Thousands of deaf and hard of hearing Oregonians will have an easier time finding jobs, accessing court proceedings and communicating thanks to the rapid expansion of a Salem nonprofit.
Bridges Oregon, the state’s only organization providing direct help to deaf and hard of hearing people, moved into its first office over the summer after a year where it secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in new grants and added employment help and more advocates.
“For a long time we were invisible, the invisible disability community,” executive director Chad Ludwig signed, speaking in American Sign Language through an interpreter. “With us being here and close, it’ll help us build.”
The office at 475 Cottage St. in downtown Salem is home to a growing team of 14 employees, nearly all of them deaf or hard of hearing. They provide services including advocacy for victims of crimes, help with finding housing and modifications like visual alarms, and employment and independent living help for deaf people with developmental disabilities.
Having a physical location means people can walk in and get help, or use a video phone which provides real-time sign language interpretation for a call.
“A lot of the time the community is dependent upon their family, their friends, their neighbors, the church, looking for support, and privacy is actually what is missing,” Ludwig said. “Now we’ve created a space where it is safe, it’s accessible and it certainly increases their privacy. That’s an amazing thing.”
Ludwig founded Bridges in 2017 as a volunteer executive director after moving to Oregon and finding the state had almost no services to support deaf people. A statewide assessment the same year concluded state policies and the practices of schools, private employers and health care facilities limited access for deaf people and made communication harder.
Salem has one of the largest deaf populations among Oregon cities, in part thanks to the presence of the Oregon School for the Deaf and nearby Camp Taloali in Stayton, a camp for deaf and hard of hearing children.
Ludwig said he wants the Bridges office to be a haven where people can find community and get help.
Artwork by deaf artists hangs on the walls, some showcasing signs superimposed over the animals they represent.
The front desk has stickers people can take reading “I am deaf or hard of hearing” and “Driver is deaf or hard of hearing” to be displayed on cars or while out in public.
Ludwig’s office has a dozen diplomas and certificates displayed on the wall from his career in advocacy for deaf people.
“So they know I ain’t dumb,” he said, gesturing to the collection of frames.
Over the past year, he’s been able to expand Bridges’ crime victim advocacy team, growing from one advocate to four, and brought on five people to run its employment and independent living program. Bridges also has online training for health care workers to learn about effective communication and best practices with deaf and hard-of-hearing patients.
Around the office, sign language is the main mode of communication, though Bridges recently hired its first employee who isn’t deaf and doesn’t sign.
“They’re in a culture shock because it’s so quiet,” Ludwig said, laughing.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
