January through September 2023
The Sarasota Chapter lightened the invisible load of living with hearing loss for several hundred members and guests by providing information, education, support, and advocacy.
As the Sarasota/Manatee Chapter’s duly elected servant-leader, I am honored to address you in this space. We held nine monthly educational meetings during the first nine months of 2023, where 238 attendees learned HOW to live their best lives possible despite hearing loss.
Highlights were speakers sharing:
- How to interact safely with police during law enforcement encounters
- How to travel by air, land, and sea safely and enjoyably despite hearing loss
- How to install and use InnoCaption speech-to-text free service for cell phones and computers
- How to be safe during hurricane season and plan for emergencies
- Two rap sessions featuring peer-to-peer mentoring to help us overcome everyday challenging listening situations
- How treating your hearing loss can help preserve cognitive functioning
- How aural rehabilitation can improve communication effectiveness.
In addition to providing free admission to six live theatrical performances during the first nine months of 2023, opening the world of live performance again to our members with hearing loss, our chapter:
- Rekindled social connections at seven Happy Hours at local restaurants in a hearing-friendly environment
- Provided information on hearing loss and coping strategies at the Asolo Rep Theatre’s Community Day and the Rocky Bluffs Library Hearing Loss Awareness Days
- Joined the Manatee Chamber of Commerce to increase awareness about our Chapter
- Provided communication accessibility information to staff and volunteers of the Asolo Rep Theatre. We also participated in a panel discussion following a performance of Silent Sky at the Asolo Rep.
We are an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff. Our board, chapter members and friends make all these wonderful things possible by generous and unceasing donations of their time, talent, and treasure.
Our board has held three quarterly meetings and one special session. Our financials are up-to-date and run according to generally accepted accounting procedures.
Your 2023 Sarasota/Manatee Chapter Board of Trustees and Officers:
Valerie Stafford-Mallis – President and Board of Trustees Member
Chris Goodier – Vice President and Board of Trustees Member
Maria Anderson – Secretary and Board of Trustees Member
John Wagner – Treasurer and Board of Trustees Member
Anne Taylor – Immediate Past President and Board of Trustees Member
JoAnne DeVries – Board of Trustees Member
Lisa Talcott – Board of Trustees Member
Alison Gerardi – Board of Trustees Member
Board nominations for 2024 open on 1 October 2023 and close at the end of the November 15 chapter meeting. Chapter elections are scheduled for the December 20 chapter meeting.
I want to say again that we are an all-volunteer organization, and we have no paid staff. That means everything we do is possible only because of generous volunteers and donors. No gift, skill, or talent is too small.
Won’t you please drop me a line today and let us know how you can help the Sarasota/Manatee Chapter become strong once again?
Respectfully,
Valerie Stafford-Mallis, President
[email protected]
Together, We Make It Happen!
June 2023
The Sarasota Chapter lightened the invisible load of living with hearing loss for several hundred members and guests by providing information, education, support, and advocacy.
We held six monthly educational meetings during the first 6 months of 2023 where attendees learned HOW to live their best lives possible in spite of hearing loss. Highlights were speakers from Emergency Management showing us how to be safe during hurricane season, two rap sessions featuring peer-to-peer mentoring to help us overcome common challenging listening situations, an audiologist explaining the connection between hearing health and preserving cognitive functioning, and a speech-language pathologist showing us how aural rehabilitation can improve communication effectiveness.
We provided free admission to four live theatrical performances during the first 6 months of 2023 that opened the world of live performance back up to our chapter members with hearing loss.
We rekindled social connections at 5 Happy Hours at local restaurants in a hearing-friendly environment.
We provided information on hearing loss and coping strategies at the Asolo Rep Theatre’s Community Day and the Rocky Bluffs Library Hearing Loss Awareness Day.
We provided communication accessibility information to staff and volunteers of the Asolo Rep Theatre. We also participated in a panel discussion following a performance of Silent Sky at the Asolo Rep.
We are an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff. Our Board, chapter members, and friends make all these wonderful things possible by generous and unceasing donations of their time, talent, and treasure. I am blown away by the generosity and crativity of these amazing people.
March 2023
The Sarasota/Manatee Chapter is back up and running!.
Our priority during COVID was to protect the health of our members by limiting our face-to-face activities and meetings. Everything shifted to the virtual platforms. While it was not ideal it did allow the chapter to continue delivering its mission to open the world of communication by way of information, education, support, and advocacy to people with hearing loss.
We held our first face-to-face meeting in April of 2022, thanks to the tireless efforts of a group of Chapter Revitalization Committee members, led by Jill Simons. During the Fall of 2022, the chapter members nominated a slate of Board and officer candidates and elected them unanimously, in accordance with its Bylaws, at the December chapter meeting.
Your Sarasota/Manatee Chapter Board of Trustees and Officers:
Valerie Stafford-Mallis – President and Board of Trustees Member
Chris Goodier – Vice President and Board of Trustees Member
Marie Anderson – Secretary and Board of Trustees Member
John Wagner – Treasurer and Board of Trustees Member
Anne Taylor – Immediate Past President and Board of Trustees Member
JoAnne DeVires – Board of Trustees Member
Lisa Talcott – Board of Trustees Member
Alsison Gerardi – Board of Trustees Member
The newly Revitalized Board held its first Quarterly Meeting in January. At that meeting the Board finalized the Chapter’s 2023 Operating Budget and set operational goals & priorities for 2023. As you might imaging after having been inactive for over two years because of COVID, there have been many administrative and organizational matters to attend to. Howeve, great progress has been made on these matters and the chapter is delivering ever-increasing information, education, support, and advocacy for people with hearing loss.
As the Sarasota/Manatee Chapter’s duly elected servant-leader, it is my honor to address you in this space. I would like to say that we are an all-volunteer organization and we have no paid staff. That means everything that we do is possible only because of generous volunteers and donors. No gift or skill or talent is too small. Won’t you please drop me a line today and let us know how you can help the might Sarasota/Manatee Chapter become strong once again?.
Respectfully,
Valerie Stafford-Mallis, President
Together, We Make It Happen!!!