Lexington, KY - When you walk into the Lexington Hearing and Speech Center, you feel right at home. That's probably because the location is quite literally three adjoining older houses on Ashland Avenue.
Seeking to keep that atmosphere, yet needing to upgrade from a building that has been used for over 50 years, the center is involved in a major capital construction project and asking for help from community business leaders.
The capital construction project will kick off next week with a fundraiser headlined by former President Bill Clinton, who has used hearing aids since his second term in office.
"We want to use the event as a way to make us known," said the center's board chair, William (King) Offutt, "and to better serve."
That means having better equipment for diagnostic testing, more classrooms with computers for children to use and soundproof rooms for private counseling, along with space for administrative offices and conference rooms.
The Lexington Hearing and Speech Center was founded in 1960 through the efforts of community parents and Edie and Jimmy Frankel, who dedicated their lives to establishing quality educational, therapeutic and family support services for the hearing impaired. More than 1,200 children from 47 counties throughout the state use the center each year for diagnosis, early intervention, preschool and kindergarten programs that focus on aural (hearing and listening) skills.
Children with hearing impairments who are enrolled in the center's educational programs are fitted with either hearing aids or cochlear implants. This allows them the opportunity to learn to listen and talk just like their hearing peers.
Lori Shepherd, executive director for the center, is proud to show visitors how every nook and cranny inside the older homes has been retrofitted for use by the audiologists, teachers and speech pathologists.
"Staff is phenomenal, but we want a state-of-the-art facility to help them do their jobs," Shepherd said. "It's not about growth but room to grow."
The mission of the center is to prepare preschool children to function comfortably, confidently and independently in society.
Shepherd thinks they are doing just that.
"We are quietly making a difference in the community." she said.
Two alumni from the center echo Shepherd's sentiments when describing how they have found success in their personal and professional lives.
Joy Huddleston Kiser, 37, is an administrative branch manager with the Office of the Governor's Department of Local Government. She attended preschool and kindergarten at the center and remembers being taught how to appreciate the different mannerism each person uses to communicate.
"They teach you awareness," Kiser said of the teachers, and she credits them for giving her skills she uses every day. "I pay attention more. I'm more aware."
Kiser's father, Phillip Huddleston, said early diagnosis and training are important. He moved his family from Monticello, Ky., to Lexington in order to enroll his daughter in the center, which had been recommended to him as one of the nation's premier centers for diagnosing and testing deaf children.
"Joy functions in a hearing world as a hearing-impaired person at a higher level due to the great foundation she received at Lexington Hearing and Speech Center," said Huddleston. "We can never repay them for what they've done."
Richard Moloney, 50, is commissioner for the state's Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction and remembers the teachers working patiently with him as he practiced hard-to-pronounce words over and over again.
"It was a new adventure each day to go home and show what you learned,"
Moloney recalled, "and seeing your parents smile when you finally say that word right."
Moloney sits on the center's board and is excited about the opportunity to expand and upgrade in order to help more children. He credits the center for giving him the confidence and character that he has today.
"I don't think I'm deaf," said Moloney. "I'm just like everyone else."