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The Center for Hearing and Deafness increases assistance programs
"We are reaching out more, in the north, south and western parts of the county," said Bill Lockard, the executive director of The Center on Hearing and Deafness.
The center, which is located on Market Street in West Chester, has been continually expanding their services since they began, offering help and hope to more local individuals who have hearing loss and deafness. The visually impaired, those who have mental health issues and Hispanic immigrants are three groups who have benefited from the increase in programs, according to Lockard.
"In Southern Chester County, we are working with a 22-year-old deaf Mexican man who came to the United States with basically no language. This is a guy who works seven days a week in a mushroom house and he didn't speak and didn't know sign language," said Lockard. "We now have volunteers who are working to get him out of his isolation."
Other Hispanic residents with limited resources have been helped through collaborations with such agencies as ChesPenn Health Clinic in Coatesville. Lockard said The Center on Hearing and Deafness is helping the clinic acquire an audiologist.
"It's a challenge to get through the language barrier with their families, but we are taking steps forward and making progress," he noted.
The Center also runs a social rehab group for individuals with mental retardation or mental health concerns. One client is deaf and blind but is able to communicate with social workers who use tactile sign language.
"We have about 15 individuals signed up for the program, but typically we have eight to 10 that attend each week," Lockard said.
The group works on basic life skills such as personal hygiene, budgeting, cooking and transportation. Because of their other disabilities, many of these deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals have lived very sheltered lives.
"The deaf can be isolated anyway, so some of these folks have lived in a cocoon. This program helps them acquire new supports," Lockard said.
The nonprofit organization, which began in 1994, relies heavily on private donations to provide such services as American sign language classes, walk-in referrals and assistive devices for the hearing impaired. It is just one of the local agencies in The Daily Local News Give-A-Christmas campaign.
Since Give-A-Christmas began in 1988, nearly $650,000 has been raised. Last year, Daily Local News readers contributed almost $40,000. Dozens of organizations representing a variety of social services have received
Give-A-Christmas funding and distributed the donations in the past years. All the money sent to the Daly Local News is presented to the various agencies. None of the money is used for administrative costs.
Among the types of groups that benefit from the Christmas campaign are
homeless shelters, senior centers, parent-teacher organizations, community groups that help others and housing-assistance organizations. They must be located in and benefit residents of Chester County.
The donations come in various amounts from all sorts of people. Individuals and families contribute. School classes make donations in lieu of teachers' gifts. Businesses make offerings in the names of their employees or employers. Contributions also come from Boy and Girls Scout troops, as well as anonymous donors.
Throughout the campaign, the Daily Local News prints the names and donations of the contributors.
Send donations to Betty Horn, Give-A-Christmas Campaign, Daily Local News, 250 N. Bradford Ave., West Chester, PA 19382.
The Center for Hearing and Deafness increases assistance programs
"We are reaching out more, in the north, south and western parts of the county," said Bill Lockard, the executive director of The Center on Hearing and Deafness.
The center, which is located on Market Street in West Chester, has been continually expanding their services since they began, offering help and hope to more local individuals who have hearing loss and deafness. The visually impaired, those who have mental health issues and Hispanic immigrants are three groups who have benefited from the increase in programs, according to Lockard.
"In Southern Chester County, we are working with a 22-year-old deaf Mexican man who came to the United States with basically no language. This is a guy who works seven days a week in a mushroom house and he didn't speak and didn't know sign language," said Lockard. "We now have volunteers who are working to get him out of his isolation."
Other Hispanic residents with limited resources have been helped through collaborations with such agencies as ChesPenn Health Clinic in Coatesville. Lockard said The Center on Hearing and Deafness is helping the clinic acquire an audiologist.
"It's a challenge to get through the language barrier with their families, but we are taking steps forward and making progress," he noted.
The Center also runs a social rehab group for individuals with mental retardation or mental health concerns. One client is deaf and blind but is able to communicate with social workers who use tactile sign language.
"We have about 15 individuals signed up for the program, but typically we have eight to 10 that attend each week," Lockard said.
The group works on basic life skills such as personal hygiene, budgeting, cooking and transportation. Because of their other disabilities, many of these deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals have lived very sheltered lives.
"The deaf can be isolated anyway, so some of these folks have lived in a cocoon. This program helps them acquire new supports," Lockard said.
The nonprofit organization, which began in 1994, relies heavily on private donations to provide such services as American sign language classes, walk-in referrals and assistive devices for the hearing impaired. It is just one of the local agencies in The Daily Local News Give-A-Christmas campaign.
Since Give-A-Christmas began in 1988, nearly $650,000 has been raised. Last year, Daily Local News readers contributed almost $40,000. Dozens of organizations representing a variety of social services have received
Give-A-Christmas funding and distributed the donations in the past years. All the money sent to the Daly Local News is presented to the various agencies. None of the money is used for administrative costs.
Among the types of groups that benefit from the Christmas campaign are
homeless shelters, senior centers, parent-teacher organizations, community groups that help others and housing-assistance organizations. They must be located in and benefit residents of Chester County.
The donations come in various amounts from all sorts of people. Individuals and families contribute. School classes make donations in lieu of teachers' gifts. Businesses make offerings in the names of their employees or employers. Contributions also come from Boy and Girls Scout troops, as well as anonymous donors.
Throughout the campaign, the Daily Local News prints the names and donations of the contributors.
Send donations to Betty Horn, Give-A-Christmas Campaign, Daily Local News, 250 N. Bradford Ave., West Chester, PA 19382.