non-profit spotlight By: Angela Arlington
SILENT BLESSINGS DEAF MINISTRIES M e e t Ta n y a P o l s t r a The Beginning “The deaf community wants to know and support/encourage the children and embrace the families. The families want their children to thrive. We want to support those introductions and relationships,” Tanya Polstra shared. The organization was founded by the parents of a deaf girl in 1996 to provide child-appropriate resources in American Sign Language (ASL), the heart language of the deaf, to families seeking to teach the Christian faith and values to their deaf and hard-ofhearing children. “We partnered with two other ministries to develop and produce Finger Food Cafe movies (two) and the Dr. Wonder’s Workshop TV show (65 episodes),” Tanya said. “All videos, several games, and parent information are available on our God Loves Deaf Kids app as well as Apple TV, Roku, and more.” While Lead-K, the Nyle DiMarco Foundation, Gallaudet, and more are working to bring ASL to these children, our focus is to bring them relationships – in their families,
48 Special Needs Living • December 2021
communities, and, our highest goal: with Jesus. Learning, whether it’s faith, science, or math, requires language. So in encouraging and supporting ASL, we’re encouraging and supporting a lifetime of healthy identity and confidence,” Tanya explained. About the Non-Profit As a community, deaf people reject the phrase “handicapped” (and “hearing-impaired” for that matter) because they are capable people with a visual (not audio) orientation. But they’re the only ones who mostly learn their language and culture from outside their families. By the time they find their “tribe,” where they fit at a heart level, they’ve dealt with isolation and oppression, with many turning away from their families of origin. One of our goals is to enlighten these families while their children are still young enough to learn and embrace their values, their family stories, so that when the young deaf people find their “tribe,” family isn’t excluded. “Now we’re working on a parents’ outreach ministry called Manifest and a VBS/Camp experience incorporating the Dr. Wonder’s Workshop (DWW) material and coordinating activities,” Tanya said. “We are not the only ministry for deaf children, but we are still the unique ministry dedicated to developing shareable/reusable resources in ASL specifically for teaching biblical faith to deaf and hard of hearing children while including their hearing family members by adding voice-overs, music, sound effects, and captions.” Silent Blessings is also working to produce resources that bring scripture and character/value lessons (based on scripture) in child-appropriate, visually engaging ways. They are working to bring awareness and deaf-friendliness to churches, so families can confidently continue to worship without their deaf and hard-ofhearing children being left out of treasured activities like Sunday School, VBS, and more. They are also building a network of families who can mentor and be mentored by sharing experiences and strategies for home, life, and the adventure that is IEP.
