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Advocacy for Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing, & Late Deafened Minnesotans
Resources
Safety
Support
Justice
Empowerment
Resources, language access, and peer support for Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing, and Late Deafened Minnesotans experiencing domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, harassment, and crime
Advocacy Services
Advocates can talk with you about any concerns you have for your safety or about your relationships with friends, family or partners. We can also support you if you have experienced a crime like robbery, harassment or identity theft.
If you are a concerned friend, family member or witness to abuse or a crime, we can guide you in finding information and resources, as well as ideas for how to support your loved one.
Co-Advocacy Services
ThinkSelf and Day One of Cornerstone have partnered since 2014 to work towards more equitable access to services for individuals with disabilities and communication needs, including those who identify as Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, hard of hearing and late deafened.
Our collaboration uses a co-advocacy approach, which means that Cornerstone and ThinkSelf can work as partners with you through advocacy offered simultaneously by a Deaf advocate and a hearing advocate. You may choose to work with a Deaf advocate only, a hearing advocate only, or with both – the choice is yours. ThinkSelf and Cornerstone will work together to ensure that your needs are met including having good ASL interpreters, access to assistive devices, and other accommodations you may request.
Safety Planning
One way that advocates can support you is to work with you on developing an individualized safety plan. A safety plan is a term often used to describe a plan of actions that can help keep you safer from a person or persons who may be causing you to experience emotional, physical, financial, or other types of harm. Your safety plan may include how to keep yourself and your children safer while you’re still living with someone who is hurting you, preparing to leave, best practices for documenting incidents of stalking, harassment or bullying.
It’s important to know that not all suggestions for safety work for everyone, and some might even put you at greater risk. We encourage you to take time to consider what will work best for your situation – your family and support system, your culture, resources in your community, and other considerations.
National Deaf Hotline
The Deaf Hotline is a 24/7 hotline formed by a partnership between ADWAS (Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services) and NDVH (National Domestic Violence Hotline). They offer 24/7 support for the national deaf community. Deaf Hotline staff can offer culturally-adept advocacy in ASL or also through email (hotline@adwas.org) and live chat.