Special Request From Treasure TSD 3/8/15
Hello Leaders of Organizations and Businesses of Texas,
Each of you have or have had a working relationship with a member of the deaf community or Texas School for the Deaf. You know the impact and the value of TSD as a local Austin resource in our community. We hope to gain support from various organizations and businesses state-wide for Texas School for the Deaf during the legislation session.
We appreciate your time in reviewing the attached open letter from Treasure TSD. At the bottom of this email, a link to the ASL version of the open letter is included. While we have issued the open letter, along with an ASL Video on our Facebook page, it is mainly to discover possible businesses and organizations missing from our database.
Thank you so much for being active on deaf/HoH/hearing loss related issues and we look forward to working with you.
If there are any questions or if a dialogue is needed, feel free to e-mail back and we will respond as promptly as possible.
Thank you,
Donna Valverde
POC, Treasure TSD
Video Link: http://youtu.be/SWCXRu1uUY8 (recent video)
Website: http://treasuretsd.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TreasureTSD1857
Instagram: https://instagram.com/treasuretsd
Twitter: https://twitter.com/treasuretsd
Letter:
March 7, 2015
Greetings Colleagues,
My name is Donna Valverde, and I am writing on behalf of Treasure TSD. I am currently the point of contact for this grassroots committee composed of concerned citizens and stakeholders. Our purpose is to support Texas School for the Deaf during this time of legislation. Our efforts include legislation updates, related resources and activities to increase awareness of our school.
Treasure TSD was formed immediately after the discussion of selling some of TSD’s land in the Senate Finance on February 9th. Following this hearing, there were two more hearings. Even though the last 2 hearings were positive and included no mention of land sale, TSD still needs our support. To sum it up, inaccurate information about TSD’s facilities may overshadow TSD’s budget request and undermine TSD’s efficient management of its resources. There is an urgency for the deaf community and supporters to achieve a collective proactivity.
With this in mind, Treasure TSD is now planning actions to increase awareness. We are inviting organizations and businesses to take part by contributing to some aspects. We need a state-wide response to the legislation so that they can see the living ecosystem that our deaf community is, and of which TSD is often the starting point. Possible contributions vary from monetary, service, location or others. If you have ideas or another resource your company or organization can contribute, feel free to contact us to make arrangements.
The following are the actions we are undertaking. All are time-sensitive as we need to keep pace with legislation. The goal is to complete everything as soon as mid- April. The reason for the pace is that legislation concludes June 1st but deliberations may begin anytime between mid-March- early April.
Take the opportunity to review the actions.
Action Steps:
1) Virtual Tour of TSD Campus to be posted on TSD Website and on media
2) Photos of the TSD Campus to be printed on postcards and given to the community to write on and mail in the legislation
3) A Day at the Capital (tentatively slated for April 13, 2015): Morning at the capital which begins with an awareness walk from TSD to the Capital. Presenters, Performers, and interpreters needed.
4) David Marwitz (lobbyist): pro-bono 2 hour workshop on the legislation process and community participation. More here: http://marwitzandcompany.blogspot.com/2012/09/davids-30-years-of-legislative-and.html Needed: location, advertisement, interpreters (regular and CDI), childcare and refreshments.
5) NAD Kim Bianco-Majeri, state legislative affairs consultant: workshop on the legislation process, the importance of participation. Also, a workshop for organizations to collaborate on actions and goals. Read about her here: http://nad.org/about-us/staff. Workshop fee: $500, not including airfare and meals. Four Dates: April 10, 11 or April 24, 25. April 10 and 11, 2015 is first choice. Needed: monetary donation, airfare, location, advertisement, interpreters (regular and CDI), childcare and refreshments.
Welcome from all people, your organization and/or company are submissions of v-logs, photos or “testimony” to be posted publicly on Treasure TSD. These should emphasize the value or influence of TSD on yourself or your group at large.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter and we appreciate the thoughtfulness that we know you will put in this request. We certainly look forward and are hopeful that the community in the state of Texas will become active in this legislative period.
Sincerely,
Donna Valverde-Hummel, POC
[email protected]
Treasure TSD Open Letter (PDF format)