This is a petition for and by the Deaf Community of Western New York. Together with one goal, we seek a вreasonable accommodationв. The hiring of an executive director that has no knowledge of deafness, Deaf Culture, the Deaf Community or American Sign Language is in direct contradiction to the mission and goal of Deaf Adult Services. The community has joined together to express our grave concern over the boardвs decision. This decision has created oppression within the walls of our advocacy agency, creates a barrier within our community and something must change.

Deaf Adult Services, Inc. of WNY is dedicated to providing equal access to the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Communities of WNY.

Mission:
Deaf Adult Services is committed to creating a bridge between the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Hearing Communities through advocacy, education, case management, counseling and interpreting services that GOVERN EQUAL ACCESS, symbolizing the accords of CULTURALLY AFFIRMATIVE principles in championing the rights of the Deaf.

We respectfully request the immediate attention of the Board of Directors of Deaf Adult Services. We have come together in our appeal to you to seek the following:

1. An EXTENSIVE search opened for a QUALIFIED executive director to lead the only Deaf agency in Western New York.

2. Equal access to communication in the office for staff members and community members that walk through the agency doors.

3. In the event that no candidates meet your liking, we request at minimum to have someone with knowledge and experience with the Deaf Community and fluency in ASL hired to work as equal counterpart to Mr. Burns.

4. We also request that the current executive director and the Board of Directors go through extensive cultural training to understand the importance of a qualified leader in the Deaf Community.

5. We commit to assist the board in a community wide effort to finding a qualified replacement. We regret that we were unaware of the difficulty the board had in seeking candidates and will use any means necessary to create a safe, culturally affirmative and accessible Deaf Agency in Western New York.