THE OUTCOMES
Your generosity and investment moved us toward a more inclusive world with fewer barriers!
Adult Education & Outreach
BridgesEAST
181
AEO served 1,268 unduplicated clients in FY26.
AEO delivered 66 outreach/educational presentations to businesses, universities, law enforcement, first responders, congregations, and agencies, serving over 1,975 unduplicated clients across the state.
AEO delivered taught ASL I, II, and III and community education in classes that were onsite, online, or community based, including 220 ASL students and 56 educational workshops for our Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and hard of hearing communities
We presented a statewide Driver's Education class and continued our statewide, virtual GED students for Deaf and hard of hearing students.
AEO hosted 37 social events in various counties across the state, including Game Days, Deaf Nights Out, Deaf Karaoke, Craft Days, Bowling, Plays, Thanksgiving Dinners, cookouts, movie nights, and much more. Educational Workshops included Tax Days, Community Health & Vaccine Clinics, Finance 101, JobWise, Vocational Rehab, Nutrition Awareness, Healthy Hearts, CPR, Finance 101, Stock Market/Investing, How to Buy a Home, Real IDs, Diabetes 101, Scam Prevention, Home Decorating, and more.
All locations hosted a CommunityFEST. BridgesEAST and BridgesWEST both held Expo Days with 100 and 124 attendees respectively. BridgesTN hosted a CommunityFEST weekend with two Deaf Nights Out, an Expo Day, and Deaf Day Out at the Nashville Zoo with over 200 attendees total.
BridgesWEST
526
BridgesTN
1,268
BridgesEAST
16
BridgesWEST
68
BridgesTN
136
Advocacy
BridgesDHH partnered with the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence on a five-year grant from the Office of Violence Against Women to identify the Community's comfort level with resources and access to those resources, train providers to provide equally-accessible, linguistically-and-culturally-appropriate services, and to bring an ASL-fluent service provider to Tennessee. Community focus groups were completed in East, Middle, and West Tennessee.
BridgesDHH continued our work in increasing the quality of and the access to mental health care for our Community.
We renewed open caption movies for summer series hosted by Nashville, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, McMinnville, and Cookeville.
We trained 188 HCA employees on working with Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing patients.
BridgesDHH worked with the Tennessee General Assembly on bills impacting our communities.
BridgesTN continued our collaboration with the Nashville Soccer Club to provide interpreters at all home games.
Empowerment
Empowerment served 1,192 clients in FY26. This case management program served individual clients in areas such as jobs, housing, individual access, education, and assisting clients with written English.. Other priorities were food security, training opportunities, educational advocacy, and advocacy for access to health care, mental health care, and other services.
Highlights included: One of our Deaf Community members was able to complete the second-round Lease to own for his Tiny Home purchase. In collaboration with the MOYS Memphis Office of Youth Services, we worked with a Deaf Individual who had experienced language deprivation, growing language while simultaneously training him to work in an office environment to gain employment. As a result of this success, his family enrolled in ASL classes to learn to communicate with him. We assisted a Deaf client with obtaining employment as a Personal Shopper at Sam's Club. During the hiring process, we worked with the employer to ensure they understood the rights of Deaf applicants under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including the requirement to provide reasonable accommodations throughout the hiring process. Nearly one year later, the client remains successfully employed.
Empowerment welcomed four social work interns in FY26.
CLIENTS SERVED
BridgesEAST
264
BridgesWEST
559
BridgesTN
369
Interpreting Services
BridgesDHH provided 35,060 hours of interpreting services across the state through a team of staff and freelance interpreters, including 392 hours by Deaf interpreters, and1,310 pro bono hours valued at over $98,250..
INTERPRETING HOURS
PRO BONO INTERPRETING HOURS
Interpreting Services, in collaboration with Youth Education & Services, hosted our third Camp Interpret! This three-day camp was designed for teens with ASL experience and introduced them to interpreting as a profession, including a field assignment with The Grand Ole Opry.
In collaboration with EIDP, Interpreting Services provided a robust program of virtual professional development.
I
BridgesWEST
3,990
BridgesTN
22,283
BridgesEAST
8,787
EDUCATIONAL INTERPRETER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
BridgesWEST
384
BridgesTN
506
BridgesEAST
420
In May 2023, BridgesDHH was awarded a five-year grant to train 240 educational interpreters in Tennessee. By July 2023, we had hired our first staff, and by September, we launched our first meeting with sixty (60) potential mentees, moving forward to have fifty-six (56) active mentees in our first year. These mentees are matched with Interpreting Mentors and Deaf Mentors, participate in several workshops each month, and complete assignments using video software. Here are results from our second year.
Number of Mentees to Date: 235
Number of Mentees Currently Enrolled: 200
EIPA | Number Tested and Outcomes: EIPA Written | 75 and 64 passed
EIPA Performance | 76 taken with 16 still waiting on scores
Number of New Licenses: 37
Counties Represented: 46
Over two-thirds of Tennessee's licensed educational interpreters are graduates of BridgesDHH's EIDP!
Youth Education & Services
Little ACEs now has 25 families across the state! Deaf Mentors meet with families with D/deaf and hard of hearing children ages 0 to 5 each week. Those families also have access to a free, weekly Parent ASL class offered virtually. We matched families in East, Middle, and West Tennessee.
At BridgesTN, we delivered school-based mentoring, providing weekly Deaf Mentors for Eakin Elementary and West End Middle School. We hosted quarterly youth social events and opened online tutoring hours. BridgesTN hosted Camp Sign Me Up, a day camp for students who want to learn ASL, and a North Pole event, complete with Santa's Workshop, Signing Santa, and a meal for all ages. BridgesTN also partnered with the Sertoma Club to host the Metro Nashville Public Schools at a Fantasy Baseball Camp with the Nashville Sounds.
BridgesWEST continued our seven-year collaboration with the Mayor's Office for Youth Services with the I AM INCLUDED after-school program, and we began working with the schools who host the Deaf Education programs in Memphis Shelby County Schools, providing more services to students and hosting booths at school events. We hosted our first YouthFEST. We completed our third year of teaching ASL at Crosstown Charter School.
In addition to Little ACEs and Camp Rise & Sign, BridgesEAST hosted a monthly Storytime at the public library that was very popular.
CAMP RISE & SIGN
As we seek a new location for sleepaway camp, we pivoted successfully to BridgesTN, BridgesEAST, and BridgesWEST each hosting special versions of Camp Rise & Sign.
BridgesTN went to the Adventure Science Center on the first day, Nashville Shores on the second, and Hendersonville Strike & Spare on the third day!
BridgesWEST went swimming and to Cordova Bowling Center and Jumping World!
BridgesEAST went to Brights Zoo, Quantum Leap Trampoline, Sports Arena, and Holiday Lanes Bowling!
Thank you to the Sertoma Club of Nashville for their sponsorship!
