Life & Work with Sabrina – Deaf Overcoming Violence through Empowerment (DOVE) Roult

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sabrina. Them and their team share their story with us below:

DOVE was founded in 2000 by five Deaf women, Damita “Jo” Damiano, Michele McCarthy, Jennifer Pfau, Elaine Navratil and Kristie Lukowicz. DOVE was founded because there are no other organizations in Colorado that provide direct advocacy services in the native language of the Deaf community, via American Sign Language or other preferred communication, for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault victims/survivors. When DOVE was founded, we only served women and children. At that time, there was a huge gap in Deaf community members receiving advocacy and emotional support. Often Deaf survivors would prefer to not work with hearing organizations due to generational trauma with communication and accessibility barriers, thus resulting in them returning to their abusive relationships. This was a huge step in creating access to accessible DV/SA services for Deaf community members in Colorado. To date, DOVE is still the only Deaf DV/SA organization in the state, we have a full team of five Deaf staff. We do not only serve women and children anymore, we provide services for anyone in need who identifies as Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, Child of Deaf Adults (CODA), and/or late-Deafened. All of DOVE’s programs and services are free for our victims/survivors, community members, and community organizations.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Like other non-profits, we have faced some challenges along the way. 🙂

1) Being a non-profit, we need to continue to ensure we have a steady flow of funding to provide emergency victim assistance to support the operations of staffing positions and organization programs.

2) Having a small team of staff but also needing to provide services state-wide and maintain a 24/7 hotline.

3) Working within the hearing world, our team of staff often faces accessibility barriers due to other organizations being unable to provide interpreters for webinars, training, and/or conferences.

4) Survivors often face accessibility and communication barriers due to law enforcement, courts, legal and community organizations not providing interpreters for their appointment, meetings, or hearings.

5) Often people do not understand how Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and trauma affect Deaf survivors differently.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have 11 years of experience working within the Social Work field as a case manager, advocate, forensic social worker, and now in administration. I graduated with a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Denver in 2017, obtaining my Animal-Assisted Therapy Certification. Some of the most valuable things I carry with myself is the importance of being mindful, carrying variations in perspectives, being inclusive and recognizing that trauma occurs in many different layers and ways. Being able to respect various perspectives and intersectional identities allows advocates to wholeheartedly provide the support that takes into account other service providers’ perspectives along with the perspectives of Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, and Hard of Hearing individuals. This is what makes the work we do whole. I feel blessed to be a part of an organization that has an amazing mission and vision and is very fortunate to work with a great team.

What sets me apart from others are my values. I value honesty, transparency, equity, and creativity. I am very proud to have a team of creative and inspiring staff members who always try their hardest in meeting survivors’ needs and also providing services to the Deaf community. I look forward to the growth of DOVE and continuing to expand the services we provide to our community of survivors.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
1) DOVE loves providing training, presentations, and/or webinars regarding cultural considerations, best practices, and trauma-informed advocacy when working with Deaf individuals to community organizations/programs. We stress the importance of co-advocacy and reaching out to DOVE when you have questions regarding a Deaf victim/survivor or client. If you would like to receive educational training from us, please reach out, we provide training state-wide, in-person and virtually.

2) DOVE is a small organization, and change does not happen overnight. Our wish is for people to always consider adding a line in their budget for interpretation or general accommodations because we see every day where Deaf individuals get turned away for services due to other organizations or programs not being able to provide accommodations. Please consider adding a line in your budget for accommodations or interpretations so Deaf survivors/community members can have access to your services without being turned away due to ineffective communication access.

3) Consider donating to DOVE! We take donations online: https://deafdove.org/donate/
Link DOVE to your King Supers card, and DOVE will receive rewards from King Supers.
Link your AmazonSmile account to DOVE, and DOVE will receive donations from Amazon.
Donate to DOVE during Colorado GIVES Day.
Reach out to us or go to our donations page on our website to purchase a ‘LOVE DOVE’ T-shirt!
All donation proceedings will go towards our survivor emergency victim funds.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.deafdove.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deafdove/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeafDove/