Making a Difference, One Life at a Time

QI of Metro Denver in Colorado, U.S.A., initiated the Elsie Yarter Scholarship in 1989, knowing it would make a difference in the lives of recipients.

But, says past club president Debbie Verhoeff, "Little did we know it would impact so many in our community!"

The 1998 recipient, Angelina (Angel) Pohl Trevino, went to work in deaf education in 1999 at the public preschool for the deaf in Aurora, a community in suburban Denver. (One of her colleagues, Amanda Wright, won the 1995 scholarship.) Soon after her arrival, Angel noticed that the parents of her students lacked communication skills needed for conversing with hearing-impaired children. So, she turned to Quota International for assistance.

The Metro Denver club was happy to help and applied for a Youth Outreach grant from the We Share Foundation to teach the parents "whole language" skills. "This is not American Sign Language, as very young children cannot spell," Debbie explains. "But they can learn the signs for all the things they want or need. So, children are taught how to express that they are tired, hurt, happy, sad, and most importantly, why they feel these things. And the parents can now communicate and ask why children hurt or what happened to make them happy or sad. Parents are getting back their children in a whole new way."

Both Angel and Amanda are part of the program to teach the parents. Notes Debbie, "No one until Angel saw the need among parents. They had no idea how to talk to their little ones! We are so proud that two of our scholarship recipients could meet the need in our community and that the Metro Denver Quota club and the We Share Foundation could help fund it."

—Mary Margaret Yodzis, Senior Writer
© 2001