INSID

ci 1
a i l i ng

The hearing impairtd boast a 20-year advocate
in Marcy Colton.

RONELLE GRIER
Special to the Jewish News

F

or Marcy Warheit Colton, serving as
director of DEAF CAN! is much more
than a job; it's a daily learning experi-
ence that allows her to make a differ-
•
ence to the members of a very special community
DEAF CAN! (Community Advocacy
Network), a non-profit organization based in
Sylvan Lake, provides information and referral,
case management, sign language classes and youth
and parenting programs for people who are deaf
or hard of hearing.
More than 100 clients come into the DEAF
CAN! office each month to receive help with
mortgage applications, Social Security forms, tele-
phone calls to doctors, and parenting and other
family issues.
Colton and her husband Tom live in
Farmington Hills with their two children,
Michael, 15, and Jennifer, 13. Jennifer recently
became bat mitzvah at Adat Shalom Synagogue,
where the family belongs.
Shortly after moving back to the Detroit
area from Dallas in 1983, Colton answered a
newspaper ad for a director of a non-profit
advocacy organization for the deaf. The
match turned out to be a perfect one, both

for Colton and the agency.
"It was everything I had trained
for," said Colton, who earned a
master's degree in deafness rehabil-
itation from New York University,
says Colton. "I was just doing my job. Now I real-
during which she completed an internship at an
ize that the things we do really make a difference
agency similar to DEAF CAN.!
in people's lives."
When Colton joined the agency in 1983, she
An ongoing "Pathways to Parenting" program
was a staff of one, with an annual budget of
helps deaf parents raise hearing chil-
$34,000. Today, Colton oversees a staff
dren. A-concurrent program for the
of seven, a group of volunteers and a
Marcy Colton
children is also offered.
budget of $500,000.
holds a necklace
"These families have two separate
A 19-member board, half of whom
used to teach
cultures
living under one roof," said
are either deaf or hard of hearing, help
deaf women
Colton.
"This
program helps both par-
direct the activities. Funding comes
about breast
ents
and
children
deal with many of
from the United Way, as well as mem-
cancer.
the
issues
involved."
bership dues, grants and private contri-
Deaf Teen Hangout is a social/sup-
butions.
port group for teenagers. According to
Colton, about 93 percent of deaf children have
hearing parents, and the role models provided by
deaf group leaders are important.
Colton recalls one of her first clients, a young man
Colton's work has become a family affair,
whose employer was reluctant to give him a pro-
extending to her parents, Lynne and Phil Warheit
motion because of his deafness. Colton talked
of Farmington Hills. Lynne has been a weekly vol-
with the employer and helped smooth out the
unteer in the DeafCan! office for 16 years, while
perceived obstacles. The client received his promo-
Phil helps with fundraising projects.
tion and, 20 years later, his career is still going
Colton's children have attended agency events
strong.
since they were babies, and both are versed in
"At the time, I didn't think too much about it,"

Making A Difference

10 / 12
2001

43