On October 5th RP Funding Center was visited by an estimated 3,400 people attending the event known as, “It’s a Deaf Thing.” This was a significant increase from last year’s event, which got approximately 1,500 visitors.
“It's A Deaf Thing” was designed to celebrate Deaf culture and community. According to Project Deaf, it is estimated that 200,000 Floridians are Deaf. This event provides those individuals and their friends and family with opportunities to learn about services, to share experiences, and to enjoy art and entertainment. The event included business vendors, artists, service agencies and performances by members of the Deaf community.
The City of Lakeland was also there, with an information table staffed by ADA Specialist Jenny Sykes. Sign Language services were provided by Barbara Ledford and her staff from Inspired Interpreting. Throughout the day, hundreds of people stopped to learn about what the City of Lakeland is doing to improve Accessibility for citizens and visitors.
According to David Lind, President of ProjectDEAF, “It’s a Deaf Thing” is the only known event of its kind in the state of Florida. “It’s A Deaf Thing” will return to RP Funding Center in 2021. If you’d like to learn more about ProjectDEAF go to their website at https://projectdeaf.com/ or email Terry.Hunt@itsadeafthing.com.