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Homes for the Deaf director casts eye on fun Local News SalemNews.com, Salem, MA
The fish have little to fear from the New England Homes for the Deaf's new fishing club.
"We have not been able to catch anything yet," said new Executive Director Emmanuel Ikomi, who came up with the idea for residents to fish in the nearby Waters River. "It's just the sense that we go there, it's an activity residents can have fun (doing)."
The club is a new and unique activity for any nursing home, especially for one that serves the region's deaf and deaf-blind.
Not only has the group of five to eight deaf residents plus employees, including Ikomi, not caught a single fish over the past month, three members of the club interviewed through interpreters this week said they hate fish.
"I really don't like eating fish," said Kevin Keefe, 56, who has been a resident at the Water Street facility for the past two months. "I like eating hamburgers."
Paul Lindsly, 73, formerly of Peabody and a 10-year resident of the home, said he was excited to see the fishing club on a list of activities at the nursing home, which has about 70 deaf and deaf-blind residents, and 100 residents when the Thompson House independent-living facility is included.
The men spoke through two unofficial interpreters, Community Support Service Coordinator Jenna Sacco of Middleton and Activities Director Jessica Dupont of Boxford, who have also gone fishing on Fridays with the club.
"I enjoy it a lot," said resident Eugene Moore, 68, who moved there in March. Moore said growing up, he learned to fish, but now he is learning a new way to cast. "We go out there once in a while, and I know how to cast and I reel it in, you know, it's learning and practice."
For Lindsly and Keefe, this summer was their first fishing experience. If they catch anything, they will probably throw it back.
"I will let them go, I won't eat them," Keefe said.
Ikomi, the executive director for the past three months, came up with the idea for the fishing club after he learned waterfront property still belonged to the facility at 154 Water St. The Homes for the Deaf last year sold part of its property, 152 Water St., to the Thomson Companies, which is turning it into luxury condos.
Ikomi spoke with Dupont and found many of the activities, such as bingo and knitting, were geared toward the mainly female population. The fishing club was a way to interest men in an activity, and also give both men and women a reason to get outdoors.
"That could bring some feelings of people who, maybe in their day, you know, used to go fishing or whatever the case was," Ikomi said.
Residents have gone fishing every Friday in July. One of the challenges has been that locals use the private property to fish as well. Ikomi said litter is a problem.
"We spend a lot of money on cleaning that area," Ikomi said. "You have beer cans, you have alcoholic beverages and cigarettes and papers and everything else. ... We have to go there and clean it up."
Besides litter on its land, Ikomi spoke about the financial challenges the nonprofit faces since Medicaid and transitional assistance do not cover the added cost to care for its residents, including the cost of interpreters, which Ikomi said was $100,000 last year.
New director
Before coming to New England Homes for the Deaf, Ikomi worked for the Dorchester-based Boston Home, which cares for adults with multiple sclerosis, and with Kindred Healthcare.
In 1992, he immigrated to the United States in his mid-20s from Cameroon. His first job was as a nursing assistant at the Governor Winthrop Nursing Home in Winthrop.
From 1995 to 2007, Ikomi worked for North Suffolk Mental Health Association in Chelsea running group homes.
Ikomi worked as a case manager and a program director. Then, his wife encouraged him to become a nursing home administrator, and he earned his license in 2006. He has taken over from former Executive Director Barry Zeltzer and another interim executive director, he said.
Today, Ikomi is married with a 23-year-old son and two younger boys, 14 and 6. His 14-year-old, Emmanuel Ikomi Jr., volunteers with the fishing club, Ikomi said.
One of the greatest challenges Ikomi faces is not catching fish, but learning how to communicate with the hearing-impaired, which he is not. In the past, he has worked with the blind and used tactile sign language, which involves signing into the hand of deaf-blind patients. The mission of the organization he leads requires him and other staff to learn American Sign Language.
"Once more, I'm back as a student, learning ASL," Ikomi said. "But it's fun for me to learn another culture."
