Not being able to hear a favourite song or the sound of a loved one’s voice is a reality for over 400,000 BC residents who suffer from severe hearing loss. For over 40 years, the Rotary Club of Vancouver’s Hearing Foundation has provided life-changing care for children and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing. From funding Canada’s first-ever Cochlear Implant surgery in 1982, to completing over 770 surgeries, raising $3.6 million and committing $6 million for the creation of a new Hearing and Balance Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver for research, restorative care, and recovery of patients with hearing loss, Rotary Vancouver's Hearing Foundation has pursued its mission to bring back the sounds of life for so many in need.
Building on over 40 years of support for St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, the Rotary Hearing Foundation has committed to raise $6 million in funds towards creation of the Hearing and Balance Centre, a state-of-the art facility that will revolutionize patient care by operating as a one-stop shop for the latest testing, diagnostics, research, and surgery options for hearing loss patients of all ages. The donation will be used to fund cutting-edge audiology advancements and stem cell research, the results of which will change the lives of Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals not just in BC, but around the globe.
These funds have been used to support Cochlear Implant Research at UBC, to establish the Rotary Hearing Centre at UBC Hospital, and the BC Rotary Hearing and Balance Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital. In addition, grants have been made to BC Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hearing and Speech Centre of BC, The Hearing Foundation of Canada, the BC Family Hearing Resource Centre, the UBC School of Audiology & Speech Sciences, and the Vancouver Hearing Centre to name just a few. 
Claire, a cochlear implant recipient, says: "I once struggled and gave in to isolation, but now have so many of the amazing sounds of life restored to me, most importantly the voices of family, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers.”