This week, the Sanibel-Captiva Rotary heard from Amy Turner of The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center in Fort Myers, whose mission is to empower Southwest Florida’s deaf and hard of hearing citizens and their families through education, advocacy, and community involvement.
Founded in 1983, the Sally J. Pimentel Deaf & Hard of Hearing Center serves the Deaf/HOH community in Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Hendry, and Glades counties. They have an ongoing effort to create community awareness regarding deaf and hard of hearing residents through presentations to civic clubs, neighborhood and professional associations, businesses, churches, schools and participation in health fairs. A main goal is to educate police, fireman and emergency response personnel in basic Sign Language to enable them to recognize signs in an emergency situation.
The Deaf & Hard of Hearing Center provides general information and workshops related to Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.), the Individuals with Disabilities Act (I.D.E.A.) and Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and to request and ensure the provision of appropriate accommodations.
They provide a wide range of services to Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and adults, as well as provide support to their families, friends, neighbors, employers and co-workers. Their services include Sign Language interpreting services, free telephone equipment loan program, deaf mentor & education program, (ASL) American Sign Language classes, information/referral services, outreach presentations, employment assistance, visual communication center, advocacy, adaptive equipment and volunteer opportunities.
Amy Turner is the Executive Director of the Sally J. Pimentel Deaf & Hard of Hearing Center, a nonprofit agency, where she champions equal communication access for the deaf and hard of hearing community. Before stepping into this role, she worked as the Community Relations Coordinator at the Lighthouse of SWFL for the Blind and Visually Impaired, advocating for individuals with vision loss and increasing community awareness about accessibility and inclusion.
The Sanibel-Captiva Rotary meets at the Community House, 2173 Periwinkle Way and also on zoom. Doors open at 7:30 a.m., the meeting begins at 8:00 a.m. For more information about Rotary, please visit sanibelrotary.org. All are welcome!
