Advocacy For The Deaf

Hello Friends!

This is the 2020... umm 2021 fundraiser for my Deaf Advocacy project. I am adding the 2021 page to the 2020 page since Covid pretty much cancelled 2020. This post will be pretty long. Read below to see what I will be doing this year.

I hope you and your loved ones are well, as the world begins to reopen.

For those who aren't familiar, I advocate for the Deaf and encourage entrepreneurship in building and service trades. I perform work for the needy, 100% for free, and encourage members of the Deaf community to join me, and learn. 


I also promote deaf awareness by:

-HostIng deaf groups at sporting events.

-Volunteering at community events like the arts, festivals, and remodeling shows.

-Consulting events/conventions on how they can become more inclusive


The goal of these events is to bring the Deaf and hearing together, in a working environment that showcases the skills that deaf individuals possess, while creating solutions to communication barriers that prevent many Deaf individuals from joining the workforce.




Transparency:

-First and foremost, you're invited and encouraged to join me. With the exception of children's events, guests and donors are welcome to join at all events.

-For big expenditures, like the Deaf Baseball Nights, I post receipts, and a phone number for our event contact, to verify the event.

2020 Transparency:
I didn't get to do a lot of work in 2020, but your gifts did not sit idle. I made a $1,500 donation to the Chicago Hearing Society and their "Hear The Cheers" campaign. CHS does amazing work for Deaf kids in athletics. I also continues the homeless walks on a very limited basis, by passing out gift cards for Braum's.

At Christmas, I made and offer to supporters who had made gifts in 2020. I know that the year was rough for a lot of people. I never want my work to be a burden to supporters, so I offered refunds to people who were having a hard time during the holidays.

House Painting:
I will resume house painting this summer, but I am not raising funds for painting this year. 

Those who follow me on Twitter may have seen me mention a "night project".  I spent about 7 months work on stores of a big box chain to raise funds for 2021. I was able to raise enough to cover all of the painting and remodeling for this year

.
Homeless Outreach:
I will be passing out Tacos again in 2021 on a very limited basis. This work is fully funded by my work on the night project as well. 


Deaf Baseball Nights:
Baseball is back, and so are the Deaf Nights. I am still planning the nights. They will all be in September since that is Deaf month, and the MiLB season has been pushed into September. There will be 3-4 nights including a new city. Wichita!

I will be putting $1,500 from the 2020 gifts into these nights, but it will definitely take more to make them happen

Perks:
Unfortunately I am unable to offer shirts on GFM, anymore.

If you would like a shirt, you can contact me on Twitter. I will sell them for cost plus postage.

So what the heck am I raising funds for???

1) Deaf Nights.

2) Travel. I hope to spend more time on the road, this year, meeting with people in other areas. I am in the middle of road trip number, right now.

3)  Those of you who follow me probably saw the car mess this past week. Fortunately the damage was minor. But things do come up, and the budget is tight. The more I have to work with, the more I can do.

If your budget is tight, right now, please don't give. Take care of yourself and your family.

If, however, you are able, and would like to be a part of my work in 2021... your support will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.