Society of Deaf & Hard of Hearing Nova Scotians
Nominator Comments:
Nominator Comments:
What did it mean for you to win the award?
Winning this award has meant so much to me & was totally unexpected, I had goosebumps when I received the notice that I’d been selected for the award. The Bhyana Family Foundation means so much to me, SDHHNS & the deaf community.
What impact has this award had on you personally?
The award has given me that extra energy and motivation and confirmed once again for my agency and coworkers the positive impact of the work of SDHHNS. The award also enhances the visibility and recognition of the Deaf community, the challenges we face and all that has been accomplished. The award will enable be to attend a number of specialized workshops with a focus on enhancing service delivery for the Deaf community and the application of best practices in service delivery.
Do you have a compelling story that you would like to share on how the Bhayana Awards have made an impact?
For me the Bhayana Family Foundation Awards brings a focus to the great work of the non- profit sector and all that we accomplish. There are no other awards like it and it is a true community based award the enables the non- profit sector to recognize and highlight the work of so many outstanding individuals. The award not only brings recognition to the individual, their agency and their community but the grant that comes with the award provides the recipient with the opportunity to further their professional development in a way that they might not have been previously able to do so. For me personally the award will enable me to attend a specialized conference on Mental Health and Deafness at Western University in London, Ontario in June of this year.
Aside from the awards ceremony organized by United Way, did your agency separately recognize or celebrate the winning of the award?
My receiving the award was widely celebrated by SDHHNS, our many stakeholders and the Deaf community both in Nova Scotia and across Canada where the information and pictures on the SDHHNS Facebook was widely shared through many social media outlets. Many weeks after receiving the award I continued to receive compliments and congratulations.
Do you have any suggestions on how to improve the awards for next year?
No I do not. Having the awards accessible for deaf people like myself was very much appreciated and the location was great.
Has participating in the process had an impact on your organization (morale ect)?
Being involved in the award process has been of great benefit for our agency and staff, not only in the fact that I received the award but for us to have the opportunity to be in attendance at the awards ceremony. The ceremony was an opportunity to network with other agencies, learn about the work they do and learn about all they have accomplished and to be further inspired by seeing so many wonderful dedicated individuals from other agencies being similarly recognized.
