Community Touch
When Lorna McKenzie emerged from the twisted wreckage of a car crash, she thanked her luck and vowed to turn her dream for a better future for deaf people into a reality.
The chilling impact of a brush with death provided that extra belief that has resulted in an innovative and award-winning enterprise that is empowering deaf and hearing impaired people.
In less than a year, Community Touch has reached deep into the frustrations of a section of society that numbers almost nine million in the UK and mapped a route to greater involvement and fulfilment.
The Birmingham-based enterprise is now at the forefront of a learning, awareness and skills drive that will help deaf people, including the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic hearing community, realise their potential.
"I had worked within the deaf community for 15 years and had always wanted to set up something that gave them options in career and self-development," says Lorna (pictured right).
"The accident was on a visit to Africa and the car rolled down an embankment. I got out with some minor head injuries and everyone survived but it could have been so much worse. The car looked like three elephants had sat on it.
"I felt blessed in so many ways to survive and one of those was to fulfil that dream."
Community Touch organises a range of training and development courses for the deaf and hearing impaired as well as providing crucial support schemes within the healthservice.
"The question has to be why they have been ignored for so long. The deaf community is very large yet there is little in place beyond the established care and welfare, particularly within the Black,Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.
"Community Touch is all about opening opportunities for them to develop their careers,their hopes and their personalities. We are giving them the confidence to try something new and go into areas of training or employment that they thought were closed to them."
Lorna, who managed homes for deaf people with learning disabilities and mental health problems, employs four staff and is helped by 29 volunteers who are committed to changing the landscape for the deaf.
"We are about new opportunities, exploring life, their self-development and self-recognition," adds Lorna. "I loved my time as a carer but felt deeply frustrated by what seemed like one-way ahead. Sure they could get jobs in deaf companies but there had to be more. Community Touch is a catalyst as there is no reason why they shouldn't have the chances to achieve more."
Lorna puther plan into action by finding a base in the centre of Birmingham and she was encouraged to put infor ERDF funding, through Birmingham City Council's Enterprise Communities scheme, after someone overhead her speaking about Community Touch.
The £30,000 grant, match-funded by the local health authority, instantly set up a training scheme for ten deaf community consultants. Progress has been so fast that they are already looking at bigger premises in the city and their work has already won awards including the ‘Most Inspiring Social Enterprise' accolade at the Social Enterprise Coalition's Voice 09 conference.
The financial profile is still building but impressive work with the Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trusts in the Midlands is establishing a sound revenue stream. Funds also come in from Lorna's work as an advocate for deaf people in the care and prison systems.
"We have to work hard to secure funding and it is something I find very difficult because I get very emotional about the people we touch," adds Lorna. "There is a 26-year-old woman who has trained and we now employ. She is simply overjoyed at the feeling of getting up in the morning and being able to go to work. She likes being able to say ‘I am going to work', something a lot of people take for granted. She had aspirations to be a teacher but had never had a job before - she simply didn't have the right access to the support that could give her a chance.
"She is now helping her mum with household bills and is planning to go on holiday for thefirst time. It has been a transformation and it has given her self-confidence socially and economically.
"A younger girl desperately wanted to study but couldn't find a way of asserting her independence and getting on the right course. We have now helped her get onto a professional training course and she is thriving.
"Seeing these people fly is what gives us the greatest pleasure. I love what I am doing and my staff and volunteers really enjoy working in this inspiring environment."
A recent assessment of its work described Community Touch as "a formidable champion for social enterprise and a testimony to what is achievable when you have peoplewho are willing to work hard and show true commitment to a cause. I thank God for this opportunity."