Who Will Answer??
Austin ASL Community,
CSD has joined with the Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services to fund a 24/7 National Deaf Hotline fully staffed by Deaf advocates. Help us out by donating or clicking this link and signing a petition to expand violence advocacy services for Deaf & Hard of hearing survivors.
Help Support The #WhoWillAnswer Campaign To Help Found A 24/7 Hotline For Deaf DVSA Survivors
CSD has joined with the Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services (ADWAS), which was founded in 1986 as the first agency to provide services to Deaf women survivors of domestic violence, to raise up to $250,000 in the #WhoWillAnswer campaign. The focus of the campaign is to support a 24/7 National Deaf Hotline Center hotline fully staffed by Deaf advocates to provide access to resources, information, and support, in American Sign Language, to Deaf DVSA survivors or those who are in need.
Currently, Deaf advocates only answer calls on the National Hotline between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m PST. In 2013, ADWAS received 1,440 calls for help during the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m PST. But, instances of domestic and sexual violence do occur after those hours. There were calls from Deaf survivors after 5 pm and on weekends, and Deaf advocates couldn’t be there due to limited funding. These calls are rerouted to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which is staffed by hearing advocates, and an ASL interpreter is used to relay these calls. NDVH hearing advocates are fully trained to help survivors. Conversations about violence are deeply personal. In these moments, a sign language interpreter is not the optimal communication choice.
Please contact Trey McKnight @ [email protected] if you or your organization is interested in financially supporting this cause. You can also show your support by signing a petition to the U.S. House of Representatives to Expand violence advocacy services for deaf & hard of hearing survivors.
Those who are interested in joining the #WhoWillAnswer crowdfunding campaign can visit whowillanswer.org, and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/whowillanswer, follow the hashtag #whowillanswer on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, and get the latest campaign news from @DeafHotline on Twitter.
Website: http://www.whowillanswer.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/whowillanswer
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DeafHotline
Trey McKnight
Account Executive
CSD/Vineya
BEI Certified Interpreter
512-293-3532 (Voice/Text)
CSD: More is possible