HLAA’s 2023 State & Chapter Award Recipients were recognized on Friday, June 30, 2023 at the Awards Ceremony & Reception at the HLAA 2023 Convention sponsored by CapTel Captioned Telephone and held in New Orleans, LA. The New York State Association was the recipient of the Phoenix Award; see below. Visit HearingLoss.org for the full story on all national, state and chapter award recipients.
Phoenix Award
This award is given to any HLAA Chapter or State Organization that has been successful in rebuilding.
New York State Association
The HLAA New York State Association was originally formed in 1995. However, by 2015 the association became dormant and was close to being disbanded. Instead, Dan Brooks of Rochester led an effort to revive it, gaining support from long-time HLAA New York members. A new board of directors was formed, including at least two members from each of the six current state chapters. The pandemic presented many challenges, but the renewed state association was able to accomplish some major milestones by creating a new website and an email list of over 600 users. The state association became an early adopter of Zoom and hybrid meetings, sharing these technologies with chapters. A Professional Advisors Committee (PAC) was created, and the state association led the effort to establish a New York State Commission for the Deaf, Deaf/Blind and Hard of Hearing, passed unanimously by the New York State Senate and Assembly.They have championed educational outreach about over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids with a series of informational articles available in print and online. In 2022, an HLAA New York State conference—the first since 2007—was held in September in Glens Falls, NY, attended by more than 100 people in person and virtually.
(Pictured: Kassey Granger, President, New York State Association, and Dan Brooks, Past President.)