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Chicago Hearing Society continues 95 years of service to deaf, hard of hearing - News - The DePaulia - The student newspaper of DePaul University
It is difficult for a person to imagine being deaf, not being able to hear or detect sound at all. But people who cannot hear can do almost everything a hearing person can. Deaf people do not look deaf. They can drive a car, go to school, play sports, read and write.
"I think the first reaction is, ‘Well, it's not that bad,'" said Jill Sahakian, the director of the Chicago Hearing Society. "But if you think about it, communication is part of everything you do. It's how you form relationships and friendships, it's how you exchange information, it's how you learn, it's part of your recreation, part of your entertainment.
"And if it were to disappear," Sahakian said, taking a long pause, "it would have a huge impact on your life. You would notice it."
The Chicago Hearing Society (CHS) works to help thousands of deaf and hard of hearing people to not only communicate, but live a better life as well. The CHS is a not-for-profit group that assigns independent interpreters to the deaf and hard of hearing for a plethora of uses, from doctors appointments to business communication. The CHS also runs programs and assists the deaf and hard of hearing in getting hearing aids and other devices, like alarm clocks, doorbells, and even smoke detectors that use other ways than sound to do its job.
Located in Lincoln Park at 2001 N. Clybourn Ave., as part of the Anixter building (CHS is a division of Anixter Center), the 95-year old social service program is available for any deaf or hard of hearing person in the Chicagoland area.
"We even get requests from Milwaukee, Indiana and down state," Sahakian said.
Much of what CHS wants to do comes from the advisory board. The board discusses the financial side of CHS, lists pros and cons of upcoming programs, thinks of how CHS can better connect with the community, and works on volunteer projects. They seek to improve the interpreter training program, for instance, and also discuss new technological innovations that interpreters can use.
Nancy Prussian-Weber is one of the 19 members of the board. She was ecstatic to describe her group, saying that one of the things that make the advisory group work so well is the diversity of its members.
"We all come from different backgrounds," Prussian-Weber said. "Some have deaf kids, some have deaf parents. Some work with the deaf community and deaf individuals. All groups are represented."
Prussian-Weber herself was an interpreter at Harper College, and joined the CHS board in 1991. She feels confident about CHS, and said that "The community needs services CHS provides."
The crux of those services is interpreting for the deaf and hard of hearing. Chicago Hearing Society has around 200 independent interpreting contractors available for its customers to use. The interpreters are not there just for the deaf and hard of hearing.
"We consider ourselves there for the hearing just as much as we are there for the deaf people," said Donna Reiter Brandwein, an interpreter who gets assignments from CHS.
Brandwein said her job "provides a service in the world for hearing and deaf people to get to know each other."
Being an interpreter is a joy for Brandwein for the altruistic reasons, but she also gets the most satisfaction from when she does her job so well it's like she's not even there, and the two parties talk as if they are alone. Brandwein has worked on the macro side of the interpreting spectrum (signing for President Obama for his 2012 bid and fundraiser) and the micro side as well (connecting a parent with a deaf child).
Other than interpreting, the CHS has several programs for the deaf and hard of hearing. They have a victim assistance program, where people in the deaf community who have been a victim of any type of crime can come for counseling and support, while also getting assistance from CHS on victim compensation and reporting the crime to police. CHS also offers a domestic violence program, which offers counseling and support for deaf people who have been abused by family, and assists with crisis intervention and finding a safe place for the abused.
CHS even created Adult Role Models in Education of the Deaf (ARMED) where deaf adults go into classrooms and talk to kids about jobs. There have been about 70 presentations (reaching about 1,000 students) in the past year, with Chicago elementary, middle and high schools hosting them. ARMED even reaches some suburban schools as well.
Sahakian feels that deaf children need people like themselves to look up to.
"Most deaf kids are born to hearing parents," Sahakian said. "And unless they happen to have a deaf teacher, which is rather unusual, it's possible for them to get through high school without them meeting a deaf adult."
Through ARMED, both deaf children and their parents see people who are living their lives being deaf, from UPS truck drivers to chefs.
"It's very eye opening for them," Sahakian said.
The role models will talk about a variety of topics, talking about how the communicate with their non-deaf bosses and even their personal life, like how they met spouses.
CHS has a presence at Harper College in Palatine, where they hold team building exercises and leadership workshops with the 50 or so deaf or hard of hearing students enrolled there. DePaul does not have a connection with CHS. Sahakian said she wasn't aware of many deaf or hard of hearing students that attend the university.
Although CHS will help just about anyone, many people that use it are disadvantaged. With that, CHS is "extremely important to any individual who needs help," Prussian-Weber said.
The Americans with Disabilities Act has been in place since 1990, and CHS is able to get the deaf and hard of hearing interpreters for little or no cost for them, with the third party (a doctor's office, or company) picking up the bill.
