DeafHope Tea Party ‘Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’--The Power of Femtorship

It Was A Great Success filled with Sweets, Wisdom, and Love!

DeafHope’s 7th Annual Tea Party was packed with over 90 people at Joni Teague’s lovely home in Pleasanton.  The scrumptious food was provided and donated by Hildy and Trina Licht.  Patty O’Sullivan generously created beautiful truffles, which melted in our mouths.  Ten young daughters of Deaf mothers served tea and food. 

Kicking off the tea party event, a Deaf attorney and DeafHope board member named Susan Gonzalez drew up a ‘pact of honor’ to start a new era of a cyber safe community, because many Deaf survivors have been harmed by abusers using the Internet to harass or stalk.  Nearly 60 people signed the pact!  The first two people to sign were Ben Vess and Ricky Taylor (aka Ridor). The pact is posted below. Everyone who wants to commit to a new era of a cyber safe community is invited to sign the pact.

Ben Vess also emceed as “Willie Wonka”, assisted by Ricky Taylor as his “Oompa Loompa”.  The tea party patrons enjoyed several presentations by Deaf women about the power of receiving, as well as providing, mentorship with Deaf women called “Femtorship”.  The speakers included Nancy Popovich from California School for the Deaf, Riverside, Dr. Rachel Stone from Riverside Community College, Barb Digi from Rochester and her mother, Anna Marie Savino, from Las Vegas, and lastly, but not least, Sheri Farinha, CEO of NorCal Center on Deafness. One of the guest speakers, Raychelle Harris could not make it so she generously sent a video of her dynamic presentation honoring her mother, Rachel Stone.

Two Deaf women were honored with DeafHope’s Trailblazer Award this year honoring their trailblazing work, which made this world a better place for Deaf women everywhere.  Edna Conner-Shipley was posthumously honored for her work during almost 25 years of employment at DCARA.  She successfully received grants for breast cancer education, domestic violence, and Deaf women’s conferences.  She also established the first ‘deafened adult’ program in the U.S. to help those who lose their hearing later in life. Edna passed away from breast cancer last year, so her two daughters were present to accept the award. It was a very moving moment.

Sheri Farinha, was the other award recipient.  She was honored for her incredible advocacy efforts such as pushing for e911 services, which will be effective in January 2009.  Soon Deaf women will be able to call for help from their own homes.  Sheri also established a domestic violence program at NorCal Center on Deafness.  Marcella Meyer wrote a lovely letter honoring her.  Several people shared their inspiring experience working with Sheri, Sheri accepted the award and gave a presentation about putting a stop on cyber bullying by emphasizing that it is “enough”!  The audience applauded in agreement with Sheri.  It was a moment that brought many to tears.

The tea party concluded with our live and silent auctions.  People walked away with new friends, new ideals, and new ceramic cups marked with Hersey Kisses. You can enjoy the pictures taken by Ken Arcia at this link.  More pictures by Cat Cassidy are coming shortly, so keep checking our website, http://www.Deaf-Hope.org.

PACT OF HONOR FOR CYBER SAFE COMMUNITY

September 27, 2008

From this day forward I publicly commit myself to end all violence.  Additionally I shall strive to contribute to a safe and supportive cyberspace.  I shall neither participate in, encourage, nor endorse any form of cyber-bullying.

In the spirit of femtorship and mentorship and in the spirit of comm-unity, I promise to respect, honor and learn from myself as well as others.

signed by

1.  Ricky “Ridor” Taylor
2.  Ben Vess “Der Sankt”
3.  Carrie Gellibrand
4.  Barb Digi “Deaf Progressivism” http://www.Barbdigi.com
5.  Shari Kido
6.  Mike Baer
7.  Bobbi Barentsen
8.  Trina Licht
9.  Stefanie Ellis
10.Wanda Witczak
11.Brian Berlinski
12.Sheri Farinha
13.Julie Rems-Smario
14.Jane Whitney
15.Ken Arcia http://www.deaftech.tv
16.Priscilla Moyers
17.Dr. Lynn Jacobowitz
18.1Anna Marie Savino
19.Gwen Gallegher
20.Susan Gonzalez
21.Marnee Wafer-Hoecker
22.Mark Vanni
23.Patty Souza
24.Kelly Krzyska
25.Patty O’Sullivan “Patio”
26.Lois Gatehouse
27.Bea Worthen
28.Jessica Smario
29.Katrina Rogers
30.Leslie Birchell
31.Judi Fruge
32.Pam Conner-Costa
33.Kim Barentsen
34.Susan M. Cantrell
35.Lorraine Flores
36.Susan Cherry
37.Rachel Stone
38.Nancy Baldwin
39.Eve Gaston
40.Cat Cassidy
41.Sandra Bankston
42.Beth Ticehurst
43.Brigette Kozlowski
44.Joni Teague
45.Cheryl Bella
46.Marie Smith
47.Stan Smith
48.Karen Bowman
49.Nancy Popovich
50.Arlene Krzyska
51.Gayle Ellis
52.Lauri Eele
53.Linda Jarashow
54.Kathy Sanders
55.Susie Acosta
56.Amber Hodson
57.Judy Alexander
58.Natalie Williams
59.Kate Kovacs

To sign the pact, click here