2021 Annual Report

Services we provided in 2021 include onsite and remote interpreting, video captioning, employment services, transitional services, community navigation services, ASL community education & training.

 

Deaf Awareness Week:

DAS partnered with SMSD to celebrate the first ever flag raising ceremony in the City of Buffalo. The City recognized the Deaf organizations around the city and lit the city in Blue & Yellow, the colors of the Global Flag for Deaf Communities.

 

Recognition:

DAS was recognized by the Erie County Legislature during a special session with two proclamations. Presented by minority leader Joseph C. Lorigo of District 10, DAS was presented with a proclamation recognizing the Deaf and hard of hearing community in honor of Deaf Awareness Week. The second recognized DAS and the tireless work our team has done during the pandemic to ensure that the EC press briefings are interpreted and to support the Deaf and hard of hearing communities across western new York.

 

Interpreting Services:

Number of consumers we interpreted for: 611

Total Onsite and Scheduled Remote Interpreting: 5135 Scheduled Assignments

Total Hours of Interpreting Completed:  Approximately 13,000+ hours

Served over 400 different businesses, organizations, and service providers with interpreting services.

We provided services to 125 new-to-us service providers.

 

ASL Education:

Providing ASL classes for Kindergarten and Grade 1 students at Primary Hall = 71 students

Community Education – We ran remote classes for the Winter, Spring and Fall = 74 students

Hosted first Community Ed. Class with the Niagara Wheatfield District = 13 students

Offered first ASL classes for People Inc. – 6 students

Totaling approximately 475 hours of instruction.

 

Community Training:

Worked with various agencies across WNY to provide training to their staff including:

Compeer

DOS

Crisis Intervention Training (CIT)

Best Self

NTT Data

Police Academy

Spectrum Health

NYS DHHS ONA

FET

 

New Partnerships:

 

Compeer

Compeer matches volunteers from the community to clients that have a mental  health diagnosis. DAS is helping to get Deaf community members to volunteer, receive training, and ultimately be matched with clients.

 

Graycliff Estate

Director has asked for DAS to assist in establishing a council to help in the construction of a new visitor’s center to ensure it is Deaf-friendly and fully accessible. There is interest in having Deaf-lead tours of the estate or ASL interpreters available to guests.

 

Irish Classical Theatre Company

DAS continues our ongoing partnership with ICTC ensuring that their theatre performances are accessible to the Deaf and hard of hearing audience members. Preparation for the next performances is under way: Stage Kiss by Sarah Ruhl – Mar. 25 - April 24, 2022, The Onion Game by Bryan Delaney – June 3 – 26, 2022.

 

NFTA & Sorenson

Together with NFTA and Sorenson Communications, DAS is helping to make the community more accessible. Currently, we are working to establish Video Phones (VP) for the public in key access points such as the bus station and the airport.

 

AmeriCorps/People Inc.

In 2021, DAS hosted 5 AmeriCorps members who assisted with various programs and projects.

 

Erie County Coalition Against Family Violence & Crisis Services

DAS is working on an on-going basis with Crisis Services and the ECCFV to help address services and gaps in services when responding to DV cases for Deaf community members. Our goal is to improve services and their accessibility, but also to address area where services do not exist and are key to the success of the survivor.

 

City of Buffalo:

DAS has partnered with the City of Buffalo to address concerns brought forward by the community of information not being accessible. The City has agreed to provide interpreters for all of the Mayor’s press conferences and Emergency news briefings to the community – DAS is assisting them in their efforts.

 

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