Deaf Shalom Zone Provides Many Services

In January of 2000, Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf was designated a Shalom Zone. The Deaf Shalom Zone provides a multiplicity of services to meet needs of this population, all of which is coordinated by Carol Stevens, a General Board of Global Ministries 10-10-10 missionary. "We see ourselves as a nontraditional agency of deaf and hearing people serving together, endeavoring to meet the needs of the deaf community," says Ms. Stevens. "Almost all of the work of "the zone" is done by spirit-filled volunteers who use their gifts to help others.

"The three major areas of activities are case management services, development of new service programs, and advocacy and empowerment.

The first area is case management services. Some people who have been helped are:

A young man dying of AIDS, who had a huge trash bag of letters containing words like "court" and "jail," was able to reclaim his stolen identity before he died.
A Latino mother and her deaf child with multiple disabilities were provided with a volunteer Spanish interpreter to shepherd her through medical systems and to get proper schooling for her son.
A deaf man who did not know that he had a primary doctor or insurance because he lacked an interpreter and advocacy received his first check up fourteen months after his cancer surgery.
A deaf man, addicted to heroin for thirty-four years since the age of eleven, is now drug-free, working and living in his own apartment and serving deaf-blind people as a volunteer.

The second emphasis of development of new programs helps fill some of the many gaps in services for deaf people that hearing people can readily access. Examples are: parenting classes (for deaf parents at risk of losing custody of their children) taught by deaf role models and a special-designed curriculum the help deaf parents learn the skills needed to become better parents; Drug abuse programs; transportation, interpreters and mail readers to help deaf-blind people live more independent lives; and support for those who need hospice service.

The final area is advocacy and empowerment activities. Through the advocacy and support of the Deaf Shalom Zone, a new Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing has been established locally, judicial rules for court interpreters have been changed, and deaf people have input in the agencies that serve them.

Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf is an all-deaf church with a Sunday attendance of approximately 125. The worship service is done in the American Sign Language, with music performed by a deaf choir. The scripture lesson is dramatized so that the Word "becomes flesh." Established 107 years ago by the Rev. Daniel Moylan, who was deaf, the church has long been the center of help and service for the 24,000 signing deaf people in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The current pastor, the Rev. Peggy A. Johnson, is a consultant for the General Board of Global Ministries working with the National Committee on Ministries with Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind People.

Deaf Shalom Zone Provides Many Services

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