Blog & Vlog

Plan of Action

By Sallie Hussey on February 3, 2012

What’s that old saying about the best laid plans of mice and men?  I think it’s something about how they often go astray. Those aren’t the exact words from the poem, but I believe the general gist is that no matter how much you plan, you should always be prepared for the unexpected. 

I’ve been a big planner since I was young. I carefully planned every semester during college so I could work summers far away, work one semester as an intern, and still graduate in four years.  I’ve been planning a special vacation (which I’m actually taking next month) for over three years.  I have lists of my lists, and I like to know what’s happening next week, next month, and next year.

That doesn’t mean I can’t change if something alters my plans. I just prefer to stick to the plan. Just recently I told a friend I thought I was possibly the least spontaneous person I knew.  But last year when my dream vacation was cancelled because of bad weather, I went to Target, bought a bathing suit and sunscreen, and took a cheap flight to California for a few days of desperately needed sunshine. 

Last weekend Bridges’s board of directors held a planning retreat.  We spent hours looking at the future of the organization and asking ourselves what critical issues the board and staff need to address in the next few weeks, months, and years.  We want to plan and be prepared for Bridges’s future to ensure we’re around to provide amazing services and programs for another 85 years.  We have a roadmap to help us get there, and we’ll work the plan with your help.

While we have a plan, we’re still flexible and ready for the unexpected.

Come see us soon,

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Vlog: Technology vs. People

By Eric Workman on January 27, 2012

Hello, I am Eric Workman. I have worked here at Bridges now for almost eight years. Wow, time flies.

Anyway, I would like to share something with the Deaf and hard of hearing communities something that happened to me today. I was out interpreting for someone who is Deaf. They had mentioned that they had just moved to the area and noticed that there was not much of a Deaf community here in Nashville. They had tried to locate clubs, meetings, social events, but could not find members of the Deaf community.

That got me to thinking…I remember moving to Nashville in 2004. At that time the Deaf and hard of hearing would flock to LDHH, as it was called at the time, at fill up the lobby connecting with each other. Later, they would ask for assistance with making calls to the IRS, Social Security, or their credit card companies and staff were happy to assist.

Now we have video phones, pagers, phones, which are great. I am not taking anything away from recent technology. It has greatly improved the lives of the Deaf and hard of hearing communities and empowered them to handle their business independently. But along with that, comes the fact that nowadays, face-to-face interaction is rare. This makes me a little sad.

I’ve noticed the Deaf club membership’s numbers have decreased. I recently attended a Silent Dinner and noticed the same trend there. I ask myself, “Is this caused by the rise of technology? Have we replaced personal interaction with technology?”
I simply wanted to share my thoughts and challenge the local Deaf and hard of hearing communities to hold more social events where we see each other face to face as opposed to through screens, monitors, or texts messages: have true face to face interactions again.

What do you think? Do you agree technology, as great as it is, carries this negative consequence? This is occurring in the hearing world as well. This is not confined to the Deaf and hard of hearing worlds. Research shows the emergence of video meetings to the point where hearing people simply don’t meet like they had done before.

I just find this very interesting and wanted to toss my thoughts out there and hope this encourages the Deaf community to tackle this issue. I do not like seeing comments that we have a tiny Deaf community in the area. I always reply, “No, there are many members of the community here and the community is very strong.” But I need your help in proving it.

Thank you, have a great week, month, and rest of 2012.

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Volunteers Are My Heroes!

By Nikki Ringenberg on January 20, 2012

Since my job is to raise money for Bridges, I often forget about some of the other gifts that we are given which also make a huge impact on our agency and the services we provide to the Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing communities.  The gift of time is such a large blessing, as it also comes with a gift of energy, talent, and care.  I have been very blessed for the past six months to have two wonderful interns volunteer with me weekly.  These young ladies have each dutifully given of themselves an average of six hours per week since the fall, sometimes working as much as 15 hours in any week, all while they attend local universities and work part time jobs. 

I’m not the only one that has the blessing of regular volunteers.  The Living Well program also has dedicated volunteers who appear weekly in the office to touch base with Donicé about their week’s activities in the community or just to help out.  The Interpreting program has committed individuals who give up a day a week to work in Bridges’s office helping to answer the phones, field questions, and take interpreting requests.  I could practically write a book about the Youth Center volunteers. There are multiple, dedicated volunteers that show up weekly to staff the After School Program during it’s three days a week of programming.  Without these amazing individuals, Bridges would not be the same agency…and I would pull my hair out much more frequently!

Next time you stop by the office and see a volunteer, please thank them for giving of their time and of themselves to this agency, and if you have a few minutes, offer to lend them a hand.  If you are interested in volunteering, we’d love to have you join our dedicated team!  Give us a call or send us an email, and we’ll discuss how you’d like to contribute to Bridges’s work serving the Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing communities.

- Nikki

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Vlog: Thank you, Anonymous Donor!

By Donicé Kaufman on January 13, 2012

Thank you from all of us at the Bridges’s Living Well Program for your donations!

Even though we don’t know who you are, we think you’re fabulous! We can’t wait to use these beautiful kitchen supplies for our next healthy cooking class.

We love the knife, it’s awesome! Spatulas are great, we love these.

It’s awesome, wonderful! Thank you so much. Thank you!

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Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Celebrations

By Sallie Hussey on December 22, 2011

Happy Birthday, Alex! My niece is 21 today.  It’s a significant day, no one would argue.  I remember my twenty-first birthday.  I remember it mostly because the pictures document my bad eye-shadow and hair-style choices.  But it was the 80s. 

Big birthdays and anniversaries are something to celebrate and enjoy.  Those milestone occasions are a great opportunity to invite friends to share your joy and excitement for the future and reminisce. 

Next year Bridges plans to do just that.  We hope to celebrate our 85 years of serving the Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing communities and you’re invited. All the party plans aren’t complete just yet.  We know we want to take a look back, see where we’ve been, and acknowledge the changes we’ve made. We also want to applaud all those who have been a part of this agency over the years.  Of course no party is complete without cake and party streamers! Watch for details coming soon.  We have a lot to celebrate and a great future ahead of us.  Let us know if you want to help or just join in the merriment. 

Alex will probably have cake and party streamers today, too. I imagine she’ll do more celebrating than reminiscing.  After all, you’re only 21 once. 

Come see us soon.

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