Community Foundation awards Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital $33K grant

SYRACUSE — The Central New York Community Foundation has awarded Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital funding to help patients dealing with hearing or vision loss.

The $33,000 grant will support equipment and programs that help children and teens suffering from hearing impairment and vision loss related to cancer treatment and developmental conditions, the hospital said in a news release.

More than 80 percent of children and young adults diagnosed with cancer to survive with treatment, but many develop “late-effect medical problems,” Dr. Thomas Welch, medical director, Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, said in the release.

“Chemotherapy and radiation can cause damage to hearing, vision and mobility, which is extremely difficult for the patients. This grant will help us give patients the tools they need to overcome these obstacles,” Welch said.

Upstate Golisano will use the funding to provide devices and services through The Upstate Center for Development, Behavior and Genetics and the Dr. William J Waters Center for Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders.

The hospital will subsidize hearing aids and glasses and will purchase KidWalk 2 mobility systems. Patients will use the systems during the Fit Families Group Visits program, which promotes inclusion in sports for children with vision impairment or blindness, the news release said.

The Central New York Community Foundation administered the grant with funding from two separate field-of-interest funds.

The J. Henry and Martha E. DeBoer Fund helps children with vision or hearing impairments and kidney disease.

The J. Daniel Pluff Fund seeks to support children with special needs and their families, according to the Upstate Golisano news release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com