Deaf and hard-of-hearing community seeks to revive lost service on Vancouver Island

Members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community are scrambling to resurrect a service they say is one-of-a-kind on Vancouver Island.

After 35 years, the Island Deaf and Hard of Hearing Centre (IDHHC) closed its offices in Saanich and Nanaimo on Monday.

The centre offered an array of services, including interpreting and captioning, an employment program, and free refurbished hearing aids for low-income seniors.

On Monday evening, organizations dedicated to deaf and hard-of-hearing people held an emergency meeting to try to find a solution.

“We need to get this office opened again,” said Christine Ehrlich-Brady, a deaf community member and board member with the BC Association of the Deaf.

Ehrlich-Brady was also one of the centre’s American Sign Language (ASL) instructors.

“There are services in Vancouver, but on Vancouver Island we don’t have anything,” she said. “We’re happy to work with the government to figure out a way that we can get services back here on the Island.”

IDHHC executive director Denise Robertson said the centre couldn’t sustain itself without long-term funding from the province.

“We sent a letter to the Premier’s office and informed them — very clearly — if we didn’t receive some sort of core funding or agreement to be discussing some long-term funding, that the agency would close on June 30,” Robertson said in an interview with CTV News.

The centre sought $500,000 a year. It had an operating budget of $2 million, which Robertson said was partly covered by donations, grants, and hearing aid sales.

By failing to provide the funds, Robertson said the province is sending a message: “Deaf and hard of hearing (people) are not important in this province.”

Premier addresses closure

Premier David Eby addressed the centre’s closure on Friday, noting his government previously provided one-time funding contributions to the centre, including $200,000 in April.

“We’ll work with the organization to understand what’s underlining their financial crisis,” Eby told reporters in Vancouver.

The government and IDHHC previously had a long-term contract dedicated to child and family services. In a statement, the province said the contract wasn’t renewed in September of 2023.

“The primary reason was IDHHC’s ongoing practice of using approximately 75 per cent of the funding to support adults, when the contract was for supports to families with Deaf, Deafblind and hard-of-hearing children and youth,” the statement reads.

It said other provincially funded programs will continue to deliver services for children and families.

Sheila Ferguson, an ASL instructor who was on contract with IDHHC, said the centre’s programming was unique.

“People have been coming here to IDHHC for help with their taxes, for help with their resumes,” said Ferguson, who is deaf.

“Deaf and hard of hearing individuals reach out to the agency here to arrange interpreting services. How are they going to be able to access those supports?”

Hearing loss common in adults

Ferguson said she worries about how the closure will affect deaf people of all ages, including seniors.

“We as a deaf community are going to need to rally and band together to fight and advocate for what we need,” she said.

Nearly 25 per cent of Canadian adults have hearing loss, according to the province. That number rises to 65 per cent for people over the age of 70.

Hearing aids cost thousands of dollars and are not covered by BC’s Medical Services Plan. IDHHC said since 2016, it has delivered 3,300 hearing aids to 1,300 clients.

“You’ve now got people who’ve been living in isolation for decades who suddenly are going to church, going to doctors and are back out in their community volunteering, contributing,” Robertson said.

“That’s going to change when those hearing aids die and they have nowhere else to go.”