Being a non-profit, CHS is able to get funding from the businesses they charge for the services - Medicaid, patient's insurance and private donations.
The deaf community loves the agency. Prussian-Weber called CHS "essential" to the community, and Brandwein said it is "cherished" by the same group. With the programs it offers, CHS is unique.
"There's not another organization that does the things that we do," Sahakian said.
CHS does not have membership, meaning a deaf or hard of hearing person can just use the service once. But although a person can use the service once and be done, CHS does have "roots in the community," Sahakian said, with some people that have used it for decades. Some people have met their future spouses through the youth program.
The agency is important to Lincoln Park as well.
"I think it's crucial," Brandwein said. "It's important, especially for the folks that want to come there for services."
At the CHS building they offer hearing tests and have hearing devices available.
"I think it's a great community service CHS offers Lincoln Park," Brandwein said.
Their location offers more visibility for CHS, and it is very accessible, being nearby two L station stops (North/Clybourn on the Red Line, Armitage on the Brown Line). Since moving from downtown about 15 years ago, parking is not an issue like it was back then. CHS is "a business that's thriving in the Lincoln Park area," Prussian-Weber said.
Sherry Alford, the Assistant Director for Interpreter Services with CHS, called the agency a "staple" in the Lincoln Park community.
"We keep the community more aware of people with disabilities," Alford said. "Hopefully people will become more socially conscious."
The economy has made work for non-profits tougher. Prussian-Weber said that all charities are struggling now getting private donations and grants, and CHS is no exception. They're working harder at it and doing well, however. CHS always is able to pay their interpreters on time, even if they have to wait to get paid by a third party.
Prussian-Weber is cautiously optimistic for an economic upturn, but "the recovery, in my opinion, is not going as fast as everyone had hoped," Prussian-Weber said.
CHS is optimistic for its future.
"We've been around for over 95 years," Alford said, "so hopefully we'll be around for another 95."
Being deaf makes life a little more difficult, but the Chicago Hearing Society is there to do all it can to empower people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
"We want people to know there is a lot that can be done to assist you with communication," Sahakian said on perceptions of the deaf. "But we want the general public to know that it is a big deal. It is a big deal."
Sahakian said that parents don't know how to react or what to do when told their baby or child is deaf. Parents should take it seriously and get the hearing devices and help the child needs, but also know that "it's not the end of the world," Sahakian said. "Once you establish communication, it may be more work, but everything will be okay."
It is difficult for a person to imagine being deaf, not being able to hear or detect sound at all. But people who cannot hear can do almost everything a hearing person can. Deaf people do not look deaf. They can drive a car, go to school, play sports, read and write.
"I think the first reaction is, ‘Well, it's not that bad,'" said Jill Sahakian, the director of the Chicago Hearing Society. "But if you think about it, communication is part of everything you do. It's how you form relationships and friendships, it's how you exchange information, it's how you learn, it's part of your recreation, part of your entertainment.
"And if it were to disappear," Sahakian said, taking a long pause, "it would have a huge impact on your life. You would notice it."
The Chicago Hearing Society (CHS) works to help thousands of deaf and hard of hearing people to not only communicate, but live a better life as well. The CHS is a not-for-profit group that assigns independent interpreters to the deaf and hard of hearing for a plethora of uses, from doctors appointments to business communication. The CHS also runs programs and assists the deaf and hard of hearing in getting hearing aids and other devices, like alarm clocks, doorbells, and even smoke detectors that use other ways than sound to do its job.
Located in Lincoln Park at 2001 N. Clybourn Ave., as part of the Anixter building (CHS is a division of Anixter Center), the 95-year old social service program is available for any deaf or hard of hearing person in the Chicagoland area.
"We even get requests from Milwaukee, Indiana and down state," Sahakian said.
Much of what CHS wants to do comes from the advisory board. The board discusses the financial side of CHS, lists pros and cons of upcoming programs, thinks of how CHS can better connect with the community, and works on volunteer projects. They seek to improve the interpreter training program, for instance, and also discuss new technological innovations that interpreters can use.
Nancy Prussian-Weber is one of the 19 members of the board. She was ecstatic to describe her group, saying that one of the things that make the advisory group work so well is the diversity of its members.
"We all come from different backgrounds," Prussian-Weber said. "Some have deaf kids, some have deaf parents. Some work with the deaf community and deaf individuals. All groups are represented."
Prussian-Weber herself was an interpreter at Harper College, and joined the CHS board in 1991. She feels confident about CHS, and said that "The community needs services CHS provides."
The crux of those services is interpreting for the deaf and hard of hearing. Chicago Hearing Society has around 200 independent interpreting contractors available for its customers to use. The interpreters are not there just for the deaf and hard of hearing.
