Message from the Executive Director
Our organization is a unique non-profit serving the needs of the speech, language and hearing impaired people
in the Charlotte region. We are the only non-profit, 501(c)3, free standing community speech and hearing center
in North Carolina. Our organization was created 1967 and has been connecting people with
communication loss to the world ever since! We serve a wide variety of clients, revenue generated from private clients helps to support our community programs. We provide the same high-quality, individualized service to all of our clients.
Our unique programs include the Hearing Services Bank that offers
free hearing aids to those who cannot afford the high cost of these instruments.
We have a newly developed sliding fee scale to reduce the cost for those who can
afford to pay for part of the service. We have developed a pediatric program to
meet the growing and crucial need for hearing impaired children who are denied services elsewhere. And we offer value priced digital
instruments of the latest technology for the full pay client.
Our assistance fund ensures that all children have access to excellent speech-language services, regardless of family income. Also, we have the Step Ahead Program
to screen children in low income areas to find problems early in the language development
stage and refer them for language intervention therapy. Our Little Wings Program offers a
low cost fee for parents with children in other types of pre-school programs.
Remember, most language development occurs by the age of three; by the age of five
it is almost too late to overcome certain deficits. Early detection is crucial. These programs represent our efforts to close the achievement gap and ensure the kindergarten readines and school success of children in our community.
You will discover in this site other programs that are targeted for special areas
such as the Inclusion Speech-Language Development Program in the pre-school environment,
Autism Language Development Therapy, and our unique "Freedom of Speech" accent reduction therapy
for adults to improve intelligibility and ensure access to better paying jobs.
Our unique services are offered by our highly trained and skilled staff.
Our Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists have graduate level degrees and are licensed in the State of North Carolina and are nationally certified. Contact us today to see how we can serve you or how you can help us.
Mission Statement
At Charlotte Speech and Hearing, we believe communication is the key to connecting with the world. Our mission is to provide a full range of effective, family-centered speech, language and hearing services to everyone in need.
Our History
The Charlotte Speech & Hearing Center was founded in 1967 as the first community
and hearing center in the state of North Carolina. It was begun as a project of the
Junior League of Charlotte and was accepted as a United Way agency in 1969.
The Center has a long history of assessing community needs and responding with appropriate service programs.
Examples include on-site service delivery to children of low income families (1971),
the Center's Hearing Aid Loan Bank program for low income elderly (1973),
the Center's Union County satellite (1976), the "Business and Personal
Communication Services" program offering speech improvement to individuals
in the workplace (1987), the acquisition of corporate and
community grants to serve children in selected low income child development centers
(1996), and hearing aid sales and service (1997).
Meet Our Staff
Our Board of Directors
