New England Center for the Deaf, Inc.

2014 Annual Report

 

 

New England Center for the Deaf, Inc. originated in 2011 as a result of the tragic loss of a young man in the Deaf community. This loss illuminated the need for Deaf –competent social services and thus NECD, Inc. was formed.  The founding members, Tracy Knight and Joseph Sisk formed their board and this was the beginning. 

 

Since the formation of the Board and the Incorporation in March of 2011, we have moved forward in our development.  Our Board currently consists of 7 members, most of who have been involved since the inception of NECD, Inc.  The Board members are very committed to our mission and come to us from a variety of backgrounds.  All board members bring specific strengths and benefits to the Board and to the agency. 

 

We are very proud to introduce the NECD, Inc. Board of Directors. 

 

Tracy Knight:  Tracy has her BSW from the University of Saint Joseph (formerly St. Joseph College) and her MSW from Fordham University. She also has her Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) credential.  She is a co-founder of NECD, Inc. and is the mother of a hearing impaired son.  Tracy has been connected with the Deaf communities in Missouri, Kansas and Connecticut for almost 20 years.  During this time, Tracy served on the Region 5 Council of Developmental Disabilities, the southwest Missouri Task force on Autism and is a former member of the Parent Advisory Committee at the American School for the Deaf.  In addition to her efforts in the creation and development of NECD, Inc., Tracy is currently working full time as a Case Manager.  Prior to this, Tracy was the Administrator of a small non-profit agency and it was there that she became familiar with grant writing and fundraising.  Tracy is the board President and the Chief Executive Officer of NECD, Inc. 

 

Joseph Sisk:  Joe has his BA in Psychology from Bard College and his MA in Psychology from The New School for Social Research.  He has subsequently earned his License as a Professional Counselor and he is a Nationally Certified Counselor and holds his Specialty Certificate in Substance Abuse.  Joe is a co-founder of NECD, Inc. and he is the Chairman of the Board and is the Chief Operating Officer for NECD, Inc.   Joe has over 20 years of experience in the field of human services including over 16 years of management experience.  In addition to his responsibilities at NECD, Inc., Joe currently work full time as the Director of a Clinical Assessment unit at another social service agency in Connecticut. 

 

William Gilbert: Bill attended Boston College for his undergraduate work as well as his MSW.  He subsequently earned his Licensed Clinical Social Worker credential and then his Specialty Certificate in Substance Abuse.   He holds the position of the Vice-Chair on the NECD, Inc. Board.  Bill has almost 2 decades of management experience in the field of social services and has been a Senior Manager and agency Vice President for many of those years at a substance abuse counseling agency.  Bill currently works as the Clinical Director for a large program in Connecticut. 

 

Daniel Millstein:  Dan holds his JD degree and had spent many years practicing law.  He recently changed careers and he entered the field of social services.  Dan completed his Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from Fordham University.   He is currently working as an Substance Abuse counselor for a program in Torrington.  He holds the position as Treasurer on the NECD, Inc. Board and has done so since its inception. 

 

Maria Weingart: Maria has been connected to the Deaf community for over 20 years.  She is fluent in American Sign Language and is strongly committed to the welfare of the Deaf individuals in Connecticut.  Maria also has had personal experience with the Deaf community being the mother of a Deaf son.  Maria holds the position of Secretary on the NECD, Inc. board.   

 

Christopher Knight, Jr.:  Chris (Cj) is a Director on the NECD, Inc. board.  He is hearing impaired and is fluent in American Sign Language.  After growing up in Missouri and being educated in the mainstream through elementary school, his family moved to Kansas where he attended the Kansas State School for the Deaf.  He graduated from middle school at KSD.  Chris came to CT where he attended the American School for the Deaf and graduated with his high school diploma.  Since graduation he has obtained his veterinary assistant certificate from Tunxis Community College. 

 

Ruth Ennis:  We were happy to welcome Ruth as our newest Board member this year.  Ruth has her Master degree in Education and currently works in special education with hearing impaired students in the public school system.  Ruth is the mother of a hearing impaired daughter and is very committed to the mission of NECD, Inc. 

