In celebration of Deaf Awareness month today we are featuring Off-The-Grid Missions!
In 2009, Off-The-Grid Missions was founded by Angela Maria Nardolillo, a hard-of-hearing woman who spent years traveling solo and into isolated regions in order to provide Deaf Communities with access to educational supplies. However, during her travels, she witnessed that individuals with significant hearing loss were being deprived of language which resulted in lack of access to communication, education and overall day-to-day information –making them most susceptible to neglect, abuse, sexual assault, and even murder. Angela was exposed to the most extreme cases of violence against deaf people, the murders of three deaf women in Haiti who she was providing resources in an effort to keep them safe while in transit. She was also caught in the eye of an earthquake, which further revealed the unique barriers in the aftermath of a natural disaster. In response, each mission evolved into emergency preparedness and disaster relief; providing life-saving and sustainable resources to deaf people in regions most cut-off from basic resources, as well as, disaster-stricken.
Now, a decade later, the organization has evolved into a global movement that welcomes individuals from the Deaf Community to work towards a common goal: to bring light to the source of the problem in order to disarm it with tangible and sustainable solutions.
Find out more about Off-The-Grid Missions on their website or Facebook page