss. You may have seen the clinic around town as it wraps up the 60 Days in Nashville tour this month. As a salute to the city where Songs for Sound was born, the free mobile hearing clinic will serve more than 40 local organizations before the holidays.

The Hear the Music Project administers free hearing screenings, assists with audiology referrals, and teaches ways to protect against noise induced hearing loss. The project has given around 5000 free screens so far, with 4 in 10 people referred for further audiology.

On a special Saturday in November, the clinic served families receiving Thanksgiving meal items at a One Generation Away food distribution event in Franklin, TN. Lexi was helping out that day and met a 5th grader named Trinity who also struggles with hearing loss. Her father, a local veteran, told Jaime that their doctor attributes his daughter's hearing impairment to multiple ear infections and tube surgery as a toddler, but never referred her to an audiologist.

Lexi flagged her mom down when Trinity's screening results indicated severe hearing loss - one girl who was nearly missed helping another who is slipping through the cracks.

Songs for Sound will set Trinity up with full audiology at The Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center. Hearing aids should restore her hearing and dramatically improve her quality of life.

"This is why we do what we do," says Vernon. "We are here to support families every step of the way. Lexi and Trinity are not alone. In August, we found a little girl with profound hearing loss during our tour in Chicago and we are helping her get the appointments she needs before she starts kindergarten."

It is not too late to get your free screening. Here is the Hear the Music Project Clinic calendar for the remainder of December:

Dec. 6 Project Transformation (Nashville) 3:30-5:30pm
Dec. 7 Project Transformation (Antioch) 3:15-6:00pm
Dec. 8 Project Transformation (Madison) 3:30-5:30pm
Dec. 9 Fairview Boys & Girls Club 3:00-7:00pm
Dec. 10 Nashville Farmer's Market 8:00am-2:00pm
Dec. 12 Cottage Cove (Madison) 4:00pm-6:00pm
Dec. 13 Woodbine Community House 10:30am-2:00pm
Dec. 13 Cottage Cove (Vine Hill) 4:00-6:00pm
Dec. 14 Cottage Cove (Vine Hill) 4:00-6:00pm
Dec. 15 Robertson County Senior Center 9:30am-3:00pm
Dec. 16 Preston Taylor Boys & Girls Club 4:30-7:00pm

The project will return to Nashville for another 60-day tour in June 2017 and is available for booking. "If we can change just one life, then our work is worth it, and this project gives us the chance to help so many people," exclaims Vernon. Lexi shares her mother's commitment, saying, "It feels good to help others - like a way to say thank you for the life I have."

To join the Hear the Music Movement, to host the mobile clinic, to volunteer, to give, to learn more, visit www.songsforsound.com.

About Songs for Sound
Songs for Sound is a Nashville based 501c3 charity that strives to protect and restore hearing, using music as inspiration and outreach, to improve the lives of the 360 million people worldwide struggling with hearing loss. The Hear the Music Project 2016-2017 tour aims to reach 50,000 ears across the nation.

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