Hi my name is Markus. I am a 28 year old Trans, Queer, First Nations adoptee, and social worker, living in Halifax, Nova Scotia with my partner. I am reaching out to you to help pay for the hearing aids I am in need of and unable to pay for by myself at this time.

I have two types of hearing loss, one genetic which causes me to have  stunted hair cells in my ears, and one that is the result of brain damage due to head trauma when I was a child.  This has resulted in me only having about 35% of the hearing of the average person, along with severe tinnitus. 

I got my first hearing aid in September 2010 when I was 19 years old following my very first hearing test, before I began university. Despite it being strongly recommended to have two hearing aids,  due to the cost I was only able to afford one hearing aid at the time, this was not sufficient, but I tried my best to make it work for me.

Recently, my hearing aid stopped working and is too old to be fixed. As a social worker and youth care worker I need hearing aids to do my work effectively. I will also begin my Master's degree in Social Work in September where I will need hearing aids to learn. I am pursuing my Master's degree to be able to help my communities.  As a casual worker and graduate student with student debt I am not able to pay for this medical equipment out of pocket, and unfortunately I do not have extended medical benefits that cover hearing aids.

I currently have a demo pair of hearing aids for the next two weeks. They have already greatly improved my tinnitus and ability to easily communicate, I believe they will strongly improve my quality of life. I have struggled with the idea of beginning a fundraiser to help cover the cost, but I am not sure there is another option.

Each hearing aid is $2195 and I require one for each side.  Tax is included so the total cost is $4390.  I have the option of setting up a monthly payment plan of $366 for 12 months, but this is well above my disposable income per month.

Please donate if you are able, and please share widely with your networks.  Thank you so much, anything helps.