International Hearing Dogs mission is to empower individuals who are Deaf and hard of hearing by purposefully training specially selected dogs to alert to sounds, carefully matching these dogs with handlers who are deaf and hard of hearing, and supporting the paired teams throughout the lifetime of the match.
The IHDI team is committed to being a true advocate in the community for those we serve while providing our teams with lifetime support, continuously striving to bridge the gap between the Deaf and hard of hearing community. Being dedicated to those we serve means we work on the guiding belief that finances should never be a determining factor for access to our services, therefore hearing dogs are selected, trained, cared for, and placed at no cost.
Kendra Plaschko has served as the program's Director of Development for the last 3 years. In her role as Director of Development Kendra heads up everything from Fundraising, Events, Donor Relations, Social Media, and program Communication for Hearing dogs. She was originally drawn to this program and position as it provided her the opportunity to combine her two passions in life, helping her community and her deep love for animals - now every day she gets to watch as Hearing Dog changes the lives of d/Deaf and hard of hearing individuals through the human-animal bond of a service Hearing Dog who provides its handler with safety, independence, peace of mind and companionship.
Kendra will have a hearing dog with her to demonstrate. It will be fun to see how these special dogs work.