SHEP CONNECTION CORNER - May 2023 Newsletter

Steady & Growing!

We have 1 new SSP in the OKC area!

Spread the word and Keep requesting SSPs!

It has been pouring!

Both literally and figuratively, the rain has been pouring and the blessings have, too! Last month we got a grant from the Junior Service League in Midwest City, we are now members of the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce, and….WE GOT A VAN! So much more to come! It’s because of you and the community that it is all possible. “What is in your heart is the overflow of how you live your life.” I just heard that this week. Think about it. And guess what? SHEP has a heart the size of the galaxy for the community.

Oklahoma NewsHuman ResourcesMay 5, 2023shep, newsletter, connection, may, deafblind, van, social, db, iamdb, mwc, midwest city, league, vision, club, changesComment

Masonic Charity Foundation grant funds OK School for the Deaf senior citizens’ hearing aids program

SULPHUR, Okla. – The Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma has awarded a $125,000 grant to purchase hearing aids through the statewide Senior Citizens Hearing Aid Program operated by the Oklahoma School for the Deaf.

Since 2018, the Masonic Foundation has donated four times to clear waiting lists and help lower-income seniors get hearing aids through the OSD program.

A new study by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that seniors with hearing loss have a greater chance of developing dementia, but dementia prevalence is lower among hearing aid users compared to non-users.

“When older Oklahoma start to lose their hearing, many can’t afford to purchase hearing aids,” John Logan, Masonic Charity Foundation executive director said. “Our board is proud to make a significant grant to help them because we know this outstanding program runs out of money every year.

“We appreciate the detailed information OSD gives us showing how funds are used and their map of services which indicates only two counties in Oklahoma were not served by this program last year,” Logan added.

When Masonic Charity Foundation President Neil Stitt and Grand Master Glen A. Chaney presented the grant, Sarah Jameson, OSD administrative coordinator, said, “Your donation enables OSD to not have a waiting list so we’re able to serve for an entire year,”

Jameson supervises OSD’s Equipment Distribution Program, which includes the Senior Citizens Hearing Aid Program.

“Because of the Mason’s donation, seniors served by this program are able to meet with their friends, have lunch, have conversations with their grandchildren, their husbands, their wives – just conversations that they haven’t been a part of for a long time,“ Renate Neal, equipment distribution program coordinator, explained.

OSD’s hearing aid program is funded by a 5-cent fee on telephone service for those who have conventional metal wire or optical fiber telephone connections, known as land lines.

“Regular funding for the program has declined because many Oklahomans have switched to cell phones, which do not currently pay the telephone service fee,” OSD Superintendent Dr. Heather Laine said. “We could help more people if this small fee applied to cell phones and mobile devices.”

To qualify for the Senior Citizens Hearing Aid Program, Oklahoma residents must be 60 years of age, with limited income and a 35-decibel hearing loss in their better ear.

The program pays for an audiology examination, ear mold impression, hearing aid fitting and one non-digital hearing aid per person due to limited funding and the need to serve as many seniors as possible.

OSD contracts with audiologists across the state so seniors can be served as near as possible to their homes.

Individuals can only receive two hearing aids if they are deaf and blind, or if they have waited five years after receiving their first hearing aid through the program.

OSD is a division of the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services.

For more information about the program, phone 866-309-1717, video phone 405-294-3977 or visit http://www.osd.k12.ok.us/edp/senior_hearing_aid.pdf.

Oklahoma NewsHuman ResourcesApril 23, 2023sulphur, oklahoma, masonic, deaf, foundation, osd, schoolComment

SHEP CONNECTION CORNER - April 2023 Newsletter

SHEP’s Connection Corner

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring!...and Oh Boy, That Wind!

Strong and Growing!

We have 3 new SSPs! 3 in Tulsa and one in OKC!

SAY WHAT! Yes! Keep requesting SSPs!

Let it rain and the flowers shall bring forth!

Smell the wind of change? Smell the spring air? Well...we are springing into action with our clubs and events! You heard about IamDB launching last month! Got questions? Ask away! We are still gathering interested individuals in the program. Just ask Vicky and we will get you all squared away.

Here’s a word from Cassandra; Read the scripture Matthew 12: 34-35. It discusses how we speak positivity from the heart. Good people speak good out of their hearts and evil things come from the mouth of those that need a cleansed heart. Let’s pray, encourage, and lift each other up! Be a great influencer with a positive outlook. Let’s share our strengths and build a strong and prosperous community brick by brick.

