Child’s Voice Kicks Off 25th Birthday With Virtual Party

Child’s Voice, which serves children with hearing loss from birth through age eight, turns 25 this year. To kick off the year-long celebration, everyone is invited to the 25 Excellent Years Virtual Birthday Party at 6 p.m. Saturday, February 20. This hour of memories and music also features a tribute to our Voice from the Heart honoree, teacher Elsa Auerbach.

Child’s Voice, based in Wood Dale and the Roscoe Village neighborhood in Chicago, helps children with hearing loss learn to listen and to speak. Students wear hearing aids and/or cochlear implants, and programs use a child-focused, research-based curriculum, with the end goal of transitioning graduates back to their neighborhood schools. The Child’s Voice program serves nearly 400 children and their families each year.

In 1996, a group of families wanted more for their children with hearing loss -- they wanted their children to learn to listen and verbally communicate. Child’s Voice started in a church in Elmhurst and grew into a building of its own in Wood Dale. Since then Child’s Voice has added Early Intervention services for babies, a satellite office in Chicago to serve more families, and an Audiology clinic that provides testing and serves students on-site.

The Voice From the Heart Award will be given to Elsa Auerbach, who has been a listening and spoken language teacher for children with hearing loss since 1963. Auerbach began teaching at Child’s Voice one month before the school opened in 1996. She also worked as the head teacher at Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization; taught adult lip reading at the Chicago Hearing Society; and had a private tutoring practice for 35 years.

The Feb. 20 party will bring current and former students and families, staff, community partners, and other supporters together virtually. This event is a fundraiser to support the incredible students, families, staff, and programs at Child’s Voice. Along with video memories, interviews, and musical guests, there will be a silent auction featuring unique items and experiences as well as opportunities to make a gift that benefits Child’s Voice’s students now and in the future.

Register now for the event at www.childsvoice.org. A donation of any amount is required to view the show.

Visit us and find more information at www.childsvoice.org. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @Childs_Voice, on Instagram @Childs_Voice, and on LinkedIn and YouTube, and please use #SmileyCV.