November 28, 2007
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We are soooo ferociously proud of our friend Julie Rems Smario and her family. Julie is one of 18 CNN heroes finalists, see here! Out of 7,000 heroes around the world, only 18 finalists were nominated. On Thursday Dec 6th, 6 winners will be announced, one for each category, championing children, community crusader, defending the planet, fighting for justice, medical marvel, and young wonder. Julie is one of three finalists in community crusader, each finalists receive $10,000 and 6 winners will receive another $25,000 that will go toward their cause.
Kate Kovacs Board Chair’s note about DeafHope being on CNN and clarification
Thanks to Adam Stone for a wonderful write-up in
DeafDC.com about Julie and DeafHope today. Like many of us, I was anticipating and on my toes until CNN finally (pah!) aired our segment at the last part of their 2-hour show. When it came on, it was enlightening to see how everything was put together and in other words, “crunched together” (from 2 days worth of filming) to do a 2-minute clip describing Julie’s work at DeafHope. Wow, when other people put it in perspective for the world to see, it is mind-boggling! We wanted to watch the segment with Julie but with the change in the airing date and Julie being out of state at a conference, it wasn’t possible.However proud we are of the clip shown, they made an incorrect statement about DeafHope being the only DV SV organization in North America. We know it isn’t true but how do we tell the general public who has seen the segment? We have organizations like ADWAS and DAWN to name a few. The producer asked if we were the only one in Northern California so you can see how this error may have been made. Our website has a listing of other DV SV agencies across the country. Granted, there are not many similar agencies across the US, but we are hoping that that will change soon enough. Especially with great visions of what an organization can do for the Deaf community with agencies like ADWAS who opened its first shelter not so long ago after years of commitment to the cause.It is always inspiring when we have Deaf leaders, DV SV agencies, survivors, and even the general public to root us on and direct our paths. We do want to congratulate Julie again on this accomplishment and we would love to see people send in their comments and pictures to add to our “When violence against women stops, I will…” banner on our website to make this a powerful and positive move toward our goal which is to eradicate violence in our society.Being selected as one of the 18 finalist is a honor for Julie and DeafHope. December 6th is the date when CNN announces the final 6 all star Heroes. Its going to be very tough for the blue ribbon panelists to decide because each and every finalists did wonderful work on both a local and global scale and one can only imagine the work the 7,000 nominates have done. And don’t forget there are many more who haven’t been recognized. Whether Julie is chosen or not, we are proud of her. Here’s to hoping our story is both seen and heard everywhere to make a difference. Ah, we shouldn’t just hope, we believe it will happen!
Kate Kovacs
DeafHope Board Chair
Check us out at DeafHope website
Here is the DeafHope’s link to all Deaf domestic violence survivors programs across U.S.A.
