About

My Mission is to help each and every child suffering from man’s oldest incurable disease, that silent painless destroyer of human communication, deafness. I want to render this service to children in my community with dignity and devotion through my foundation.

I personally experienced bullying and prejudice when I was younger because of my hearing deficit that no one realized I had, including myself because on the outside everything appeared fine. It is my goal to educate the world on hearing loss and the psychological effects it has on children.

There has never been a better time to create awareness of hearing loss/deficits with the pandemic of covid 19. Now, for the first time, people from all over the world who have no hearing loss are experiencing a taste of what it is like to be unable to understand or hear simple conversations, due to the fact that people are wearing masks which limits people’s ability to communicate. This virus has further compounded the problem 10-fold for those with hearing loss because they also lose the ability to read lips.

I am blessed to be living in the same community where we have the world renowned Florida school for the Deaf and Blind and I have been able to tour the facility several times and interact with the students since I chose to learn sign language at a very young age . People with hearing loss are often looked at as unintelligent, however, clinical studies have proven that once a person loses one of their 5 senses that the other 4 compensate. I have been astonished over the years, to see the accomplishments that hearing-impaired children have been able to achieve. Even a little girl, born 47 years ago in Dothan, Alabama that lost her hearing at 18 months of age due to a serious ear infection, who like me was having difficulty keeping up with her classwork and started falling behind her peers, never gave up and just worked harder to fulfil her dream 22 years later of being crowned miss America despite all the odds being stacked against her.

I am very fortunate as my family ironically has been helping to improve the lives of hearing-impaired people for over 52 years, well before I experience my own hearing deficit. I have already been promoting my platform through my foundation and funding it through donations of hearing aids from the community. My family’s relationships has allowed me to partner with several organizations and leaders in the industry including the worlds largest manufacturer of hearing aids, Starkey and their Festival of Children’s Foundation whose mission is “So the World May Hear” bringing understanding between people through caring and sharing. Through these avenues I am able to refurbish these hearing aids in order to distribute to kids with hearing loss in my local community. With the Miss America organization behind me, I would be able to get this message out to more families with children in need through social media and advertising. I would also be able to make appearances at schools creating more awareness of what my foundation can do for kids. Getting these children hearing empowers them to reach their potential. I am committed to this wholeheartedly.

My biggest accomplishment thus far has been the ability to give the gift of hearing through my foundation to numerous different children throughout the southeast area that otherwise would not be able to afford hearing aids.

So far I have been able to help over 26 children regain the gift of hearing – that equals somewhere around $75,000 in kind donations and I am so grateful to all who participate in making this happen.

There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a child hear their mothers voice for the first time. Trust me when I tell you, there is not a dry eye in the room. My goal is to make sure no child has to suffer through the isolation and bullying that I encountered at a young age due to my hearing deficit. Even with all of this, If I were to eventually become Miss America, that would not be the end of my story as I plan on going to medical school to become a Pediatric Otolaryngologist which would further enhance my platform. I do not see this as a means to an end, but this is my passion and will be my life.

My mission is to help each and every child suffering from man’s oldest incurable disease, that silent painless destroyer of human communication, deafness. I want to render this service to children in my community with dignity and devotion through my foundation.

I personally experienced bullying and prejudice when I was younger because of my hearing deficit that no one realized I had, including myself because on the outside everything appeared fine. It is my goal to educate the world on hearing loss and the psychological effects it has on children.

There has never been a better time to create awareness of hearing loss/deficits with the pandemic of covid 19. Now, for the first time, people from all over the world who have no hearing loss are experiencing a taste of what it is like to be unable to understand or hear simple conversations, due to the fact that people are wearing masks which limits people’s ability to communicate. This virus has further compounded the problem 10-fold for those with hearing loss because they also lose the ability to read lips.

I am blessed to be living in the same community where we have the world renowned Florida school for the Deaf and Blind and I have been able to tour the facility several times and interact with the students since I chose to learn sign language at a very young age . People with hearing loss are often looked at as unintelligent, however, clinical studies have proven that once a person loses one of their 5 senses that the other 4 compensate. I have been astonished over the years, to see the accomplishments that hearing-impaired children have been able to achieve. Even a little girl, born 47 years ago in Dothan, Alabama that lost her hearing at 18 months of age due to a serious ear infection, who like me was having difficulty keeping up with her classwork and started falling behind her peers, never gave up and just worked harder to fulfil her dream 22 years later of being crowned miss America despite all the odds being stacked against her.

I am very fortunate as my family ironically has been helping to improve the lives of hearing-impaired people for over 52 years, well before I experience my own hearing deficit. I have already been promoting my platform through my foundation and funding it through donations of hearing aids from the community. My family’s relationships has allowed me to partner with several organizations and leaders in the industry including the worlds largest manufacturer of hearing aids, Starkey and their Festival of Children’s Foundation whose mission is “So the World May Hear” bringing understanding between people through caring and sharing. Through these avenues I am able to refurbish these hearing aids in order to distribute to kids with hearing loss in my local community. With the Miss America organization behind me, I would be able to get this message out to more families with children in need through social media and advertising. I would also be able to make appearances at schools creating more awareness of what my foundation can do for kids. Getting these children hearing empowers them to reach their potential. I am committed to this wholeheartedly.

My biggest accomplishment thus far has been the ability to give the gift of hearing through my foundation to numerous different children throughout the southeast area that otherwise would not be able to afford hearing aids.

So far I have been able to help over 26 children regain the gift of hearing – that equals somewhere around $75,000 in kind donations and I am so grateful to all who participate in making this happen.

There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a child hear their mothers voice for the first time. Trust me when I tell you, there is not a dry eye in the room. My goal is to make sure no child has to suffer through the isolation and bullying that I encountered at a young age due to my hearing deficit. Even with all of this, If I were to eventually become Miss America, that would not be the end of my story as I plan on going to medical school to become a Pediatric Otolaryngologist which would further enhance my platform. I do not see this as a means to an end, but this is my passion and will be my life.

She started loosing her hearing when she was 2 yrs old. They don’t know what caused it though. Since then she has continuously lost more hearing. Her hearing loss is severe to profound in all frequencies. Lend an ear donated very old hearing aids to her and Help Kids Hear decided to gift her with new hearing aids. She is 13 yrs old and attends a school in St Johns County.

Success Stories…

Melia Hvasta

She started loosing her hearing when she was 2 yrs old. They don’t know what caused it though. Since then she has continuously lost more hearing. Her hearing loss is severe to profound in all frequencies. Lend an ear donated very old hearing aids to her and Help Kids Hear decided to gift her with new hearing aids. She is 13 yrs old and attends a school in St Johns County.

Melia’s fitting…

Kinsleigh was referred to Help Kids Hear, Inc. from one of our ear, nose, and throat specialty physicians. Kinsleigh was suffering from profound hearing loss and had no health insurance to cover the cost of her hearing aids. Help Kids Hear, Inc. was able to provide her with a brand-new set of fully digital, AI engineered hearing aids to help optimize her hearing and help her succeed in school. 

Success Stories…

Kinsleigh Smith

Kinsleigh’s fitting…