Summer ASL classes are back due to popular demand! We are offering ASL 1 and 2 only. ASL 1 starts May 29 and ASL 2 starts May 31 and goes for 12 weeks. Call (616) 732-7358 for more information.
Fill out the registration form and mail it or fax it to DHHS prior to the first night to ensure your spot. The information is on the form. Payments are made the first night of class.
Sales order1 (2) Download the Sales Order form, fill the blue fields and mail to PO Box 8812, Kentwood, MI 49518-8812, fax to (616) 732-7365, or scan to rmason@deafhhs.org. We will mail the T-shirt(s) as soon as we receive and process your payment or you can pick it up at our office.
Kids Kamp 2012 is at Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services from July 9-13. It is held from 9 a.m. to noon each morning and we have a great program planned! Any child from ages 3 to 10 are encouraged to sign up.
Volunteers, if you want to help with Kamp this year, please fill out the volunteer kids kamp form 2012 and send it back to us via e-mail, mail or drop-in. We conduct background checks on all volunteers as part of our policy.
Attached is our Winter 2012 Newsletter. Contents include:
- Friends of DHHS (FODHHS) Committee
- In Memory of Betty Gauthier
- Silent Weekend
- Town Hall with Sheryl Emery
- Interpreter Updates
- 2011 Donor List
- What we put your donation towards in 2011
Feel free to distribute the newsletter to everyone! We are ordering paper copies. If you wish to have one mailed to your home or office, e-mail Bethany Perry at bperry@deafhhs.org or call (616) 732-7358.
We again want to thank everyone for supporting the agency in 2011. We look forward to a great 2012!
DHHS’ fall 2011 newsletter, “The Communicator,” is available for your reading pleasure.
Contents include: annual gala pictures, goals for 2012, interpreter workshops, and our new ADAPT program!
American Sign Language levels I – IV are offered at DHHS – Grand Rapids and DHHS – Muskegon, starting Monday, September 12, 2011. Download the registration form and mail it in or call our office at 616-732-7358. Our enrollment is open now. Payments can be made the first night of class.
Update as of Monday, September 12: ASL 1 and ASL 2 on Mondays are full. There’s still seats left for Thursday’s ASL 1 and ASL 2 class at DHHS-Grand Rapids. Thank you for registering! 
Please donate to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services through FirstGiving! DHHS does not receive state or federal funding for our programs. We keep our agency open through fee for services and donations. We always welcome donations for our general fund, programs, and capital campaign.
We are the only agency between Chicago and Detroit. If you would like us to continue staying strong with our programs which serves any persons with deafness or hearing loss, please donate. We appreciate your support!
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/deaf-inc/deaf-inc?fge=ask
The year 2010 went by fast for DHHS! No matter what, each year ends with the same thing – the deaf and hard of hearing community still needs empowerment and services. So I’ll start this post with our usual goals and brand-new ones.
Our usual goals include growing our existing programs – behavioral & mental health supports coordination, job placement, advocacy, interpreter referral, hearing assistance outreach and ASL classes.
Our usual events include Silent Celebration on June 18, annual gala in September, Kids Kamp in July, Euchre Tournament in March and October, and the monthly Interpreter Series Workshops.
(For the fall gala, we will be recognizing two things: our 3rd annual gala and 15 years of DHHS!! So this year will be a special one! Announcements will be forthcoming soon.)
Brand-new goals for 2011 include Parent & Toddler ASL classes, Silent Weekend for deaf mentors, ITPs, graduates, and certified interpreters, youth program, and our capital campaign goals.
More and more people are calling DHHS about interpreters, employment needs, equipments, and ASL classes, among other things. I have seen so many positive outcomes and feedback from people we assisted through this agency.
Among the highlights:
“I want to thank everyone who helped me get my hearing aids. I am so pleased with what I can hear: crickets, birds, TV, and most of all my family and friends. You willnever know how much I appreciate what you have done for me.” - woman we assisted through hearing assistance outreach program
“Kids Kamp helped teach more sign language to my hearing son and gave my deaf son a chance to be around people like him.” - Jessica Miller
“With our assistance, most of our customers improved their job-hunting skills and got jobs.” - Scot Pott, Job Placement Specialist. Since we started the job placement program in 2007, we have seen a 48% success rate, the most being in 2010.
“I have been extremely happy with the process for getting an interpreter. My old methods took way too much time to coordinate everything and Nan Soper has been an absolute joy to work with. I’m really happy you came in to talk to us about your services and feel confident that if there are problems you have the capability of helping figure out where we are and what we need to do next. I also have no reservations about referring your agency as a positive experience to others that either are part of our agency or those I meet in the community with similar characteristics.” - Joshua Pipe, Holland MRS counselor
In closing, we keep our doors open 8 hours a day in Grand Rapids and Muskegon but our hearts and hands are open 24/7. Keep visting our web site for events, news and assistance!
Katie Prins, Executive Director
