Hi Everyone. DEAF, Inc. staff had training on the office safety guidelines last week. DEAF, Inc. wants to ensure a safe and healthy environment for everyone. Reopening will proceed slowly and safely. Please note that DEAF, Inc. reopening phases are subject to change. Public health data trends indicating significant increases in viral transmission, and/or increased absence of DEAF, Inc. staff could result in fewer open days or closing the agency that week.
Read the TranscriptDEAF, Inc.’s Phase 3 will not begin. We will stay in Phase 2. This means all DEAF, Inc. offices throughout eastern Massachusetts will remain open two days a week by appointment only. Phase 2 will continue through December 2020. DEAF, Inc. wants to ensure a safe and healthy environment for everyone. We are still available to provide both remote and in-person services.
DEAF, Inc. reopening phases are subject to change, depending on public health COVID-19 datatrends. We will continue to share new office reopening updates. Stay healthy. Stay safe. Continue to wear masks and practice social distancing.
1/22/2021 News
Transcript
Hello Everyone!
A reminder: DEAF, Inc. will host ASL social Friday, January 29th at 6pm. Everyone is welcome!
Last week the Baker Administration announced the appointment of Dr. Opeoluwa Sotonwa as a new Commissioner for the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH), effective March 1, 2021. Dr. Sotonwa brings over 20 years’ experience as a lawyer, advocate, and accomplished public official who has improved access, accommodations, and quality of life for individuals who are Deaf, Late Deafened, Hard of Hearing and Deafblind. He is fluent in English, American Sign Language (ASL), Nigerian Sign Language, and Yoruba (Nigerian). Most recently, Dr. Sotonwa has served as Executive Director for the Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Congratulations Dr. Sotonwa!
The IRS is delaying the start of the 2020 tax filing season to February 12, according to an announcement Friday from the agency. On February 12, the IRS will start accepting and processing last year's tax returns. The IRS needs more time to prepare after the COVID relief act that took effect in late December. The tax filing deadline is still April 15.
President Biden just signed his first executive order, called the “100 days masking challenge”, requiring masks on federal property. It applies to federal buildings, federal lands, including post offices, the VA and national parks. He’s also asking all Americans to wear a mask for the next 100 days to help curb the spread of the coronavirus while vaccines are rolled out.
President Biden’s mask order for travel applies to airports and planes, ships, intercity buses, trains and public transportation. Travelers from abroad must furnish a negative COVID-19 test before departing for the U.S. and must quarantine upon arrival.
A second case of the more infectious coronavirus variant from the UK was confirmed in Massachusetts this week by a state laboratory.
The CDC has predicted that the variant first identified in Britain could become the dominant source of infection in the U.S. by March. To avoid it, you’ll need to double down on the precautions that have kept you safe so far.
- Cut down your time at the grocery store.
- Wear a two- or three-layer mask.
- Don’t spend time indoors with people not from your household.
- Avoid crowds, and keep your distance.
- Wash your hands often, and avoid touching your face.
Governor Baker on Thursday announced that a stay-at-home advisory and an order requiring all businesses close by 9:30 p.m. will be lifted Monday, January 25th as health officials see encouraging trends in the state's COVID-19 data. While restaurants, health clubs, casinos, movie theaters, and other businesses will be able to stay open later than 9:30 p.m. next week, they will still not be allowed to put fill their places of business to greater than 25 percent capacity. That restriction will remain in place for at least another two weeks more.
The following 222 communities, a decrease of 7 towns vs. last week, are in the highest risk level as of Thursday: Abington, Acushnet, Adams, Agawam, Amesbury, Andover, Ashburnham, Ashby, Ashland, Athol, Attleboro, Auburn, Avon, Ayer, Barnstable, Barre, Belchertown, Bellingham, Berkley, Berlin, Beverly, Billerica, Blackstone, Boston, Bourne, Boxborough, Boxford, Boylston, Braintree, Brewster, Bridgewater, Brimfield, Brockton, Brookfield, Burlington, Canton, Carver, Charlton, Chatham, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Chicopee, Clinton, Cohasset, Dalton, Danvers, Dartmouth, Dedham, Deerfield, Dennis, Dighton, Douglas, Dover, Dracut, Dudley, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, East Brookfield, East Longmeadow, Easton, Edgartown, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Falmouth, Fitchburg, Foxborough, Framingham, Franklin, Freetown, Gardner, Georgetown, Gloucester, Grafton, Granby, Great Barrington, Groveland, Hadley, Halifax, Hamilton, Hampden, Hanover, Hanson, Harwich, Hatfield, Haverhill, Holbrook, Holden, Holliston, Holyoke, Hopedale, Hudson, Hull, Ipswich, Kingston, Lakeville, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lee, Leicester, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Ludlow, Lunenburg, Lynn, Lynnfield, Malden, Manchester, Mansfield, Marion, Marlborough, Marshfield, Mashpee, Mattapoisett, Maynard, Medford, Medway, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleborough, Middleton, Milford, Millbury, Millis, Monson, Nahant, Nantucket, New Bedford, Newbury, Norfolk, North Andover, North Attleborough, North Brookfield, North Reading, Norton, Norwell, Norwood, Oak Bluffs, Orange, Oxford, Palmer, Paxton, Peabody, Pembroke, Pepperell, Pittsfield, Plainville, Plymouth, Plympton, Quincy, Randolph, Raynham, Reading, Rehoboth, Revere, Rochester, Rockland, Rockport, Rowley, Rutland, Salem, Salisbury, Sandwich, Saugus, Scituate, Seekonk, Shirley, Shrewsbury, Somerset, Southampton, Southborough, Southbridge, Southwick, Spencer, Springfield, Sterling, Stoneham, Stoughton, Stow, Sturbridge, Sunderland, Sutton, Swampscott, Swansea, Taunton, Templeton, Tewksbury, Tisbury, Topsfield, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Upton, Uxbridge, Wakefield, Walpole, Waltham, Ware, Wareham, Warren, Webster, Wenham, West Boylston, West Bridgewater, West Brookfield, West Newbury, West Springfield, Westfield, Westford, Westminster, Westport, Westwood, Weymouth, Whitman, Wilbraham, Wilmington, Winchendon, Winthrop, Woburn, Worcester, Wrentham and Yarmouth.
