The Neil Squire Society’s latest social enterprise aims to eliminate the financial barriers that may prevent people from getting the hearing help they need.

Hearing Solutions, a Neil Squire program, is a fully equipped hearing health centre located just steps away from Gilmore Skytrain Station.

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Shandell works in customer service at a physiotherapy clinic in Vancouver, with her duties including working closely with patients to book their appointments, collecting payment, tracking treatment progress while they are in the office, answering phones, and ensuring that they feel welcomed and comfortable attending the clinic.

“I have a moderate to severe hearing impairment,” she explains. “This impacts my employment as there are times where I struggle to hear certain pitches or sounds when communicating with patients. Sometimes I would not hear the timer go off when tracking the patient’s treatment progress.”

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In 2019, Carol started work as a picture framer in Langford and began dealing with customers face-to-face.

“I’ve had hearing loss since my teenage years and have worn hearing aids most of that time. I’m 66 now and my hearing loss has progressed, but it’s still moderate. For the last decade I’ve worn inexpensive hearing aids I got off the internet. Although they amplified sounds, I still had a lot of trouble with speech recognition,” she explains.

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Dinh Trinh works the graveyard shift as a waiter in Vancouver.

Hearing loss was making it difficult for him to hear his customers and the kitchen bell when it was time to bring out food.

His audiologist referred him to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services.

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Kevin is a veterinary technician at a veterinary hospital in Vancouver. His job involves providing nursing care to the animal patients — largely cats and dogs — with duties ranging from administering medication, monitoring vitals, and performing tests.

Kevin has moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears due to a hereditary condition called Alport Syndrome.

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Lynda works at a nursing home in Kelowna in recreation, with her duties including involving residents in activities like exercises, bus tours, and church services.

Lynda has hearing loss.

“I did not hear low speaking residents or co-workers when they spoke to me,” she explains.

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Zach is a journeyman electrician working in Squamish.

“I am mostly deaf in my left ear,” he explains. “It impacted my employment when being delegated tasks since my brains recognition to speech was slow. This increased my anxiety drastically, making it hard to focus.”

He had previously lost his hearing aid, and needed a new one. He had learned about the WorkBC Assistive Technology Services program from his mother, and decided to apply.

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Miranda works as an accounts payable administrator for an electrical company in Prince George.

“I am completely deaf on my left side and only have 30% hearing on my right,” she shares. “Not being able to hear at work was stressful.”

Her audiologist referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for funding for new hearing aids. She applied and was quickly approved for new hearing aids.

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Harry is currently looking for employment with the help of WorkBC Employment Services in Osoyoos. He has severe hearing loss.

“[It] was extremely difficult to communicate with people in many situations,” he explains.

Harry was referred to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, where he received funding for a new set of hearing aids. The hearing aids have made a big difference in the job search process for Harry.

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