Special delivery for area deaf community

Just in time for the holidays, the Sally J. Pimentel Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center in Fort Myers was gifted something that will go a long way in helping them help others.

The area’s only organization devoted to exclusively serving the deaf community operates on a tight budget, one that doesn’t leave room for many extras.

This pre-loved van is a welcome sight and a dream come true. A lot of what they do here is outreach, which consists of going into schools and mentoring deaf children.

Lee County has three schools that are equipped to educate deaf students, but after classes end for the day, the students had no way to get to afterschool services.

The center’s dream was to help them, even if it required picking students up.

The center’s wish list was fulfilled this week, courtesy of this Chrysler van, which was donated by the Children’s Advocacy Center of SWFL.

When she accepted the keys, Amy Turner, executive director of the Sally J. Pimentel Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center, knew it would open doors for the deaf children she works with.

“Because there’s not enough interpreters at the local school district to be able to provide all that each child needs, so when they’re able to come to our center after school,” said Turner, “and we have instructors here that can help provide tutoring in American Sign Language to get the kids that extra help that they may need. They would be able to provide enrichment to the academics that they’re also learning at school, and it could go so much further with life skills.”

While the van will roll into service with afterschool pickups, during the day, it will also be used to shuttle older deaf people and other adults who are homebound to the center.