Stay safe and healthy!
Announcements, Events, and Workshops
Transcript
[Elaine is wearing a purple shirt and sitting in front of a dark blue wall]
Hello! I’m Elaine Ducharme, the director of the DeafBlind Community Access Network (DBCAN) program at DEAF, Inc. We are looking for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing people who are interested in working with DeafBlind people as Support Service Providers.
Providers work with independent DeafBlind adults in many regions across Massachusetts. Currently, we are looking for providers to work in the Boston area, Western Mass (Springfield, and Chicopee) as well as the Southeast region. Specifically, we are looking for a woman in the Boston area who is available to work weekends – Friday through Sunday, someone to work in Western Mass available weekdays during the day (gender doesn’t matter), and the same applies for Southeast.
For more information you can go to our website, www.deafinconline.org/DBCAN, where you’ll also find the application as well as a description of provider duties and how to work with DeafBlind individuals.
At this time due to the coronavirus pandemic, DBCAN staff will offer trainings virtually through Zoom or Video Phone (VP).
If you have questions after looking at the information on the website, please feel free to contact DBCAN staff. Thank you!
[DEAF, Inc. Logo]
Transcript
Transcript:
White text on black background: The pandemic has affected everyone differently. We asked Ona, a DeafBlind DBCAN user, how she has handled new challenges.
Ona is standing in front of a light blue wall, she is a white woman with short hair and red-rimmed glasses, wearing a navy blue shirt.
Hello. My name is Ona Stewart, and I am Deaf and legally blind. DBCAN has asked me to come and talk about my experience with the Coronavirus pandemic.
Text slide: During the spring with the COVID-19 crisis, what challenges did you experience as a DeafBlind person?
When it first happened I was shocked and very confused. All had been going normally until March 15, when I saw the big announcement on the news. I quickly sent an email to my boss, who responded by explaining the situation, and that it would be safer for me to stay home.
Text slide: How did you manage your essential shopping and medical needs?
Later in March I realized I needed to go food shopping. I used Facebook and email to reach out to people who might volunteer to help. I was able to find someone, and they drove me to Market Basket, where I like to go, very early, at 7 in the morning. Once there I noticed that many products, like toilet paper, were out of stock. I’d never seen anything like it!
Since then I’ve done different types of things, like going shopping together, or giving someone my list for them to shop for me and paying them for the food later, or even getting a guide to go to the bank with me, and more recently to get a haircut.
Sometime around April or May I first started hearing about safety recommendations like wearing a mask and washing your hands with soap or sanitizer. A friend explained to me the importance of washing my hands after going food shopping with them, so that I wouldn’t get sick. It’s interesting, some providers I work with have different comfort levels. One doesn’t mind that I sit in the passenger seat, but another told me to sit in the back of their car.
I haven’t had many issues with food shopping. I’ve noticed some stores are more crowded and have much longer lines than others. Market Basket is a lot more crowded than Stop and Shop or Star Market. I try different ones to find the best option.
Like I said, DBCAN providers have different comfort levels. Some providers prefer to stay home, while others will go out to work as long as we are both wearing masks. It’s important to respect everyone’s decisions about working or not.
Text slide: Now it looks like Coronavirus will last for a long time. What are your plans for the future if the virus doesn’t go away soon?
I hope Coronavirus doesn’t last very long. I’m constantly watching the news on TV to see what’s going on. I keep track of the cases going up or down, and was disappointed to see them going up again. But I have a good support network. I ask friends for help when needed. I even bought masks from a friend who was making them.
I have Zoom meetings with my boss and we use the chat to communicate. Recently he asked me if I was comfortable going back to work in July, but I was too nervous. I would have to take public transportation, and it’s hard to maintain social distancing as a DeafBlind person, I could easily bump into someone, and I would have to use touch to find my way around. After some negotiation he agreed that I could wait until September to go back to work. I pray to God the cases decrease by then.
Take care of yourself everyone! Have a good one!
Transcript
White text on black background: The pandemic has affected everyone differently. We asked Brian, a DeafBlind DBCAN user, how he has handled new challenges.
Brian is sitting in front of a dark blue wall. He is a white man, wearing glasses, a mask under his chin, and a blue shirt under a neon orange vest.
My name is Brian Copolla, I live in Methuen Massachusetts, I'm hard of hearing and legally blind. I just communicate by voice and I use hearing aids.
Text slide: During the spring and COVID-19 pandemic, what challenges did you experience as a DeafBlind person?
It's been...rather tough... being able to handle this by myself because my sister Susan has had to take care of my mother too. I experienced some challenges trying to keep social distance. That's why I kept my mask on because I knew it was going to be impossible to keep social distance being legally blind.
Text slide: How did you manage your essential needs like food shopping and medical needs?
Okay, during the quarantine, my provider went and got some of the shopping for me at a Shaws in Melrose, and he brought it to me and what I would do is pay him. Some of the stuff he couldn't get for me so what I would do is get on the bus and go to Market Basket near my house and get it for myself. And I did the same thing with my medicines.
Text slide: Do you have any suggestions for DBCAN consumers and providers to work together, safely?
What they should do to work together safely is mask, testing, and if they are uncomfortable with something, psychotherapy.
Text slide: Thank you Brian!
Coronavirus Updates
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