{"id":26885,"date":"2014-04-01T00:34:06","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T05:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=26885"},"modified":"2014-04-01T00:34:06","modified_gmt":"2014-04-01T05:34:06","slug":"vanessa-vera-and-sally-fraustro-guerra-promote-workplace-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/04\/01\/vanessa-vera-and-sally-fraustro-guerra-promote-workplace-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanessa Vera and Sally Fraustro Guerra: Promote workplace diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>COMMENTARY: Vanessa Vera and Sally Fraustro Guerra: Promote workplace diversity<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>March 19, 2014<\/p>\n<p>We would like to cordially invite area employers to attend our first annual, Stepping Out conference on Friday to promote diversity in the workplace by helping employers throughout the Rio Grande Valley understand how best to hire and work with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.<\/p>\n<p>The event will be held from 8 a.m. <span class=\"GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark\" id=\"a9604234-09a6-4e0c-97c5-fc0629d8e40b\">to<\/span> 4 p.m. Friday at South Texas College\u2019s Pecan Campus in McAllen at the Cooper Center, 3201 W. Pecan Ave., and includes breakfast and lunch. It is absolutely free and is designed to promote awareness about deafness as well as help local businesses to identify free and low-cost resources and support services that are available when hiring a deaf or hard-of-hearing individual. Presenters include Rudy Martinez, regional director for the Department of Rehabilitative Services, McAllen Mayor Jim Darling and a keynote lunch address by U.S. Rep. Rub\u00e9n Hinojosa, D-Texas.<\/p>\n<p>This conference was born of a need in the Valley to engage employers in the discussion of the benefits of hiring individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and to help provide and direct employers to the many resources that are available to facilitate this process.<\/p>\n<p>Deaf individuals and those who are hard of hearing often face distinctive challenges when seeking employment. Many times these individuals obtain higher education degrees and <span class=\"GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark\" id=\"e765c500-017e-4be7-99e2-d8245bc1962a\">certificates but<\/span> are forced to take employment in fields other than their degree specialties. This may be due to the lack of awareness and understanding for the capacity and ability of a deaf individual to complete their work tasks in comparison <span class=\"GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark\" id=\"80263b61-d486-4dcc-a89a-cf62cb6e56d7\">to<\/span> a hearing individual. In reality, a deaf individual may be more effective in completing work tasks because they do not have the audible distractions as that of a hearing individual.<\/p>\n<p>We believe that employers will only truly appreciate the benefits and contributions that a deaf or hard of hearing individual can provide <span class=\"GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark\" id=\"33b8796e-09e2-46dc-8f59-5cbf2b106d62\">to<\/span> their business if they open their minds and hearts and give them an opportunity to prove their talents.<\/p>\n<p>The conference includes discussions on job placement services; benefits of hiring deaf individuals and those hard of hearing; communication workplace available technology, and how to help these individuals transition into the workforce. Stepping Out is being hosted by a collaboration of community partners that include: Workforce Solutions, Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, Communication Axess Ability Group, University of Texas-Pan American, South Texas College, Valley Association of Independent Living, South Texas Interpreters for the Deaf, McAllen ISD Regional Day School Program for the Deaf, IBC Bank, and Advance Employment Services.<\/p>\n<p>Please promote diversity in your workplace and learn more about the benefits of hiring an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing by attending Stepping Out. Seating is <span class=\"GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark\" id=\"9359961b-abd6-4a94-844a-2f4343ae8c8c\">limited so<\/span> register today. To register or for more <span class=\"GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark\" id=\"205f8cf4-5926-455d-be3c-d848508fe2f2\">information contact<\/span> Vanessa Vera at (956) 720-2421 or Sally Fraustro Guerra at (956) 458-0085.<\/p>\n<p>Sally Fraustro Guerra and Vanessa Vera are on the Stepping Out committee that is organizing this McAllen conference. Vera is a <span class=\"GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark\" id=\"bf700293-48ad-4b1b-a41f-4ed7caab4040\">rehabilitative<\/span> counselor for the deaf and hard of hearing with the Texas Department of Rehabilitative Services. <span class=\"GINGER_SOFTWARE_mark\" id=\"23174da0-d45b-4b80-bccd-83f24358b289\">Guerra<\/span> is a local realtor and mother of a hearing-impaired student in McAllen ISD.<\/p>\n<p>SOURCE:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.themonitor.com\/opinion\/columnists\/commentary-vanessa-vera-and-sally-fraustro-guerra-promote-workplace-diversity\/article_52688350-aef1-11e3-9343-001a4bcf6878.html\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.themonitor.com\/opinion\/columnists\/commentary-vanessa-vera-and-sally-fraustro-guerra-promote-workplace-diversity\/article_52688350-aef1-11e3-9343-001a4bcf6878.