 

ACTIVITIES

Holiday Baskets

New England Center for the Deaf, Inc. held its second annual Holiday Basket distribution program.  Through the great generosity of our private contributors, we distributed baskets and purchased holiday gifts for the children and for the parents of a needy family. 

 

First Annual summer BBQ

We held our first annual Summer BBQ at Peckham Park in Middlefield, CT.  the weather was perfect, the hot dogs and hamburgers were grilling and all in attendance had a great time.  There was good conversation, lawn games and a relaxed, fun atmosphere. 

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 ADVOCACY

During this year, we are able to advocate to get a homeless family with two Deaf parents and a 1 year old son housing. After previously living in a tent and relocated to a hotel with the generosity of a local Police department and the Department of Children and Families, we were able to advocate with a Supportive housing program, due to the special circumstances, to expedite this family’s case, get them housed and support to become self-sufficient. 

 

STRATEGIC PLAN

New England Center for the Deaf, Inc. continues to develop and modify its strategic plan for the forthcoming years. 

 

 

FUNDRAISING

NECD, Inc. has completed our second annual appeal letter writing campaign which netted 800 dollars from our generous and supportive private contributors including one woman from California at Nieman Marcus who adopted NECD, Inc. for her charitable giving for the year. 

NECD, Inc. renewed our membership to GrantStation.  This is a service that monitors new grants that are available and send a weekly email to the subscribers with potential grant opportunities.  It is through GrantStation that we became aware of one of the grants for which we applied and we continue to scour the opportunities for appropriate and feasible options.    

 

e-NCOUNTERS

New England Center for the Deaf, Inc. has entered the electronic age.  We have a Facebook account which, by the end of 2014 had 160 likes and it is growing every day.  Many of the ‘likes’ are international individuals and Deaf agencies from across the globe.  We can be found on Facebook at New England Center for the Deaf.  Through Facebook we are able to communicate with potential constituents and begin marketing. 

Next year we will create a Twitter account to allow for a greater reach. 

We continued to explore options for setting up an NECD, Inc. web site to be located at www.necd-inc.org.  This will be a crucial element for allowing us to communicate with potential clients, referral sources and donors about our agency development progress, NECD, Inc. fundraising and meet-and-greet events, and provide a portal for donations through our PayPal account.  With some new prospects in mind for affordable web site design possibilities we hope to have the site up and running in 2015. 

 

ADMINISTRATIVE

News from the Board

We would like to recognize Daniel Milstein, our board treasurer who earned his Masters in Social Work degree for Fordham University.  Congratulations, Dan. 

We would also like to recognize our President and CEO, Tracy Knight for earning her License as a Masters level Social Worker (LMSW). 

Congratulations to Christopher Knight, Jr. who is now the Community Liaison for the New England Center for the Deaf, Inc. whose responsibilities include maintaining his finger on the pulse of Deaf events in Connecticut, statewide and local for possible NECD, Inc. participation. 

 

We have begun to develop an NECD, Inc. library of Deaf resources relating to treatment and social services.  We have purchased a number of books on Deaf-specific recovery and relevant clinical handbooks such as the Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition. 

 

We have begun to develop agency policies and forms including operations and personnel policies to assure that we are ready to begin providing services and hiring staff once funding allows.  We have also developed our Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Manual inclusive of all the required policies and forms. 

 

 

 

New England Center for the Deaf, Inc.

2014 Contributors

 

The Board of Directors and Management of NECD, Inc. wishes to thank all of those people who have helped us with contributions provided during our fundraising campaigns this year.  Without the generosity of you we would not have been able to facilitate the building of NECD, Inc.  Thank you all.

 

 

Supporters                    0-$99

Linda and Seymour Adelman

Maureen and Daniel Chaput

Leanne Dillian

Annette and David Dolan

Gerald and Anne Levinson

Howard and Susan Levinson

Ann and Craig Staebner

Karen and Andrew Stockton

 

Sponsors              $100-$499

Bill and Betty Cheney

Daniel and Kristen King

April Riccio

Kathy Schoepfer and the St. Johns Rosary Altar Society

Don and Janet Smith

 

Donors                 $500-$999

 

Patrons                $1000-$4999

 

Benefactors          $5000-$9999

 

Endowers            $10,000+

 

Donations of Goods

 

Corporate Sponsorship