Fort Worth Deaf & Hard of Hearing Community Meeting 5/31/12

Fort Worth Deaf & Hard of Hearing Community Meeting

SAVE THE DATE! – May 31, 2012

Purpose:

1. Organize and lobby for a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Sub-Committee
under the auspice of the Fort Worth Mayor’s Committee on Persons With
Disabilities (MCPWD)

2. To develop a list of recommendations to be presented to City of Fort
Worth Mayor’s Committee for Persons With Disabilities (MCPWD) on ways
that the city of Fort Worth may become more accessible for the Deaf and
Hard of Hearing Community.

When: May 31, 2012; 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM

Where: Hazel Harvey Peace Center for Neighborhoods
Conference Room 201/202
818 Missouri Avenue
Fort Worth, TX 76104

Background: I, Tracey Michol, have enjoyed serving on the Fort Worth
Human Relations Commission for the City of Fort Worth for the past
three years. I have enjoyed your support and always look forward to
you visiting the Human Relation Commission meetings.

We have reached a turning point in the process of Fort Worth becoming a
more accessible city for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community. Most
changes to date have taken place within city government. Support is
now needed from the Mayor’s Committee on Persons with Disabilities
(MCPWD) to build a greater awareness and bring about needed changes
within the larger Fort Worth community.

It is important that this be a community effort. I witnessed how the
LGBT community and their organizations rallied and organized around
issues they faced. The challenge for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in
Fort Worth is the absence of community organizations working with
government and business.

Area(s) for Discussion:

1. I have received several suggestions that a Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Sub Committee be created under the MCPWD. A step towards that is to
involve the MCPWD. According the MCPWD’s bylaws their purpose is:

To ensure that all persons with disabilities have full access and
opportunity in life. The Fort Worth Mayor’s Committee on Persons with
Disabilities is an organization of citizen volunteers, service
providers and employers working together with the City of Fort Worth to
promote employment opportunities and increase public awareness of the
abilities of persons with disabilities; endorse and convey the
advantage of access in housing design; communicate and facilitate
accessibility within the community and city government; encourage and
coordinate open communication related to the issues of employment and
access for persons with disabilities.

Whatever your experience has been in the past, this is a new day and a
new Mayor in the City of Fort Worth.

2. Help develop a list of recommendations to present to the MCPWD to
help them understand the needs of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Community and help greater Fort Worth become more accessible for
persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, late-deafened and
may have recent experience with hearing loss. The list of
recommendations can then be utilized by the MCPWD in assessing needs
and making recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council.

The deaf and hard of hearing community is a diverse community. It is
important that the as many community members as possible attend this
meeting to work together for our common good. Parents, teachers, sign
language interpreters, and friends of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Community are invited to attend.

For additional information or questions, I can be reached at
817-953-2976 or [email protected]. I look forward to seeing you at the
meeting.

Sincerely,

Tracey Michol
Fort Worth, Texas
[email protected]

Much appreciation to Signs2go for providing Sign Language Interpreting
Services:
http://www.signs2gointerpreting.com/Signs2gosHeartandSoul.html

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