SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Hellen Keller once said blindness cuts people off from things but deafness cuts people off from people.

Gael Hannan, board member of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, presents Esther Braden an award naming her a member of the association's president's club. Braden received the award for her tireless efforts in helping the hard of hearing in the NWT over the last 20 years. - Bill Braden photo

For the past 20 years, Esther Braden has worked tirelessly to prevent that from happening by combating the stigma associated with being hard of hearing and ensuring those with a hearing condition can get access to the services they need.

On Friday at the Baker Centre, Braden was presented with an award from the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association naming her a member of the association's president's club.

"She really is admired," said national board member Gael Hannan, who was in Yellowknife to present the award to Braden. "Years ago, she might have wanted to back off and let somebody carry the torch but she's just so passionate about these issues even now, at 91, she's still going strong."

Although the award is normally only handed out to major financial donors, Hannan said Braden's contribution to the hard of hearing community is so widely acknowledged across the country that the association decided to make an exception.

"It usually recognizes financial contributions but in this case ... because of her exceptional leadership we gave her this special president's award because she really is exceptional."

Long-time advocate

Braden has been a champion for the hard of hearing in the territory ever since she founded the NWT chapter of the association with the help of Ruth Bennington in 1994.

"She just had the desire to help people and because of her own hearing problems it was a natural gravitation," said Bill Adkins, current president of the NWT chapter.

"She's done lots of things but her real passion, I believe, is hard of hearing."

Braden was unable to attend the ceremony due to illness so her sons Bill and Pat, and two of her granddaughters, accepted the award on her behalf. Afterward, Braden told Yellowknifer she remained typically humble about being personally recognized for her accomplishments.

"One doesn't become a president of a successful organization, one doesn't do that alone," she said. "I have had wonderful people working with me - dedicated hard-working people who stayed and just helped in so many ways to do the kind of things that we have been doing for the hard of hearing."

Since Braden spearheaded the association 20 years ago, it has blossomed beyond Yellowknife - extending its services to almost all the communities in the NWT. Over the past years, it played an instrumental role in raising money so that "pocket-talkers" - a from of hearing aide - could be distributed to nursing stations in 27 NWT communities.

"It was just like Christmas to have those in the nursing stations," said Braden.

Drums of Hearing among biggest achievements

Although her list of accomplishments is long, one of Braden biggest achievements was her role in organizing the national 2011 Drums of Hearing conference in Yellowknife. The event brought people from down south to discuss the impact of hearing loss, plus it brought in two people from every NWT community so the information could be disseminated among those who couldn't attend.

"People still talk about that when we go down to the conference down south ... Esther was a driving force in that," said Adkins.

Beyond her drive to help those who are hard of hearing, Braden has also been an advocate for hearing tests. Approximately 10 years ago, she he played a large role in making sure that children born in the NWT have their hearing checked at birth. The practice still continues to this day and the first baby born after Mother's Day in the month of May is given gifts from the hard of hearing association to raise awareness for the issue.

"We enjoy doing it because it's usually a mother coming in from the communities," Braden said. "It's always an exciting day."

In addition, the association supports raising awareness in youth. One of the reasons Hannan was able to travel to Yellowknife to hand out the award is because she was already scheduled to talk to students about the dangers associated with hearing loss, through $5,000 worth of grant money, which Braden fundraised from the United Way and the Elk's Club.

"Esther has been the main instigator for going after funds for our association," Adkins said.

Braden says one of the greatest challenges in helping people who are hard of hearing is getting them to acknowledge they have a problem in the first place.

"We help them with coping and managing, and ensuring that they are very much a part of this society," she said.

Although it can sometimes be difficult to convince people to overcome their fears, Braden said being able to see the difference a hearing aid can make in someone's life is why she keeps being involved with the association.

"It's not an easy task with some of these people but it's always rewarding," she said.

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