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COMMENTARY: Vanessa Vera and Sally Fraustro Guerra: Promote workplace diversity March 19, 2014 We would like to cordially invite area employers to attend our first annual, Stepping Out conference on Friday to promote diversity in the workplace by helping employers&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/04\/01\/vanessa-vera-and-sally-fraustro-guerra-promote-workplace-diversity\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[21303,4621,1090,24,1258,1412,21302,21307,2495,21304,21301,5677,21305,21306,21298,11269,12751,14640,21300,21299,9797],"class_list":["post-26885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-advance-employment-services","tag-article","tag-communication-axess-ability-group","tag-deaf","tag-department-of-assistive-and-rehabilitative-services","tag-hard-of-hearing","tag-ibc-bank","tag-jim-darling","tag-mcallen","tag-mcallen-isd","tag-mcallen-isd-regional-day-school-program-for-the-deaf","tag-rio-grande-valley","tag-ruben-hinojosa","tag-rudy-martinez","tag-sally-fraustro-guerra","tag-south-texas-college","tag-south-texas-interpreters-for-the-deaf","tag-university-of-texas-pan-american","tag-valley-association-of-independent-living","tag-vanessa-vera","tag-workforce-solutions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-6ZD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1140,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/01\/30\/4x4-deaf-flag-football-tournament-mcallen-texas-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":26885,"position":0},"title":"4&#215;4 Deaf Flag Football Tournament &#8211; McAllen, Texas","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Reminder 4x4 Deaf Flag Football Tournament Saturday, February 10, 2007 8:30am to 3:00pm Tournament will be located at: Westside Park 1000 South Ware Road McAllen, Texas Cost: Team entry fee: $100.00 (Limits of 6 to 8 player per team) Registration Dates: December 13, 2006 \u2013 February 3, 2007 Game Times:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1407,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/03\/27\/asl-community-event-mcallen-texas\/","url_meta":{"origin":26885,"position":1},"title":"ASL Community Event &#8211; McAllen, Texas","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"ASL Community Event Hosted by Rio Grande Valley Deaf Club of McAllen, Texas Westside Park 1000 S. Ware Rd McAllen, Texas March 31, 2007 From 2:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Soccer, Softball, Flag Football, Playing Cards, and more\u2026. You\u2019re invited to join and have fun! Submitted by sibley3asl@aol.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1384,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/03\/21\/6th-annual-north-border-games-mcallen-texas\/","url_meta":{"origin":26885,"position":2},"title":"6th Annual North Border Games &#8211; McAllen, Texas","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"6th Annual North Border Games for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Hosted by Rio Grande Valley Deaf Club of McAllen Baptist Temple Field 2001 Trenton Rd. McAllen, Texas Saturday, April 14th, 2007 From 8:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. Food, Games, Booths, Skits, etc You're invited to our special event and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21602,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/01\/28\/retreat-hosted-for-parents-of-deaf-rio-grande-valley-students\/","url_meta":{"origin":26885,"position":3},"title":"Retreat hosted for parents of deaf Rio Grande Valley students","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Retreat hosted for parents of deaf Rio Grande Valley students January 20, 2013 by Jacqueline Armendariz McALLEN \u2014 Rio Grande Valley parents of deaf children learned how to navigate growing up in a world with little or no sound on Saturday at Brown Middle School. Students of the Regional Day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5317,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/01\/30\/yard-sale-mcallen\/","url_meta":{"origin":26885,"position":4},"title":"Yard Sale &#8211; McAllen","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Yard Sale DATE: January 31, 2009 (Saturday) TIME: 8:00 to ??? ADDRESS: 2001 Trenton Rd McAllen, Texas Rio Grande Valley Deaf Club is doing yard sale do fundraising to help support us to go to North Border Game for the Deaf on April 25, 2009. Please come out and help\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3100,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2008\/03\/13\/3rd-annual-9x9-deaf-flag-football-harlingen\/","url_meta":{"origin":26885,"position":5},"title":"3rd Annual 9&#215;9 Deaf Flag Football &#8211; Harlingen","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"3rd Annual 9x9 Deaf Flag Football Hosted by: Rio Grande Valley Deaf Club Saturday, March 22, 2008 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Game will be located at: Harlingen High School 1201 East Marshall Harlingen, Texas 78552 FREE ADMISSION!!! The list of Deaf teams will be: 1) Coastal Bend Silent Club\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26885"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26887,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26885\/revisions\/26887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}