History
History of Durham Deaf Services and Community Contributions
In 1980, a group of concerned people met in the St. Albert Church in Oshawa to talk about the need for Deaf Services and a Sign Language course to be offered in the area. It was from this meeting that the seeds of Durham Deaf Services, then known as the Oshawa Deaf Centre (ODC), were sown. Fred Walker was co-founder and first Executive Director of the ODC, along with Iva (Arenburg) Lethbridge, the other co-founder of the ODC. They worked jointly in establishing the Sign Language course “Speak in Silence” at Durham College. Many of those taking the course were parents of Deaf and Hard of hearing children. These parents began pressing for other services to be offered in Durham Region. It was in March of 1981 that ODC opened its door offering services from a tiny bachelor apartment on Fredrick Street, close to the Oshawa General Hospital. Due to the lack of space and residential zoning, the agency eventually changed locations.
By the time the ODC received its “incorporation” status in May 1982, they had moved “up” to share the main floor of a small house on Simcoe Street with two Doctors who occupied the south rooms. It was the friendship between the Oshawa Central Lions and the Oshawa Deaf Centre which made the location at 750 King Street East possible. Through various fundraising activities, this century-old home was donated by the Lions in 1984. Through the ODC, services previously unavailable in the Durham Region became available, such as counselling, technical devices, job placement, and the establishment of a summer camp in 1982 for Deaf and Hard of hearing children.
Founder Fred Walker was Executive Director from 1981-1986 as well in 1988 and Ray Richer was the Executive Director in 1987 and 1989.
Betty McPhee was the Executive Director from 1990 until 1993 and in April 1990. David Kerr was Executive Director from 1994-1996. Armand Brennan was Executive Director from 1997- 1999.
In 1991, Oshawa Deaf Centre created its first mission statement.
In 1992, Oshawa Deaf Centre created its Statement of Values.
In 1995 the Oshawa Deaf Centre (now Durham Deaf Services) revised their mission statement to include their new name.
Yvonne Brown became the Executive Director of Durham Deaf Services (DDS) in 2000 and remained as Executive Director until March 2018. Before that, she had been working as Executive Assistant at DDS.
With the resignation of Yvonne Brown as Executive Director in June 2018, Maggie Doherty-Gilbert was hired as our new Executive Director in July 2018. Prior to coming to DDS Maggie was the Regional Director with the Canadian Hearing Society for 22 years.
After 38 years of DDS being located at 750 King Street, the building was sold. From July 2019 until January 2020, DDS leased back space from the new owners. On February 28, 2020, DDS moved to our new location. DDS is now located at 900 King Street East (just east of our old location).
DDS provides a literacy program in American Sign Language for Deaf adults who want to improve their literacy skills in the following areas: reading, writing, numeracy/math, computers, and employment preparation. The Deaf Adult Upgrading Program (DAUP) provides individuals with essential employment, independence, and post-secondary literacy skills. Our program is funded by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development (MLITSD) and those enrolled in our program will learn applicable knowledge for their everyday lives. DDS is also the home for both the Durham Deaf Club and the Oshawa Deaf Seniors Citizens Club.
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, on March 18, 2020, DDS closed our doors to in-person services. From March 2020 until September 2021 most programs and services were offered online. Effective September 2021, DDS welcomed back learners in our literacy program as well as Deaf seniors (Oshawa Deaf Senior Citizens Club). DDS is proud to report that despite all the problems created by the pandemic, it was able to maintain its programs and services to the community.
On June 29, 2023, Maggie Doherty-Gilbert retired from DDS. Maggie was Executive Director from June 2018 till June 2023. During that time Maggie was instrumental in selling 750 King Street and relocating our new office to 900 King Street. Maggie successfully stabilized service delivery and programs over the pandemic and was able to keep the community updated and informed as to some of the limitations at that time. Due to the decline of donations and the loss of fundraising, Maggie was successful in obtaining numerous grants and funding to assist with the day-to-day cost to operate our programs and services. On June 19, 2023, the Board of Directors held a retirement party at DDS to celebrate Maggie with many in attendance.
From 2023-2024, the Board of Directors hired, on contract, Sarah Colbeck as Executive Director.
As of March 2024, Maggie Doherty-Gilbert returned as Interim Executive Director.
After kindly stepping up for eight months, Maggie retired, again and for the final time, in October 2024. At that time and for two years prior DDS was in discussions with Silent Voice Canada about the future of DDS. On October 17, 2024, the DDS membership voted at its town hall members’ meeting in favour of pursing a merger with Silent Voice Canada. In November 2024, Kelly MacKenzie, the Executive Director of Silent Voice Canada, and Tristan Kong, DDS Board President, agreed upon a service agreement whereby Kelly would be the chief executive officer of DDS, while at the same time both DDS and Silent Voice Canada would continue to work together to merge under Silent Voice. Effective November 1, 2024, Kelly MacKenzie began serving as Acting Executive Director of DDS wearing both Silent Voice and DDS hats while the merger process proceeds.
Durham Deaf Services
900 King Street East
Oshawa, Ontario L1H 1H2
Phone: (905) 579-3328 Voice/Text
Fax: (905) 728-1183 Email: info@durhamdeaf.org
Office Hours:
Mon - Thurs
8:30 - 4:30
Fri - Sun: closed