NVRC Annual Letter – 2012

December 6, 2012 in NVRC, NVRC Annual Letter

46 “I Can't Hear You” programs, serving 300 seniors

Provided over 2200 hours of interpreting services

Dear Friends,

Happy Holidays! ‘Tis the season to reflect upon another busy year at NVRC. We look forward to seeing you at NVRC’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, December 13th, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. We hope you will come share our holiday cheer, delicious refreshments, and staff stories about the highlights of their year. NVRC continues

to be super busy, and it seems that this year you’ve been spreading the word about NVRC to a lot of new people. We love it! Keep them coming! Nothing is more satisfying than to see someone’s eyes light up when they realize there is technology that can help them, or they talk to someone who is also deaf or hard of hearing and realize they are not alone in their challenges and frustrations. This year we hope to make one of our dreams finally come true by raising $8,000 for the technology and equipment necessary to create a state of the art meeting room that can serve as a model for total communication. As Northern Virginia traffic has become more congested, it is harder for people to come to our great educational programs. When we meet our funding goal, you’ll be able to go online and see our programs on your own computer or tablet.

Here are some of this year’s highlights

Education and Outreach

NVRC’s local outreach team (Bonnie, Marla, Joan and Susan) continue to meet the needs of people with hearing loss in Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the City of Alexandria. The “I Can’t Hear You!” series provides valuable information, supportive coping skills, and a booklet for those aging into hearing loss. Many attendees join one of our hearing loss support groups. Our hearing loss awareness trainings are much sought after in retirement homes, hospitals, government agencies and rehabilitation centers. Our team trained 391 caregivers of people who are deaf or hard of hearing to better understand the communication challenges and practice effective communication strategies. Debbie, our Technology Specialist, kept busy with visitors to our demo room and house calls to consumers needing troubleshoots or set-ups, serving over 100 people. Linda Miller, our Contractor for the Middle Peninsula/Northern Neck region, continues to provide information and referral, deliver TAP equipment, give technology demos and offer a variety of workshops.

Advocacy

In addition to our advocacy throughout Northern Virginia, NVRC is dedicated to achieving a world that is fully accessible. Much of our focus has been on ensuring the implementation of the Communications and Video Accessibility Act, making the internet more accessible, and we continue to work for improvement of various forms of relay service. Our advocacy in emergency preparedness brings hope that soon you will be able to feel secure making a 9-1-1 emergency call on your wireless device, and communicating with the 9-1-1 call center through text, sign language, speechreading or captioning. I write this just a week after presenting at the launch of captioned radio during the 2012 Super-Regional Meeting of public radio regional organizations in New Orleans. Watch for more information in NVRC’s email news!

16 technology trainings and demos serving 103 people

33 Hearing Loss Awareness Trainings serving 1,172 people

128 individual hearing screenings provided

Community Involvement

NVRC’s growth in the community is felt on many fronts. Celebrate Communication continues to draw larger crowds of new visitors every year. Our outreach team can be found staffing exhibits for NVRC at health fairs and educational expos. This year, we launched our new hearing screening program at senior centers and retirement communities for seniors aging into hearing loss.

Channel 10, Fairfax County’s Community Television station, produced a story about NVRC as part of Fairfax Digest, which aired in August. The program included interviews with NVRC’s staff and clips from Celebrate Communication. Our staff was also interviewed for articles about hearing aids which were published in the Consumer’s Digest and the Fairfax Times. In May, the Fairfax County Human Rights Commission presented NVRC with one of their 2011 Human Rights Awards at a special ceremony and reception.

Our meeting rooms continue to be hubs of activity for educational programs, organization meetings and special events. Through Facebook and Twitter, our message is resounding. We have had over 16,000 new visitors to our website this year!

Interpreting and Transliterating Program

NVRC’s Interpreting and Transliterating Program has had a successful year, providing over 2,200 hours of interpreting services. A highlight was interpreting for the Sweet Adelines concerts, “Barbershop meets Broadway”, in October. The Sweet Adelines were happy to have given the Deaf community of Northern Virginia an opportunity to experience barbershop music at its finest.

The program is looking forward to continued growth in 2013. We are planning to offer more workshops for the Deaf community and for professional interpreters in Northern Virginia. We will be scheduling trainings for groups that use interpreters; “Working with Interpreters” is a short workshop for Deaf and hearing audiences that provides tips about the interpreting process.

NVRC Continues to Grow

We had several staffing changes this year. SB Morgaine took over in May as manager of our interpreting/ transliterating program. Susan McCrary joined us as our contractor for the Potomac Health Foundation grant in Prince William County. In June, Doris Mansfield became our Director of Operations. In July, Bruce Greenfield joined us as our part time Web Media Specialist, improving our website and helping us to explore possible future technology. We look forward to having you meet them at our annual meeting.