Community News
DCARA comes to Santa Rosa!

Deaf Fire Survivor Support Team Recognized by Santa Rosa 
CQ and DCARA firestorm volunteers will receive an award on April 16th at 7 p.m. at the Santa Rosa City Council Chambers. We are so proud of their work! You are welcome to come to the awards ceremony but arrive early as there are limited seats. ASL interpreting will be provided.

During the firestorms last October, CQ became a de facto Red Cross (daytime) shelter after the fires. The Deaf people affected by the fires did not go to the shelters, they came to our doors. Since most of our staff were evacuees, we were here 24/7 and able to provide a central and known location for people to come for help.
At the same time members of the Deaf community converged here and in the space of a couple of hours created a phenomenal team ready to provide support

and comfort to survivors as they navigated the physical and emotional journey of recovering from this trauma. 

Last week Communique Interpreting received a letter from the City of Santa Rosa informing us that the fire survivor support team will be recognized and receive an award on April 16th. The team is Dolph Rekhop (Lead ASL instructor at SRJC), Amber Tansey (community member and now DCARA advocate), Vance Deatherage (DCARA advocate), Sandy McLennon (CQ community liaison and Deaf Interpreter), Jolie Beckenridge (ASL student, nanny . . .), and Jillian Vickers, (CQ admin. assistant and interpreting intern). This group of people worked 12-14 hour days to support the fire survivors. Raymond Rodgers, DCARA's executive director and Cris Eggers will be attending the event as well.   

Graduation is around the corner....
... Do you need an ASL Interpreter?
Attention parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, friends!

The end of the school year is coming, which means there are students graduating soon! If you need an interpreter for a friend or family members graduation, please contact the school and inform them to set up interpreters ASAP! You can also contact Communique Interpreting with the date, time and school, so we may follow up with the school to ensure interpreters are set up.

Congratulations to those graduating!
NCOD/CSUN Deaf Rep to come to SRJC
A Deaf NCOD/CSUN rep, Zachary Lotane, will be coming up to Sonoma County on April 18th. He will be presenting from 2:00pm-3:45pm in Room 4875 (third floor, Bertolini.) Any Deaf or hearing, who might be interested in attending and learning about the programs/services offered at CSUN, come on by!
The ASL program at SRJC will be offering ASL 56 (fingerspelling and numbers) and ASL 57 (classifiers) this coming fall. Both classes are 2 units, Mondays and Wednesdays from 4-5 pm. 
Interpreters can take this course as an "audit" which means taking the class without being graded.

Good opportunities for interpreters and students trying to improve their skills!
New ASL Classes Offered Fall 2018!