HEAR NOW, a nonprofit organization serving clients throughout the United States, was founded in November, 1988 by Dr. Bernice Dinner Ph.D., an audiologist. The organization is governed by a sixteen-person Board of Directors representing all levels of the hearing health care community nationally. Programs and services are delivered to the consumers through a coalition of manufacturers, health care providers and civic organizations, coordinated by a six person staff and volunteers, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

HEAR NOW is dedicated to making hearing assistive technology accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people with limited financial resources.


The Hearing Aid Program has developed one of the largest collections of new and used hearing aids in the country. These hearing aids are distributed to financially needy clients through a nationwide network of "Associates" - hearing health care professionals who have agreed to fit HEAR NOW clients with the provided hearing aids. HEAR NOW has access to new hearing aids as well as reconditioned used instruments. Hearing aids donated to HEAR NOW which are no longer serviceable in the United States are typically given to charitable programs providing health care services in third world countries.

HEAR NOW is actively recruiting hearing health care providers, audiologists and hearing instrument specialists, who wish to become members of the "Associates" program.

The Subscriber Program, an extension of the Hearing Aid Program, functions to support smaller community-based hearing aid bank programs. The goal of this service is to facilitate the distribution of donated hearing aids, by providing specific donated hearing aids which may not be readily available in smaller collections. HEAR NOW is developing a national registry of existing community based hearing aid assistance programs, enabling the staff of HEAR NOW to refer individuals to sources of help within their own communities.

The Sound Investment Society enables service clubs and other organizations to "sponsor" low income members of their communities needing hearing help through annual SIS membership dues. The Sound Investment Society program, in addition to contributing financial support for HEAR NOW, creates an outreach mechanism - identifying those who need assistance.

The Cochlear Implant Program coordinates the philanthropic efforts of cochlear implant manufacturers, implant teams and local fundraising campaign managers. This enables profoundly deaf people who are unable to afford the $40,000 cost of a cochlear implant, to obtain the "gift of sound". Cochlear implants are designed to provide hearing sensations to profoundly and totally deaf people who are unable to benefit from conventional hearing aids. The device, which is surgically implanted, transforms sound into electrical impulses that stimulate the auditory nerve. The resulting sensations are perceived as "sound" by the brain.


The work of HEAR NOW is supported through contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations and by professionals who contribute their services. HEAR NOW receives no government funding.

HEAR NOW believes that no person should struggle to communicate simply because they lack the financial resources to acquire the technology which will help them hear. Accordingly, the staff and volunteers strive to continue a tradition of providing services to the hearing impaired community, while spending a mere 15% of its annual budget on administrative and funding costs.


HEAR NOW has provided in excess of one million dollars in hearing health care assistance to qualified applicants to date. Thirty people have received cochlear implants. Well over one thousand hearing aids have been distributed to people throughout the United States.

A gift to HEAR NOW is a "Sound Investment"! Whether helping an elderly person who wants to hear the sound of loved ones' voices over the phone - or working with a child to hear his family and teachers for the first time, HEAR NOW’s mission is to help them hear now...because every moment counts!


Applications for assistance are available through hearing health care facilities or by calling 1-800-648-HEAR (voice or TDD)

Cash contributions as well as donated hearing aids are fully tax deductible. Please make your check payable to HEAR NOW, 9745 E. Hampden Ave., Suite 300, Denver, CO 80231-4923

9745 E. Hampden Ave. Suite 300
Denver, CO 80231-4923
303-695-7797 · 800 648-HEAR (Voice or TDD) · Fax 303 695-7789