Partners in Mission Participates in Hearing Screening Event
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April 3, 2023On Wednesday, March 1st, the OLPH Church community, NYU Langone Hospital, Brooklyn, Bethpage Partners in Mission (PIM), and several local faith communities hosted a hearing screening event for the students of OLPH Catholic Academy and the community of Brooklyn. It was an interfaith experience that not only helped remove barriers to hearing, but also helped remove barriers that frequently exist between interfaith communities. It was a day filled with joy, hope, and healing.
The program targets “low-income immigrant communities” because immigrant children frequently aren’t afforded the same neonatal hearing screenings in their native country. Early intervention is essential because hearing loss affects a child’s quality of life, speech, growth in learning language, and performance in school. It can also affect the child’s ability to develop social skills.
The hearing program instituted by NYU Langone Hospital’s Institute for Excellence in Health Equity looks to promote health equity and build an inclusive culture of medicine by bringing awareness, screenings, and early intervention using state-of-the-art technology to diagnose potential hearing problems or obstructions within the ear.
Several of the local faith communities and community-based organizations of Brooklyn, including OLPH Church, received a hearing testing device and training provided by NYU Langone Hospital. If a potential hearing problem is discovered, the individual is promptly provided with a consultation with a registered nurse, who then provides a doctor’s referral for a free follow-up visit and ground transportation. If a hearing aid is required, one will be provided at no cost to the individual. This is all possible due to a generous grant provided by Larry Silverstein, the developer of the rebuilt World Trade Center Complex in Manhattan, who suffers from hearing loss.
The day was beautifully summed up in the words of Lucy Burich- McNamara, the Baltimore Province Partners-in-Mission Co- coordinator and Lay Missionary of the Most Holy Redeemer, who said, “The miracle taking place here today is more than hearing being restored. It is also the coming together of various faith communities under one roof, working together for this important cause.”
Bibi Esahack, the executive director of Bay Ridge Community Development Center, echoed these words when she noted her community’s mission statement, “From Many One,” to which Fr. Manny Rodriguez, C.Ss.R., added, “E Pluribus Unum, those are the very same words that appear on our currency.”