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http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/07/02/news/inland/20_04_597_1_06.txt
The banner above the door at Signs of Silence says "Welcome Home," and it's a fitting slogan for a celebrated nonprofit organization that has provided a community for North County's deaf population in the last decade.
The service, run by Roy Hensley, has operated in a small office on Commerce Street in San Marcos since 1996. It's decorated with football banners and photos of summer trips Hensley has led to Yosemite and elsewhere. Two computers sit in adjacent corners, and a television and several other forms of entertainment are mounted on the walls.
Signs of Silence, Hensley explains, is less of a program than a gathering place where the deaf can make friends who also speak primarily sign language and have little or no hearing.
Hensley provides services for his members, although there is no formal membership. They call him "dad," and he helps them find jobs and connect with therapists and other deaf people their age.
"Most of these deaf have been here since the very beginning, and we're together every day of the week," Hensley said Wednesday, surrounded by half a dozen young people who silently spoke to each other with their hands. "You'll find that 'hearing-impaired' is a very offensive way of referring to them, because it implies something's broken."
Hensley took his first sign language class at Mira Costa in 1988. After that, he became involved with a deaf community in Jacksonville, Fla., where he witnessed a tragedy that he said compelled him to begin his own nonprofit agency to help the deaf.
Tragedy prompts action
In 1991, a woman in that Jacksonville community died of an aneurysm in part because her deaf husband could not summon help from the neighbors. He tried calling 911 but the emergency line did not have a text telephone to accommodate deaf callers.
In 1996, after four years of research and a year of volunteering at a Temecula sign language agency, Hensley launched Signs of Silence in the same office building it occupies today.
Since then, Hensley has helped orchestrate more than 700 successful job placements, including the placement of several young men who recently took positions at Major Market in Escondido and the Rancho Bernardo Post Office.
The organization does not solicit government grants, but runs entirely on donations and fundraisers.
"At the very beginning, we were almost a year behind on rent, so we set up a hot dog stand in front of Wal-Mart and did car washes and sold See's Candies," said Hensley. "The reason we do fundraisers only is because it gets them involved, gets them out into the community, which creates awareness."
The organization's broad mission statement is to improve the quality of life for deaf people, and judging by the response it has had ---- Hensley says several members drive from as far away as Long Beach and Los Angeles to hang out in the San Marcos office ---- it's succeeding.
Most of the people who spend time at the office are young, between the ages of 19 and 24, and male, Hensley said. About 20 percent are hard of hearing or near-deaf.
Jenna Brown is part of a core group of about 50 deaf people who regularly visit the office. She also serves on the Signs of Silence board of directors and has a son who works as a sign language interpreter.
"He had a hard time reading other people's signing, because he's used to mine," Brown said, of her son's initial attempts at interpreting. "We each have different signing styles. Like him," she said, pointing at Hensley, "he signs like he's in a box."
Hensley smiled. "I have a much smaller signing area than most," he admitted, outlining a square-foot box in the air in front of his chest.
Opportunities provided
Brown, who began visiting Signs of Silence just months after it started in 1996, said she enjoys the social opportunities it provides.
A year ago, the tightknit group experienced its first major tragedy when one of its members, Orlando Chavez, died of leukemia.
"His death brought even more deaf people here and made us tighter as a group," Hensley said. "It made us realize how much we needed each other."
Makalani Hudgens is one of the newer members of the group, and she first visited the office more than four years ago.
"Roy helps deaf people to get jobs and apartments," Hudgens said in sign language, while Hensley translated. "It makes life much easier for us."
Javier Zavala, 22, met Hensley when he was 12 years old. On Wednesday, Zavala listed the ways Signs of Silence has helped him, including helping land him his first construction job in 2003.
"Being able to meet other deaf (people) is No. 1," he said. "Helping me find a job is two."
Now, deaf people from as far away as Australia, Canada, the Virgin Islands and Mexico are calling Signs of Silence.
"Because of what we've accomplished here in San Marcos, people in all these countries have called us asking for help in their areas, so we help them connect with services near them," Hensley said.
As for future plans, he said nothing will change: "We're going to keep doing the same thing we're doing now. Our purpose is to improve the quality of life for the deaf, and we're doing that."
For more information about Signs of Silence, call 760-744-1325 (voice) or 760-744-3709 (TDD), or visit www.signsofsilence.org.
