Giving Voice: Service Transforms Life for Hearing Impaired

The Transition Academy connects people with mental and physical disabilities with helpful resources to increase their access to jobs and higher education. The group also connects families with resources, experiences, and knowledge to create a smooth transition out of high school for students with disabilities and provides a Facebook community for families to connect and share insights.

A team of sign language interpreters across Nigeria translated into indigenous Nigerian sign language, the internationally acclaimed book “My Hero is You” which helps children, their parents and caregivers understand and answer questions about the coronavirus. With the signing of this book into an indigenous Nigerian sign language, deaf signers can now reach out to their communities. They teach them in the sign language they understand, using local words to explain how the virus came to be and how to prevent its spread and protect their communities.

A village leader in Gujarat, India is bridging the gap between welfare entitlements and access by translating complex government schemes into one-minute Instagram reels in Gujarati. Since July 2025, Gamit Ripin has created over 50 videos that have amassed 1.15 million views, with 90% of viewers discovering them through the platform's algorithm. As a result, 17 households below the poverty line accessed housing subsidies, and others in need have received pensions and other essential benefits.

Lionheart Ability Leaders International Foundation (LALIF) uses a comprehensive training program to empower parents, teachers and those living with vision and hearing impairment. Their programming teaches educators how to understand tactile sign language, and also empowers parents on how best to support their children living with disabilities.

Albergo Etico prepares people with disabilities for work in the hotel industry, using training based on the Montessori method. The "download" method helps people learn job skills at their own pace, translating lessons for people with various cognitive abilities. Training begins with their families, doing household chores in their own home. Trainees now work in eight Italian cities, plus three other countries. The investment pays off both economically and socially, as trainees gain autonomy and self-sufficiency.

Washington State is pioneering savings accounts for people with disabilities that won't penalize them for saving for financial stability by barring them from essential federal aid programs. The accounts are tax-free and allow participants to save at least $15,000 a year, which can be withdrawn at any time or saved until retirement, with some limitations to who is eligible for the account. As word of the ABLE Savings Plan spreads, the self-supporting program is helping ensure that people with disabilities are not relegated to living in destitution to qualify for federal benefits.

The Inclusive Friends Association, in partnership with SIMBED Learners School and Nigeria's National Information Technology Development Agency, implemented a targeted digital literacy program that trained 20 women and girls with disabilities across Abuja. The two-day workshop taught participants essential digital skills including content creation, social media management, Google tools, online safety, and advocacy techniques to show them how to create content and potentially generate an income online.

Soar Experiences, a New York-based nonprofit, provides free guided outdoor tours for people with limited mobility using Trackchairs, rugged, battery-powered all-terrain wheelchairs that can traverse hiking trails. The program has recently expanded to 15 public hikes across New York and Connecticut, helping people living with disabilities connect with both nature and each other.

The Beautiful Gates Handicapped People Center builds mobility aids like wheelchairs and crutches and distributes them to people with disabilities, particularly those paralyzed by polio. Since forming in 1998, Beautiful Gate has distributed 32,000 wheelchairs and mobility tools.

Data Lead Africa offers a training program specifically designed to help prepare Deaf people for careers in technology and data analysis. Students are provided laptops with assistive technology and sign language interpreters who facilitate the training.