I do not know where to begin! There are so many wonderful and positive changes taking place with Deaf Empowerment these days.

Let me begin by welcoming our three new Deaf Empowerment Board Members, Beth Warnke, Laura Jean Davis, and Vicki Shapiro. Beth will be taking Lorinda Heft’s place (Read more about this on page 2), Laura Jean and Vicki will be two additional board members. We used to have 7 board members, but now we have 9. We are also interviewing other potential board members so if you are interested, please fill out the application on line at www.deafe.org. We want to continue to be on the lookout for more people who can help Deaf Empowerment continue to grow by serving on the board.

Another exciting development is that I have been hired to work part time for Deaf Empowerment, as the “Executive Director.” Many thanks to the board for approving my position, and hiring me. Some of my duties include handling people’s requests for information, working on fundraising events, coordinating services, and working on obtaining grants. This will help us better serve you.

But it doesn’t stop there! We have started the Child & Family Service program, and we are off to a great start! We had our first event in July at Jurassic Valley in Oshkosh which was a huge hit! We continued in August with a picnic at Menominee Park in Oshkosh. We had 70 people show up at our bowling event near Green Bay in September! Finally but not least we had an awesome hay ride at Cuff’s Farm in New London on November. We’re getting ready for our next event on December 4th from 1 to 3 pm at the Heart of the Valley YMCA in Kimberly.

Thanks to Jean Laux and Melanie Blechl’s hard work, Deaf Empowerment had a booth set up at Octoberfest as a fundraising opportunity with the Sign Club at Fox Valley Technical College. We sold walking tacos, candy, T- shirts, and more! We had a lot of fun, and plan on being at Octoberfest again next year!

My head is spinning just thinking about all this! We also had three sign language classes happening at the same time, which just ended. Two basic classes, and one intermediate class. We will continue to offer Basic sign language and intermediate class in the spring. Laura Jean Davis and Beth Warnke will be the instructors.

In addition, we offered an opportunity for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people on September 30th, at Menasha Workforce Development Center, Deaf Empowerment and Fox Cities Workforce Development Board, Inc. in partnership, to get together and learn what resources are out there in finding employment.

Deaf Empowerment is truly making a difference in the lives of many. I recently spoke with a women who is losing her hearing later in life. She is taking our sign language class, and she said she is so thankful, and said Deaf Empowerment is changing her life. That is why we do what we do.