We help kids and adults who are born with Microtia and Atresia (missing one or both ears and no ear canal(s) resulting in hearing loss). We began as an online group but we knew we had to do more so in 2012, Ear Community became a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Please help us continue our work and all the good we do for children and adults who are born without ears and have sweet crooked smiles due to craniofacial microsomia/hemifacial microsomia!
"Melissa, thank you SO much!! i actually found your website after i posted this on your support group and felt like i had hit the jackpot! there was so much information and i am still going through it all. i finally feel like i am starting to understand some of what we are going through and what action we need to take."
Emily McConnell (support group member)
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"Worried and looking for answers, I started digging deeper. Finally, I found Melissa Tumblin and Ear Community through the Microtia and Atresia Support Group. Melissa became the light at the end of the tunnel-she gave us something hopeful to look forward to. The emotional support that Melissa gave me was incredible - we cried together, dealt with it together. We found research to help teach Ava sign language and started teaching her at 6 months. Dealing with the social aspect can cause a lot of anxiety. Melissa was immensely helpful in getting through that stage. I don't think Melissa truly understands what she's done for me. If I can help one family worry less and enjoy their child more as she's done for me, that's an accomplishment. I've made great friends through Ear Community and paying it forward has been the best thing. Melissa has truly inspired me. Thank you so much!"
Shannon Katuszonek ( support group member - California)
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"We are proud to follow your incredible work online in educating the general community, as well as bringing together families who have children affected with Microtia. I realize the passion and time you have devoted to this cause, and commend you far beyond the words this message would ever be able to portray. Our family will continue to follow you and we are excited at the possibility to attend a future picnic event in our area so that we are able to thank you in person for what you've done, and continue to do. Your passion is truly amazing & a wonderful thing!"
Kevin McKay (support group member)
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"When I got to speak with Melissa over the phone, that's when I came to ease. She had every answer, advice and encouragement that we needed! We finally got with an audiologist and ENT, the ball is finally rolling! The California Picnic was amazing! I finally got to meet Melissa and other families. The Microtia and Atresia Support Group has been an incredible source of communication and education. It is comforting knowing so many other families that are going through the same thing. My family and I traveled from Prescott, Arizona to Pleasanton, California! I definitely appreciate Ear Community and all that Melissa does for my family! We can't wait for next year's picnic!"
Kristy Smith (support group member - Arizona)
_____________________________________"You have no idea how much your group, website and information means to us and I want to personally thank you for all that you do! My family just wanted to give you and your team the biggest of thanks for this past weekend's family picnic in Orlando! Not only did the girls have a great time with all the activities and food, my wife and I found it very informative and well worth the time. our daughter loved wearing her "Microtia Kids Rock" t-shirt so much we had to wash it right away so she could wear it to school the next day. Thank you!"
Mark and Lisa Dresbach Johnson (support group members - Florida)
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"I wanted to thank you for not only answering my questions that i have regarding my daughter but providing me with more information and solutions for children with Microtia/Artesia.When Kimora and I arrived at your picnic this past summer i was very pleased and finally comfortable. My daughter finally got to play with children that had the same conditions as her. I loved all the information that was given to me that day. For the first time my daughter got to play like a normal child and did not have to worry about other people starring at her ear. Once again, thank you for creating this page and Ear Community and having your wonderful picnics. See you next summer!!"
Bliss Holland (support group member - Colorado)
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"I wanted to take the time to say how wonderful both the Ear Community and the Microtia and Atersia Community Support groups are. In addition, they have been extremely helpful, informative, as well as comforting...
For additional testimonials, please visit:
https://earcommunity.org/about/positive-feedback/
and
https://greatnonprofits.org/org/ear-community
Promote educational and public awareness about Microtia and Atresia and hearing loss, in an unbiased manner, while promoting advocacy and connecting individuals in the same situation.
The below is a timeline of how Ear Community began. I hope you enjoy reading about our organization's history!
Since inception of our organization, Melissa Tumblin's passion has led her to be involved with many advocacy and advisory board positions including Oticon Medical Ambassadors, Hands & Voices board member, the GMKF Data Resource Center (Gabriella Miller Kids First Foundation) Advocacy board member, the NIDCR (National Institutes for Dental and Craniofacial Research) Advocacy board member, Advisory Board member for a biotherapeutics company working on 3D printed regenerated ears, Advocacy Board member for the Friends of the CHHC (Congressional Hearing Health Caucus), Advisory Board Member for the CARE Team Project (collaborating with Seattle Children's Hospital) and Advocacy Board member the ACPA (American Cleft Palate Association).
The Ear Community and it's Founder, Melissa Tumblin are recipients of the Oticon Medical Advocacy Leadership Awards in 2013 and in 2022 as well as being the EHDI (Early Hearing Detection and Intervention) Family Leadership Award for EHDI Excellence recipient.
You can also find Ear Community on the following social media pages in addition to our organization's website, www.EarCommunity.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EarCommunityOrg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earcommunity/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Microtia-and-Atresia-Support-Group-118851728152174
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarCommunity
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May 20, 2010, Melissa Tumblin started the "Microtia and Atresia Support Group" on Facebook to help connect families and to help others in the same situation. She and her daughter also didn't want to be alone with Microtia and Atresia. This support group quickly became a global support group within the first year & remains the largest support group for our cause at over 10,000 members.
