Kudos to TDI and Hamilton Relay

Editor: You may recall that last year we applauded two organizations for promoting social justice for folks with hearing loss who prefer oral communication. The organizations were TDI and Hamilton Relay. Now these two organizations have teamed to earn again earn a place in our Hall of Fame. TDI (with Hamilton's support) is soliciting Community Agencies to host their training seminars, and they state that one of the criterion upon which an organization will be evaluated is " its balanced commitment of services and resources toward individuals who are either deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, or deaf-blind." We're hoping this means that organizations that pay lip service to serving "DeafAndHardOfHearing" need not apply!

Here's their announcement.

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TDI Welcomes Bids from Community Agencies to Host Consumer Advocacy Training Seminars

Three Workshops for TDI's Northeast, Midwest, & West Regions - Sponsored by Hamilton Relay.

TDI is pleased to announce that it will conduct consumer advocacy training workshops in three regions. The workshops take place during the months of August through December 2008. This follows the highly successful inaugural workshop on November 10-11, 2007 at the Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons in Fairfax, Virginia. Twenty-three individuals (21 deaf and hard of hearing, and 2 hearing) successfully graduated with certificates from the two-day weekend training.

TDI invites community agencies (any entity serving individuals who are deaf and/or hard of hearing - government, nonprofit, or private) to bid its services as a host for any one of the upcoming three workshops.

The Northeast region workshop will take place in either August or September. States that make up TDI's Northeast region are: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The Midwest region workshop will take place in either September or October. States that make up TDI's Midwest region are: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

The West region workshop will take place in either November or December. States that make up TDI's West region are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington State.

Those who seek to bid their hosting services for any region need only to offer their facility for the workshop. The facility needs to have a conference room large enough to accommodate up to thirty people and a room nearby to serve meals and refreshments. The successful bidder will assist with the coordination of interpreting (sign language & tactile) and CART services for the workshop. The successful bidder will also assist TDI with other support services such as making arrangements for meals and refreshments, as well as hotel and transportation accommodations.

There is no funding to reimburse the successful bidder for facility rental for the workshop. However, this opportunity generates several benefits for the selected agency. The agency will become more familiar with TDI's efforts in consumer advocacy in Washington, D.C. and will further benefit from the publicity that comes from supporting the workshop which in turn attracts additional interest from clients and service providers.

Bids to host a regional workshops are due to TDI by close of business on June 15, 2008. Please send a letter of interest on your agency's letterhead, including justification as to why TDI should choose your agency in consideration for hosting the workshop.

Bids should be sent electronically to Claude Stout, Executive Director at tdiexdir@aol.com. Deadline for submission is June 15, 2008.

Bids will be awarded based on the following criteria: the agency's proximity within the region, its recent history of service provision to deaf and hard of hearing consumers and related service providers, the facility's proximity to area hotels, restaurants, and interstate highways, and its balanced commitment of services and resources toward individuals who are either deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, or deaf-blind.

Last, but not least, TDI expresses its deepest appreciation to Hamilton Relay for its corporate sponsorship for the recent Inaugural Workshop in Fairfax, VA, as well as the three upcoming workshops. This consumer advocacy training focuses on preparing potential consumer advocates to engage in ongoing efforts to bring about additional progress in telecommunications, media, and information technology access. Hamilton Relay, a high quality traditional and Internet-based relay services provider, highly values consumer advocacy training to empower individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing at the local, state, and national levels.

About Hamilton Relay

Hamilton Relay offers a variety of services including Internet Relay, Video Relay and Wireless Relay. In addition, Hamilton provides traditional relay services and/or CapTel(r) to 16 states, the Island of Saipan and the US Virgin Islands. Information on all services is available at www.hamiltonrelay.com.
Hamilton Relay. That's what I'm talking about.

About TDI