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. Despite being presented with these challenges, Gary met his case worker at CIL in 2007 with ambitious goals and immediately began working towards them. Through CIL he began learning ASL and was supplied with the tools he needed to begin his job search: writing a resume, learning about the job application process, practicing interviews, and learning job readiness skills, which would all eventually lead him to acquire a job at Disney. Even after he landed his job at Disney, CIL continued supporting him throughout his future endeavors by instructing Garry on how to manage his finances, helping him complete his income taxes, and assisting him on his journey of becoming a United States citizen, which he accomplished in November of 2019.

Even with overcoming so much within his first decade in the United States, there has been one ongoing goal that Garry has persistently chased after: being able to drive. He currently relies on friends and family for rides to CIL, and he uses public transportation to attend his job at Disney. With the help of CIL, Gary has made tremendous progress learning the driving basics, despite him being from a country with different traffic laws.

Garry Guerrier’s story is one of perseverance and dedication. With the help of CIL he hopes to officially acquire his driver’s license and continue to flourish in the place he calls home with CIL’s help.