The fish have little to fear from the New England Homes for the Deaf's new fishing club.
"We have not been able to catch anything yet," said new Executive Director Emmanuel Ikomi, who came up with the idea for residents to fish in the nearby Waters River. "It's just the sense that we go there, it's an activity residents can have fun (doing)."
The club is a new and unique activity for any nursing home, especially for one that serves the region's deaf and deaf-blind.
Not only has the group of five to eight deaf residents plus employees, including Ikomi, not caught a single fish over the past month, three members of the club interviewed through interpreters this week said they hate fish.
"I really don't like eating fish," said Kevin Keefe, 56, who has been a resident at the Water Street facility for the past two months. "I like eating hamburgers."
Paul Lindsly, 73, formerly of Peabody and a 10-year resident of the home, said he was excited to see the fishing club on a list of activities at the nursing home, which has about 70 deaf and deaf-blind residents, and 100 residents when the Thompson House independent-living facility is included.
The men spoke through two unofficial interpreters, Community Support Service Coordinator Jenna Sacco of Middleton and Activities Director Jessica Dupont of Boxford, who have also gone fishing on Fridays with the club.
"I enjoy it a lot," said resident Eugene Moore, 68, who moved there in March. Moore said growing up, he learned to fish, but now he is learning a new way to cast. "We go out there once in a while, and I know how to cast and I reel it in, you know, it's learning and practice."
For Lindsly and Keefe, this summer was their first fishing experience. If they catch anything, they will probably throw it back.
"I will let them go, I won't eat them," Keefe said.
Ikomi, the executive director for the past three months, came up with the idea for the fishing club after he learned waterfront property still belonged to the facility at 154 Water St. The Homes for the Deaf last year sold part of its property, 152 Water St., to the Thomson Companies, which is turning it into luxury condos.
Ikomi spoke with Dupont and found many of the activities, such as bingo and knitting, were geared toward the mainly female population. The fishing club was a way to interest men in an activity, and also give both men and women a reason to get outdoors.
"That could bring some feelings of people who, maybe in their day, you know, used to go fishing or whatever the case was," Ikomi said.
Residents have gone fishing every Friday in July. One of the challenges has been that locals use the private property to fish as well. Ikomi said litter is a problem.
"We spend a lot of money on cleaning that area," Ikomi said. "You have beer cans, you have alcoholic beverages and cigarettes and papers and everything else. ... We have to go there and clean it up."
Besides litter on its land, Ikomi spoke about the financial challenges the nonprofit faces since Medicaid and transitional assistance do not cover the added cost to care for its residents, including the cost of interpreters, which Ikomi said was $100,000 last year.
New director
Before coming to New England Homes for the Deaf, Ikomi worked for the Dorchester-based Boston Home, which cares for adults with multiple sclerosis, and with Kindred Healthcare.
In 1992, he immigrated to the United States in his mid-20s from Cameroon. His first job was as a nursing assistant at the Governor Winthrop Nursing Home in Winthrop.
From 1995 to 2007, Ikomi worked for North Suffolk Mental Health Association in Chelsea running group homes.
Ikomi worked as a case manager and a program director. Then, his wife encouraged him to become a nursing home administrator, and he earned his license in 2006. He has taken over from former Executive Director Barry Zeltzer and another interim executive director, he said.
Today, Ikomi is married with a 23-year-old son and two younger boys, 14 and 6. His 14-year-old, Emmanuel Ikomi Jr., volunteers with the fishing club, Ikomi said.
One of the greatest challenges Ikomi faces is not catching fish, but learning how to communicate with the hearing-impaired, which he is not. In the past, he has worked with the blind and used tactile sign language, which involves signing into the hand of deaf-blind patients. The mission of the organization he leads requires him and other staff to learn American Sign Language.
"Once more, I'm back as a student, learning ASL," Ikomi said. "But it's fun for me to learn another culture."