D&HHS Partners with Grand Rapids Griffins
As Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services works to provide equal access for the Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing in pursuit of all life’s opportunities, partnerships with other nonprofit and for-profit organizations become an important tactic.
A recent event at Van Andel Arena was another example of the ways in which D&HHS works with partners for the benefit of those it serves.
The event was the Grand Rapids Griffins “Hockey Without Barriers Night” and among the many changes from a typical Griffins home game (no goal horn, decreased microphone volume, decreased music volume, no strobe lights and more) was the inclusion on the big video board at center ice of an ASL interpreter in a picture-in-picture format.
Erica Chapin, Community and Partnerships manager for D&HHS, said that while she didn’t see much of the game because she was selling Throw for Dough pucks, the feedback received from people who bought tickets through D&HHS was great.
“We had great feedback from last year on how to improve and the Griffins considered that all this time,” she said. “With their amazing new center ice video screen, there was great visibility. A few of our Deaf attendees said they were happy with how the interpreter was set up.”
Chapin said it’s important for D&HHS to partner with organizations like the Griffins because “it allows us to provide an accessible experience to our communities, as well as educate local services on how to appropriately serve the community.
She added: “A lot of our Deaf stakeholders are isolated and often don’t go to events because they’re not sure they’ll have the access they need. So this event is a positive for them. It also exposes those in the hearing community to what access should look like and brings us closer to having access as the standard.”