Deaf community protest over director’s firing at Ohio services agency
The sign in front of a Worthington-based deaf services agency boasts “Where Communication Happens.”
Yet more than 50 people served by Deaf Services Center say the agency has failed to include them in decisions or inform them about changes in leadership.
The group hoisted banners, waived at passing cars and listened to speakers during a protest Tuesday night in front of the organization’s Ohio headquarters at 5830 N. High St.
The agency employs 34 people in the state and operates other offices in Portsmouth and Toledo. It’s current annual budget is about $2.2 million.
Deaf Services Agency: Firing of executive director John Moore spurred protest
The unrest began March 9 when the agency’s board met to fire John Moore, executive director of more than 20 years.
Moore, who is deaf, was removed by a unanimous vote due to “breach of fiduciary responsibility” and “loss of trust by staff,” according to Greg Kellison, who is not hard of hearing and who will replace Moore until a permanent leader is chosen.
The decision to remove Moore is one of several to rile the deaf advocates, many of whom receive benefits from the agency, such as counseling, job and legal assistance, summer camp for their children and interpreting services.
Having a leader who is not hard of hearing or deaf is offensive and wrong, they say.
“We need someone who is part of our population, someone who understands our struggles,” said Vince Sabino, a social worker from Hilliard, who is deaf and an advocate for the deaf. “We’re a very small population, but we’re very marginalized.”
As much as 2% of the population is severely hard of hearing or deaf, according to the Gallaudet Research Institute.
Following protests in 1988, the Washington D.C.-based Gallaudet University, which serves deaf students and is home to the institute, became the first to appoint a deaf president, and the Deaf President Now movement called for self-determination and empowerment for the deaf in all walks of life.
Protestors in Worthington said that Kellison hasn’t reached out to them and that Moore, in contrast, was the “heart and soul,” of the organization’s mission whose passion was helping others.
Contrasting views of deaf support agency’s operations
In a Facebook post announcing the change, board Chairman Chris Steele, who has 50% loss of hearing in one ear, called Kellison “an expert in the nonprofit sector” and added: “we’re excited to see how DSC can prosper under his leadership.”
Steele said that the board will discuss how to “begin the process” of finding Kellison’s replacement at its April meeting.
According to its bylaws, a third of the board must be deaf or hard of hearing. Currently, there are six deaf or hard of hearing members on the 11-person board.
Kellison has been a contractor for the agency, working to secure funds for the agency since late 2018. He described “financial straits” endured by the agency during the coronavirus pandemic, with funds being diverting funds toward “urgent human needs” and away from established causes.
Sabino said he has reviewed financial records and has found only clean audits and suggested that Kellison, not Moore, wasn’t doing his job by not finding alternative sources of revenue.
Moore, along with current DSC staffers, have been told by an attorney not to discuss his firing, the advocates said. Steele said that staff members statewide also have been told not to discuss Moore’s dismissal.
Moore could not immediately be reached for comment.
Lou Maynus, superintendent of the Ohio State School for the Blind and Ohio School for the Deaf on the North Side, has worked closely with Moore over the years and was saddened to hear that he was fired.
“When a deaf leader is removed from a small community, it’s going to be a blow,” she said.
Maynus said she has surrounded herself with deaf and blind staff and workers, in part to compensate for her not being blind or hard of hearing.
“Every child wants to see someone who looks like them, who is like them, as successful adults,” she said.
But she concedes that it is illegal to choose someone less qualified for a post just because they can’t see or hear.
In addition to a deaf leader, speakers at the protest said they want a stronger voice in the agency’s decisions and direction.
“They told us that they didn’t want a protest here because they thought it was embarrassing, and they tried to stifle us,” said Cheryl Prusinski, one of the advocates who is deaf. “We need to stay together. We need to be united for the services that are given here and in the community.”
Several in the crowd waved signs to passing motorists calling for a deaf CEO and “ASL is our language,” referring to American Sign Language.
Shirley Rybarski, who is deaf and blind and lives in Westerville, said she had scheduled to meet with a staff member on Monday about assistance for which she might be eligible. She said she arrived to find that the agency was closed due to “technical problems.”
“I tried to come here and it was closed,” she said through two interpreters. “It was locked. It’s very upsetting as a deaf-blind person.”
Kellison said doors were recently locked during the day to protect employees who were worried about protests. He said that no services are being cut or reduced.
Steele said that he’s optimistic that the strife will end soon.
“We just ask for a little bit of grace as we work through this transition,” he said.
@DeanNarciso
Read More: Deaf community protest over director’s firing at Ohio services agency