And building we are!

We have a lot of events coming up! Be sure to check the calendar. A reminder is below.

April 13th is our very own, Angelisha’s, birthday!

We would love to give you a shout out for your birthdays as well! Send us an email letting us know about your birthday, anniversary, or any special event so we can show love and shout you out. We love pictures too, so throw those in the email if you so please!

There’s no rain on this parade! Look what’s coming ahead!

Look at what the wind blew in!

April 18th, SHEP will be at A Taste of Midwest City!

Have you heard of it? A lot of vendors will be there!

5800 Will Rogers Road Midwest City, OK 73110

6pm—8pm

April 3rd Rose State College Spring Career Fair 10am to 2pm.

Rose State Campus in the Jeanie Webb Student Union building on the second floor.

April 15th SHEP Event - 10:30am to 12:30pm - Let’s roll the dice on FUN!

April Showers Brings Game Hour

OSU HSEC room 3401 W Reno, OKC, OK

April 15th there is also a social event at Jeri House to meet at the Charles Page Blvd Highschool parking lot around 9:30 then shuttle to the Sand Springs Herbal Festival

April 25th Oklahoma Nonprofit Advocacy Day 8am to 12pm

Oklahoma State Capitol, 2nd Floor Rotunda

Every first and 4th week of the month there is a coffee chat with the president. Join us!

Details on our calendar and social media!

Need a SSP? Contact Vicky!Want to be a SSP? We have what you need! Request or register on our website:

www.shep-ok.org/sspporgram

Questions?

Contact our Operations manager Vicky Helms. Email vicky@shep-ok.org

RIDDLE ME THIS: What goes up when rain comes down?

Answer: an umbrella!

Hahahahha

Give us some funnies on Facebook or email us: humanresources@shep-ok.org We would love to hear from you.

This April we challenge you to plant something and start recycling!

Find us on Facebook or visit our website www.shep-ok.org

Hey, did you know?

April 9th is Easter this year.
April 28th is Arbor Day. This day is set aside to encourage us to plant trees to help the environment.
Taxes are due on the 15th. UGH.
The Land Run of 1889 happened in Oklahoma where men and women rushed to claim homesteads or to purchase lots in one of the many new towns that sprang into existence overnight. An estimated eleven thousand agricultural homesteads were claimed.

Oklahoma NewsHuman ResourcesApril 7, 2023april, newsletter, rain, psring, spring, ssp, deafblind, okc, shep, iamdbComment

The Bright Side of Blindness

f Hannah Dangle could offer one piece of encouragement to the world, it’s this: “you can do hard things.” And doing hard things is something Hannah knows a thing or two about. In her 23 years of life she’s overcome daunting diagnoses, and now is navigating total blindness.

Hannah was first diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma in October of 2019. The cancer attacked her entire body. “I was diagnosed on Halloween, which makes sense. This was not a Christmas kind of diagnosis,” Hannah said, her sense of humor shining through.

She immediately began an aggressive treatment plan that included radiation and chemotherapy. It cost Hannah her hair, her health, and many of the hopes she held for herself, but it saved her life.

Oklahoma NewsHuman ResourcesApril 7, 2023blind, blindness, Hannah Dangle, edmond, awareness, positivity, happinessComment

SHEP CONNECTION CORNER - March 2023 Newsletter

Do you feel lucky? It’s March!

Strong and Growing!

We want to welcome our new member of the SHEP team, Clinton Patton! He will be spearheading our grant efforts for the orgranzation.

Wooohooo!

Also...IamDB!

We are launching our new program IamDB. This program focuses on the ability of the DeafBlind culture and promotes independent living while keeping the can do attitude through life skills and the ability to strengthen the DB skills through workshops and training. These opportunities will be available upon registration.

IamDB is starting strong and can’t wait to offer the very first workshop of labeling, accessibility training, available cane training, and assistance equipment and how to utilize these electronic devices and how they can apply to your life on a daily basis making independence a perfected ability. We encourage independence for the entire DeafBlind community and we are here readily available to provide any type of skills, mental health stability with dual sensory loss, and a powerful ability to conquer life’s challenges.

