BDHHS ANNOUNCEMENTS! BDHHS WILL BE CLOSED ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2010 IN HONOR OF LABOR DAY          BDHHS Eight Annual Fundraising Picnic!       Please take our survey, to let us know how we are doing.

Committee Members Needed!  Berks Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services is looking for Volunteers to serve as Committee Members.  If you are interested in becoming becoming a Committee Member, contact Kandy Reyes at BDHHS. Back to top MARGARET ROEDER SCHOLARSHIP Applicants for the Margaret Roeder Scholarship must be a resident of Berks County, deaf or hard of hearing, a high school senior or college student desiring to begin or continue his or her post-secondary education in either a two-year or four-year educational institution (including community colleges and trade schools), and a student in good standing with a grade point average of at least 2.50.  Recipients who are awarded a Margaret Roeder Scholarship will receive $500. Recipients will also be eligible to receive additional awards of $500 per semester for up to seven additional semesters provided that the recipient satisfies Berks County Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services that he or she continues to meet the requirements for eligibility.  You can download the Application Guidelines, the Scholarship Application, or the Financial Statement now or contact Kandy Reyes for one by email, (610) 685-4520 for Voice or (610) 685-4525 for VP/TTY. Back to top   OUR MISSION STATEMENT The mission of Berks Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services is to provide services, resources, and social opportunities to and education and advocacy for the deaf, hard of hearing and hearing individuals in Berks and surrounding counties. Vision Statement In 2005, as the leadership of Berks Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services begins its planning activities; it has created the following vision of the outcomes of its efforts. We are the premier organization serving the deaf, hard of hearing and hearing individuals within Berks and surrounding counties. Because we are highly visible and well known in our communities, people are fully aware of our services. Because we are highly accessible, people feel comfortable approaching us to receive those services. As importantly, businesses in our service area understand their responsibilities to the deaf and hard of hearing and our ability to help them meet those responsibilities. We operate with unbending integrity and professionalism and consider ourselves to be genuinely accountable to our clients and our colleagues. Our board and staff function as one team focused on common goals. Our employees are competitively compensated and empowered to be the best they can be. We have a building that meets our programmatic and operational needs and we have the support equipment and hearing screening unit we need to serve our community. As a result of our strategic focus and hard work, we are financially strong. We operate on a budget of more than $1 million and generate a yearly surplus. This surplus enables us to maintain a healthy fund balance and ensures our ability to fulfill our mission for future generations. Back to top Berks Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Annual Membership Membership The annual membership fee for a family is only $25; for a single individual, $20; for a full-time student under 25 years of age or for those over 60 years of age, $15.  One of the many great BDHHS membership benefits is receiving our monthly newsletter.   Also, your membership provides Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing individuals support through the various BDHHS programs and services offered throughout Berks County.  For example, did you know that hearing screenings are offered to pre-schoolers, including those served by the Head Start organization?  These screenings help parents and teachers to provide adequate communication techniques and devices to children at an earlier age so that they, too, receive an excellent education.   Additionally, your financial support assures many other services, which include sign language classes, advocacy, social events, hearing aid assistance, and interpreting services … and the list goes on.  Should you choose to respond to this letter to become (or remain) a BDHHS member, please make your check payable to “BDHHS.” Your donation assures excellent communication venues to you, your loved ones, your friends and many others throughout the Reading-Berks community – and it is tax deductible too.  .  Please contact us at 610-685-4520 or email Michelle to become a member of BDHHS. Back to top

Berks Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services Brief History In 1964, Mrs. Margaret Danowski learned that her six-year old daughter had hearing loss. This knowledge had a tremendous emotional impact upon her and her husband, mixed with   self-blame, self-pity, and the realization that this was really happening to their child, and not to someone else's child. Berks Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services had its start, thanks to Mrs. Danowski and local Audiologist Dr. Grabowski, at a meeting held in March 1967, for parents  of (or professionals working with) children with speech and hearing problems. In May 1968, the organization was incorporated as a Non-Profit Agency, known as The Berks County Association for the Hearing Impaired, Inc., later to be known as Berks Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. The group's first project was to open a pre-school for Deaf children. This occurred in September 1968, at the First Presbyterian Church in Reading, PA. The agency has grown over the years, and now has seven full time and one part time employees, and has fully expanded services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing members of the community. Back to top