deafempowerment.org

In 2001, Lori Fuller was working on college course project required for her major.  She decided to research the need for services for the Deaf community in the Fox Valley area.  Dismayed at the apparent dearth of services and lack of information about services available, she contacted Melanie Blechl and together they came up with a plan.

In 2003, Deaf Empowerment became a non-profit organization, with the receipt of a determination letter issued by the IRS in July.   Deaf Empowerment would now have the ability to seek grant funding and other sources of funds to support the mission and goals of the young organization.

The Board worked together to create a mission statement:

"To empower Deaf and hard of hearing individuals to live more productive lives through education, advocacy, and community involvement."

In 2008, the IRS completed its evaluation of the Deaf Empowerment's status as a 501(c)(3) organization with its final determination. You can see the IRS determination letter dated May 7, 2008 confirming our status. We are now able to move forward in our continuing mission and create bridges in the community to promote greater awareness and understanding between Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing members of the Fox Valley community. It's en exciting milestone in DE's history!

Today, we operate with a small board and committees of volunteers.  We offer community ASL classes, child & family services programming, and our annual PAH! celebration event, which we usually hold in October.

We rely on grants and the generosity of private donors and community partners to provide the programs and services to the community, in our work to build bridges of greater awareness and understanding between the hearing world and the world of Deaf and hard of hearing residents in the Fox Valley community.

To learn more about what we do, you can view and print a copy of our brochure.