"We consider ourselves there for the hearing just as much as we are there for the deaf people," said Donna Reiter Brandwein, an interpreter who gets assignments from CHS.
Brandwein said her job "provides a service in the world for hearing and deaf people to get to know each other."
Being an interpreter is a joy for Brandwein for the altruistic reasons, but she also gets the most satisfaction from when she does her job so well it's like she's not even there, and the two parties talk as if they are alone. Brandwein has worked on the macro side of the interpreting spectrum (signing for President Obama for his 2012 bid and fundraiser) and the micro side as well (connecting a parent with a deaf child).
Other than interpreting, the CHS has several programs for the deaf and hard of hearing. They have a victim assistance program, where people in the deaf community who have been a victim of any type of crime can come for counseling and support, while also getting assistance from CHS on victim compensation and reporting the crime to police. CHS also offers a domestic violence program, which offers counseling and support for deaf people who have been abused by family, and assists with crisis intervention and finding a safe place for the abused.
CHS even created Adult Role Models in Education of the Deaf (ARMED) where deaf adults go into classrooms and talk to kids about jobs. There have been about 70 presentations (reaching about 1,000 students) in the past year, with Chicago elementary, middle and high schools hosting them. ARMED even reaches some suburban schools as well.
Sahakian feels that deaf children need people like themselves to look up to.
"Most deaf kids are born to hearing parents," Sahakian said. "And unless they happen to have a deaf teacher, which is rather unusual, it's possible for them to get through high school without them meeting a deaf adult."
Through ARMED, both deaf children and their parents see people who are living their lives being deaf, from UPS truck drivers to chefs.
"It's very eye opening for them," Sahakian said.
The role models will talk about a variety of topics, talking about how the communicate with their non-deaf bosses and even their personal life, like how they met spouses.
CHS has a presence at Harper College in Palatine, where they hold team building exercises and leadership workshops with the 50 or so deaf or hard of hearing students enrolled there. DePaul does not have a connection with CHS. Sahakian said she wasn't aware of many deaf or hard of hearing students that attend the university.
Although CHS will help just about anyone, many people that use it are disadvantaged. With that, CHS is "extremely important to any individual who needs help," Prussian-Weber said.
The Americans with Disabilities Act has been in place since 1990, and CHS is able to get the deaf and hard of hearing interpreters for little or no cost for them, with the third party (a doctor's office, or company) picking up the bill.
Being a non-profit, CHS is able to get funding from the businesses they charge for the services - Medicaid, patient's insurance and private donations.
The deaf community loves the agency. Prussian-Weber called CHS "essential" to the community, and Brandwein said it is "cherished" by the same group. With the programs it offers, CHS is unique.
"There's not another organization that does the things that we do," Sahakian said.
CHS does not have membership, meaning a deaf or hard of hearing person can just use the service once. But although a person can use the service once and be done, CHS does have "roots in the community," Sahakian said, with some people that have used it for decades. Some people have met their future spouses through the youth program.
The agency is important to Lincoln Park as well.
"I think it's crucial," Brandwein said. "It's important, especially for the folks that want to come there for services."
At the CHS building they offer hearing tests and have hearing devices available.
"I think it's a great community service CHS offers Lincoln Park," Brandwein said.
Their location offers more visibility for CHS, and it is very accessible, being nearby two L station stops (North/Clybourn on the Red Line, Armitage on the Brown Line). Since moving from downtown about 15 years ago, parking is not an issue like it was back then. CHS is "a business that's thriving in the Lincoln Park area," Prussian-Weber said.
Sherry Alford, the Assistant Director for Interpreter Services with CHS, called the agency a "staple" in the Lincoln Park community.
"We keep the community more aware of people with disabilities," Alford said. "Hopefully people will become more socially conscious."
The economy has made work for non-profits tougher. Prussian-Weber said that all charities are struggling now getting private donations and grants, and CHS is no exception. They're working harder at it and doing well, however. CHS always is able to pay their interpreters on time, even if they have to wait to get paid by a third party.
Prussian-Weber is cautiously optimistic for an economic upturn, but "the recovery, in my opinion, is not going as fast as everyone had hoped," Prussian-Weber said.
CHS is optimistic for its future.
"We've been around for over 95 years," Alford said, "so hopefully we'll be around for another 95."
Being deaf makes life a little more difficult, but the Chicago Hearing Society is there to do all it can to empower people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
"We want people to know there is a lot that can be done to assist you with communication," Sahakian said on perceptions of the deaf. "But we want the general public to know that it is a big deal. It is a big deal."
Sahakian said that parents don't know how to react or what to do when told their baby or child is deaf. Parents should take it seriously and get the hearing devices and help the child needs, but also know that "it's not the end of the world," Sahakian said. "Once you establish communication, it may be more work, but everything will be okay."