LOUISVILLE, Ky. – May 09, 2019 – Heuser Hearing & Language Academy (HHLA) receives a $48,937 grant from the PNC Foundation to build a new PNC Music Garden & Outdoor Learning Lab for its students. The Official Ribbon Cutting of both spaces will take place Tuesday May 14th at Heuser Hearing & Language Academy (11 E. Kentucky St.) beginning at 10am.
HHLA is a comprehensive educational community that exists to empower children up to age 5 with hearing loss and those experiencing speech, language and communication delays to reach their full potential and to effectively participate in the larger community.
The new PNC Music Garden is now open and will be an extension of the academy’s music therapy program. The Music Garden includes six outdoor musical instruments. The instruments will be used to help teach the students at the academy who are deaf or hard of hearing to listen through their amplification devices.
“We are grateful to the PNC Foundation’s support for the new Music Garden and Outdoor Learning Lab which will give our students who are deaf or hard of hearing opportunities for both music and vestibular therapy and a safe and fun place to play and learn,” said Brett Bachmann, Heuser Hearing & Language Academy CEO.
The new space is funded by the PNC Foundation in support of PNC Grow Up Great®, a bilingual $350 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life.
“It’s important that business leaders recognize the capabilities of individuals with disabilities,” said Chuck Denny, PNC regional president for Louisville. “We are dedicated to working with the Heuser Hearing & Language Academy to provide enriching opportunities for preschoolers to explore and discover the world around them.”
The new PNC Outdoor Learning Lab and Music Garden was specifically designed for children ages 2-3 with hearing loss. The space now holds a new smooth surface instead of rubberized mulch, which was housed before. Heuser Hearing Institute’s licensed audiologists assisted in selecting specific pieces of playground equipment to encourage listening and vestibular health for students with hearing loss.
Both areas were designed by Chris Fry from Play Pros of Kentucky and Indiana, formerly Countryside Play Structures, an exclusive Landscape Structures dealer and authorized installer. Play Pros dedicates a majority of their time and efforts to inclusive play.
“We believe every child has a right to build priceless memories of childhood through play,” said Fry.
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About The PNC Foundation
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through Grow Up Great, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $350 million multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. For more information contact www.pncgrowupgreat.com
About Heuser Hearing & Language Academy
Since 1948, Heuser Hearing & Language Academy (HHLA), formerly the Louisville Deaf Oral School, has provided early intervention for children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Their goal is to give each child a strong foundation from which to build a promising future. From birth to three, each child receives services through our Parent Infant Program. Once they turn three, they enter the Academy where they also receive intensive speech-language therapy, art therapy, music therapy and dance. Today the Heuser Hearing & Language Academy, on the campus of the Heuser Hearing Institute is a resource for over 150 students a year.
For more information contact www.thehearinginstitute.org