Livingston Teen With Hearing Loss Creates Mentor Program, Inspires Other Youth

LIVINGSTON, NJ — A teen in Livingston is helping to guide and inspire other youth who are hard of hearing or deaf by running a free, online mentorship program.

Jayden Rosenfeld plays two varsity sports at Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School while also enjoying the active social life of a 17-year-old. However, Rosenfeld – who has moderate to severe hearing loss and has worn two hearing aids since he was a baby – can boast about another after-school activity that many of his peers can’t: he’s the founder of an online mentoring program.

The initiative – which he dubbed “Hear for Each Other” – connects younger kids to older teens who have walked a mile in their shoes. Sometimes the participants gather in person, other times they meet up on Zoom, Facetime or Google Meet. The older mentors share advice about attending school, navigating social situations, how to advocate for themselves – or just make a new friend and share some laughs.

According to Rosenfeld, he has encountered situations that other youth haven’t run into. While he has learned ways to handle each of these situations and adjust, Rosenfeld wanted other kids to have someone they can turn to who understands what they're going through.

That was when he got the idea to create Hear for Each Other.

So far, the initiative has been a big hit – and they’re always looking for more mentors and mentees, Rosenfeld said.

Volunteers or participants can contact jaydenrosenfeld@gmail.com, or sign up for the program online here.

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