June 11, 2011, Melissa Tumblin and her family host the first "Microtia and Atresia Support Group" family picnic for Microtia and Atresia families in Denver, Colorado where over 100 people attended, including Dr. Arturo Bonilla from Texas (Microtia surgeon/ENT).
October 11, 2012, Melissa Tumblin begins working on creating the Ear Community website that would be used as a portal of information to help medical professionals and families with loved ones who have Microtia and Atresia all over the world.
February 12, 2012, the Ear Community website is launched and a press release goes out announcing that the website is the "First to offer support and resources to individuals and families around the world living with Microtia and Atresia and associated syndromes including Hemifacial Microsomia.
On August 16, 2012, after applying, interviewing, and presenting to the Broomfield Community Foundation, the Foundation agreed to take Melissa and the Ear Community Organization under their wing and grant her 501c3 status through their organization as a fiscal sponsor recipient. Till this day, the Broomfield Community Foundation remains impressed with Melissa's drive to help Microtia and Atresia families find answers and support about Microtia and Atresia.
During the summer of 2012, Ear Community hosted (7) picnics across the United States, including (2) in Canada.
During the year of 2012, the Ear Community Organization is given the opportunity, through industry relationships that Melissa developed, including Microtia and Atresia donor families, to begin helping children in need of hearing devices obtain donated hearing devices thanks to Cochlear Americas and Oticon Medical believing in Ear Community. The organization was also able to begin accepting donations with 501c3 status, allowing the organization to award college scholarships in addition to it's events.
April 2013, Ear Community is given the opportunity to help further education about Microtia and Atresia with the help of Oticon Medical proudly sponsoring the accredited webinar about Microtia and Atresia through AudiologyOnline, on a Parent's Perspective about Microtia and Atresia. This course continues to remain a helpful educational resource for medical professionals and families of loved ones with Microtia and Atresia.
July 2013, Ear Community is invited to present about Microtia and Atresia at the EAA (Educational Audiology Association) conference.
2014 till present, Ear Community continues to give back to the Microtia and Atresia community, globally, by hosting (6-7) picnic events each summer that bring families together in the same situation. Some abroad Ear Community picnic locations include Denmark, South Africa, Australia, the UK, Spain, and Canada. Ear Community continues donating hearing devices (over 60 hearing devices donated since 2016), awarding college scholarships, and helping with financial assistance toward surgical travel cost reimbursement when funds are available.
April 2015, Melissa Tumblin is asked to sit on the advisory board for :Project MyEar" in hopes of helping with the development of 3D printed regenerated ears by bioengineering ear cartilage.
June 29, 2016, Melissa Tumblin finally believes that she is ready to apply for 501c3 status for Ear Community to become its own entity. Ear Community, Inc. was proudly awarded 501c3 status by the IRS just two months later (August), after applying.
September 2016, Melissa Tumblin presents another webinar that is proudly sponsored by Oticon Medical and offered through AudiologyOnline, helping discuss the struggles about unilateral hearing loss for children, after advocating for her daughter for the past 7 years. This webinar continues to be viewed and was organized in hopes of promoting educational awareness about how hearing loss can affect individuals differently, even if they still have one working ear.
November 9, 2016, in an effort to help promote educational awareness and to help raise public awareness, including stopping the bullying, Melissa Tumblin establishes a National Awareness Day for Microtia and Atresia families. On November 9, 2016, the Ear Community Organization hosts it's very first National Microtia Awareness Day where families all over the United States, including other countries as well, celebrated our first National Awareness Day together, for Microtia individuals, everywhere.
January 2017, Melissa Tumblin begins working closely with Vanderbilt University Medical Center on the launch one of the first all options Microtia and Atresia clinic.
January 2018, Melissa Tumblin becomes a co-investigator on a whole genome sequencing grant for Microtia and Atresia research collaborating with Harvard, Vanderbilt and MIT - the Broad Institute and the Gabriella Miller Kids First Foundation (GMKF).
December 2019, Melissa Tumblin and the Ear Community Organization have Federal legislation introduced that would ensure better coverage for bone anchored hearing aids and cochlear implants. H.R. 5485/S. 4532 during the 116th session. Reintroduced in January of 2020 as H.R. 477, S. 41 with our bill's proud Sponsor being Congressman Joe Neguse (D-CO), including original co-sponsors Congressman David McKinley (R-W.VA) and Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) with our Senate Lead being Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.VA) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MASS).
November of 2021, Ear Community proudly collaborates with Congressman Joe Neguse (D-CO) to introduce a Resolution for a government calendar day recognizing National Microtia and Atresia Awareness Day on every November 9th. The Resolution is H.Res 786 and S.Res 457.
Organization name
Ear Community Inc
other names
Microtia and Atresia Support Group
2012
Tax id (EIN)
46-0923897
Category
Human Services
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Colorado State Tax Credits
Colorado Enterprise Zone Credit
Address
280 E. 1st Ave. Unit 704Headquarters
280 E 1st Ave. Unit 704Mailing
280 E 1st. Ave. Unit 704Broomfield County, CO, US