The banner above the door at Signs of Silence says "Welcome Home," and it's a fitting slogan for a celebrated nonprofit organization that has provided a community for North County's deaf population in the last decade.
The service, run by Roy Hensley, has operated in a small office on Commerce Street in San Marcos since 1996. It's decorated with football banners and photos of summer trips Hensley has led to Yosemite and elsewhere. Two computers sit in adjacent corners, and a television and several other forms of entertainment are mounted on the walls.
Signs of Silence, Hensley explains, is less of a program than a gathering place where the deaf can make friends who also speak primarily sign language and have little or no hearing.
Hensley provides services for his members, although there is no formal membership. They call him "dad," and he helps them find jobs and connect with therapists and other deaf people their age.
"Most of these deaf have been here since the very beginning, and we're together every day of the week," Hensley said Wednesday, surrounded by half a dozen young people who silently spoke to each other with their hands. "You'll find that 'hearing-impaired' is a very offensive way of referring to them, because it implies something's broken."
Hensley took his first sign language class at Mira Costa in 1988. After that, he became involved with a deaf community in Jacksonville, Fla., where he witnessed a tragedy that he said compelled him to begin his own nonprofit agency to help the deaf.
Tragedy prompts action
In 1991, a woman in that Jacksonville community died of an aneurysm in part because her deaf husband could not summon help from the neighbors. He tried calling 911 but the emergency line did not have a text telephone to accommodate deaf callers.
In 1996, after four years of research and a year of volunteering at a Temecula sign language agency, Hensley launched Signs of Silence in the same office building it occupies today.
Since then, Hensley has helped orchestrate more than 700 successful job placements, including the placement of several young men who recently took positions at Major Market in Escondido and the Rancho Bernardo Post Office.
The organization does not solicit government grants, but runs entirely on donations and fundraisers.
"At the very beginning, we were almost a year behind on rent, so we set up a hot dog stand in front of Wal-Mart and did car washes and sold See's Candies," said Hensley. "The reason we do fundraisers only is because it gets them involved, gets them out into the community, which creates awareness."
The organization's broad mission statement is to improve the quality of life for deaf people, and judging by the response it has had ---- Hensley says several members drive from as far away as Long Beach and Los Angeles to hang out in the San Marcos office ---- it's succeeding.
Most of the people who spend time at the office are young, between the ages of 19 and 24, and male, Hensley said. About 20 percent are hard of hearing or near-deaf.
Jenna Brown is part of a core group of about 50 deaf people who regularly visit the office. She also serves on the Signs of Silence board of directors and has a son who works as a sign language interpreter.
"He had a hard time reading other people's signing, because he's used to mine," Brown said, of her son's initial attempts at interpreting. "We each have different signing styles. Like him," she said, pointing at Hensley, "he signs like he's in a box."
Hensley smiled. "I have a much smaller signing area than most," he admitted, outlining a square-foot box in the air in front of his chest.
Opportunities provided
Brown, who began visiting Signs of Silence just months after it started in 1996, said she enjoys the social opportunities it provides.
A year ago, the tightknit group experienced its first major tragedy when one of its members, Orlando Chavez, died of leukemia.
"His death brought even more deaf people here and made us tighter as a group," Hensley said. "It made us realize how much we needed each other."
Makalani Hudgens is one of the newer members of the group, and she first visited the office more than four years ago.
"Roy helps deaf people to get jobs and apartments," Hudgens said in sign language, while Hensley translated. "It makes life much easier for us."
Javier Zavala, 22, met Hensley when he was 12 years old. On Wednesday, Zavala listed the ways Signs of Silence has helped him, including helping land him his first construction job in 2003.
"Being able to meet other deaf (people) is No. 1," he said. "Helping me find a job is two."
Now, deaf people from as far away as Australia, Canada, the Virgin Islands and Mexico are calling Signs of Silence.
"Because of what we've accomplished here in San Marcos, people in all these countries have called us asking for help in their areas, so we help them connect with services near them," Hensley said.
As for future plans, he said nothing will change: "We're going to keep doing the same thing we're doing now. Our purpose is to improve the quality of life for the deaf, and we're doing that."
For more information about Signs of Silence, call 760-744-1325 (voice) or 760-744-3709 (TDD), or visit www.signsofsilence.org.