The Sally Pimentel Center for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing in Fort Myers operates on a small budget. The nonprofit is low-profile, and employees say they wish it could do more to help deaf and hard of hearing people.
Audrey Rodriguez, who is deaf and a mentor at Pimentel, and others say the Deaf community deals with isolation and stereotypes, so it's not surprising that center's efforts get little attention.
"I feel that we are invisible," Rodriguez said through American Sign Language interpreter Abrey Barwise. "People don't understand us. It's the hard part."
Pimentel is the only nonprofit, full-service center for the deaf and hard of hearing between Miami and Tampa.
Glenn Leamer attends adult life skills classes at Pimentel. Through an ASL interpreter, he said he struggles to get through every day.
"It's hard, hard," Leamer said. "People expect me to understand words. I can't."
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that just under 1 percent of Americans are deaf and at least another 2 to 3 percent are seriously hard of hearing.
A group of deaf people meets regularly at the food court at Edison Mall in Fort Myers. Teenager Amelia Deese said they face one major misunderstanding.
"Most hearing people think they [deaf people] are stupid," Deese said through ASL interpreter Pat Althalt. "And they are not stupid. They are very bright, very brilliant and very outgoing. They just have character."
At De LaSalle Academy in south Fort Myers, students must take two years of ASL classes to graduate. It's a private school for children who learn differently.
"I think it brings a lot of light to the Deaf community and helps us understand what they go through in their day-to-day lives," said Mark Modugno, a student in a sign language class.
Claudia Chambers teaches the classes.
"I feel passionate about teaching it here," Chambers said. "Not only teaching the language, but also teaching about the community as a whole. And I feel disappointed about the way the Deaf community is treated."
Rachel English, assistant principal at De LaSalle, taught sign language for six years. She's done a lot of research on cochlear implants ,a small electronic device that helps people perceive sound.
"When students or children get the implant at a very young age, it [learning] is more successful," English said. "We had one child who got the implant quite young, and she had a lot of speech therapy and is doing very well. Other kiddos who get the implants a little older face more challenges, and it didn't work as well."
Florida public schools are required to provide accommodations for deaf students. Many, including the Lee and Collier County districts, offer ASL classes at some schools.
In addition, the Florida Department of Health has a section to provide resources for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Back at Pimentel, director Amy Turner said the operation can pay only five people to serve deaf people from five counties: Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Hendry and Glades.
"It's heartbreaking to understand the potential that a person could have reached." Turner said of working with the deaf. "But because they did not have access to things like sign language when they were young, now they are older, and they don't fit into the Deaf community because they don't know sign. And they don't fit into the hearing community because they can't hear. We fight for these people and will keep fighting for them every day."
Pimentel is holding a fundraiser Feb. 4 at The Club at Pelican Preserve in Fort Myers. The center hopes to raise money through tickets, auctions and raffles. Click here for information.
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