Workshops are available through registration by sending us an email, phone call, or send us a message on social media to get registered for any of the workshops starting March 1st.

Don’ t forget to check the March Calendar so you don’t miss out on any events.

See below for workshops!

It’s the luck of the...YOU! It’s all you! Take a look

Look at the IamDB workshops and trainings.

Labeling and identification workshops – using braille labelers/braille dots/readers and identifying money

Equipment accessibility training – how to independently cook/clean/and navigate the world

Cane workshops – Are you in need of a cane or need assistance on using the cane correctly? Let us help

Assistance equipment workshop – Opening your world to different kinds of assistant equipment can make life clear and easy to navigate independently. Equipment for independent living to promote mental health is available upon attendance and training. Please attend and register for this workshop.

SSP and ME- How to effectively utilize my SSP and learning the different ways of communica-

tion.

Every first and 4th Friday of the month there is a coffee chat with the president. Join us!

Details on our calendar and social media!

Need a SSP? Want to be a SSP? We have what you need! Request or register on our website:

www.shep-ok.org/sspporgram

Questions?

Contact our Operations manager Vicky Helms. Email vicky@shep-ok.org

RIDDLE ME THIS: What falls during March but never gets hurt?

Answer: the rain

Hahahahha

Give us some funnies on Facebook or email us: humanresources@shep-ok.org We would love to hear from you.

This March we challenge you to take a photo or video of you dancing in the rain.

Find us on Facebook or visit our website www.shep-ok.org

Did you know these awesome facts about Oklahoma?

· The shopping cart was invented in Ardmore in 1936.
· The nation's first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City in 1935.
The first Girl Scout Cookie was sold in Muskogee in 1917

Oklahoma NewsHuman ResourcesMarch 5, 2023newsletter, march, oklahoma, deafblind, facts, news, riddle, 2023, connectionComment

Sign language performer Justina Miles goes viral during Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime performance

Rihanna took the field for the Super Bowl LVII halftime show, but another performer standing nearby gained widespread attention as well — Deaf performer Justina Miles. Fans were wowed by Miles' energetic performance of Rihanna's lyrics into American Sign Language, and she quickly went viral online.

Miles, who is hard of hearing, has gone viral on TikTok for performing other popular songs into ASL. Originally from Philadelphia, she was valedictorian at Model Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington D.C. and now studies nursing at Bowie State University, a HBCU in Maryland, according to the National Association of the Deaf.

Read original CBS article here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sign-language-interpreter-justina-miles-asl-rihanna-super-bowl-halftime-performance-goes-viral/

National NewsHuman ResourcesFebruary 26, 2023asl, deaf, super bowl, nfl, interpreter, viral, codaComment

SHEP CONNECTION CORNER - February 2023 Newsletter

Oklahoma NewsHuman ResourcesFebruary 5, 2023newsletter, shep, corner, valentines, winterComment

How ZanDraya became the first Deaf Amazonian with a Commercial Driver’s License

ZanDraya Pollock never expected to be the first at anything. She didn’t think she would break barriers. But she had a vision of what she wanted to do.

As a transportation associate at SLC2 in West Jordan, Utah, ZanDraya is living her childhood dream of working as a truck driver. In May, she earned her Commercial Driver’s License (CDL)—a requirement to drive a 53-foot tractor and trailer—and became the first Deaf associate at Amazon to do so.

But ZanDraya’s journey toward a CDL wasn’t simple.

National NewsHuman ResourcesJanuary 20, 2023deaf, amazon, labor, truck, CDL, driver, news, employee, resources, accessibilityComment

New Year, Better You! Diet & Lifestyle Recommendations

According to the American Heart Association, “A healthy diet and lifestyle are the keys to preventing and managing cardiovascular disease. It’s not as hard as you may think! Remember, it's the overall pattern of your choices that counts. Make the simple steps below part of your life for long-term benefits to your health and your heart.”

Blog/NotesHuman ResourcesJanuary 4, 2023heart, healthy, exercise, calroies, protein, regular, cardiovascular, weight, calriesComment

Winter Driving: Take It Slow

Driving in the winter can be harrowing, especially if there is snow, sleet, hail or ice. Although there tend to be fewer traffic fatalities during the winter months, there are more crashes, and the crashes that occur tend to be more serious. If SSPs heed a few simple tips, it can help ensure safe trips during the winter.

Read the full safety letter here.