Spotlight Story: Christine Hunter
Christine Hunter, 58, is retired and lives in her home with her husband and pets. She uses her walker or wheelchair to get around, but the stairs outside of her home were problematic and inaccessible for Christine. With steep stairs, she was worried about how to remain independent while also staying cautious about falling
Spotlight Story: Garry Guerrier
Garry Guerrier moved to the United States from Haiti, facing the many challenges that come with being deaf in a new country and not knowing American Sign Language (ASL). Even though there’s a small presence of ASL in Haiti, most of its deaf population uses Haitian Sign Language (LSH), which shares very few overlaps with ASL.
Spotlight Story: Tristan Trautman
The youngest of three children, Tristan is verbal, he understands others; but is non-vocal. Born with cerebral palsy, he is prone to epileptic seizures and uses a wheelchair. Tristan’s mother Adriane, a single mother, does her best to provide for them. Since 2010 she has operated a cleaning service.
Spotlight Story: Bobbie Smith
Bobbie Smith is always on the go. After spending 10 years as a mechanic in the United States Army and another 20 working for the United States Postal Service, Bobbie was forced to retire due to developing prostate cancer.
Latonja’s Story
When Latonja came to CIL in 2015, she had one simple goal: to find a job. Something that sounds so simple to other people was an uphill challenge for her. Why? Because Latonja is Deaf. Just like many of the people that CIL helps in the Aspire to Hire program, her disability made it extremely difficult to not just find employment.
Xiong’s Story
Xiong had been Deaf since birth. She moved to the United States from China in 2011 and got married. Sadly, soon after her husband passed away. She now needed to become a naturalized citizen. Xiong contacted CIL for help.