Alan Sprague for SWC Board of Directors
Copyright 2001
Back in 1997 the founding board members of SayWhatClub created a mission statement to reflect the direction we believed SWC was going to take. That mission statement said:
"SayWhatClub is committed to providing a forum for the hard-of-hearing, deafened, and those otherwise concerned with hearing loss. We are dedicated to maintaining an environment promoting hope, self-worth, knowledge, and growth with consideration for individuals and the SWC community."
During the first quarter of 2001 the Board revisited the mission statement with the purpose of updating it and making it more specific. Over the past few years we've seen the direction SWC is taking, and we also have sought to clarify in our minds the means by which we believe SWC can grow to serve more people in a more meaningful way. This does not mean we believe the foundations of SWC should change. Rather, it creates a vision of directions in which we'd like to see SWC grow.
In addition, we wished to emphasize certain aspects of our goals in hopes of appealing more clearly to organizations considering grant applications or other methods of financial support.
The UPDATED MISSION STATEMENT adopted by the Board in April reads as follows:
"SayWhatClub is dedicated to enhancing interpersonal communication for people who are hard of hearing, deafened, or have a serious interest in hearing loss, with goals of:
1) Educating SWC participants and the public about all aspects of hearing loss;
2) Providing for mutual sharing of coping and "life" skills;
3) Reducing feelings of isolation, frustration and despair;
4) Enhancing feelings of self-concept and optimism.The primary medium for our mission is the Internet, which provides the opportunity for contacts over a wide geographic area; access 24 hours a day, seven days a week; and dissemination of information both to SWC participants and to the general public.
In addition, SayWhatClub encourages face to face contact among its participants through informal local gatherings, and periodic conventions designed both to provide social contact and educational workshops dealing with hearing loss issues."
In selecting future projects, programs, and activities to enhance SayWhatClub, the board take into account how such proposals meet the elements of our mission statement.
One of the first areas we are looking at are our websites. Currently we are discussing means of better utilizing our web resources both for SWCers and for the public at large. We hope to expand our web offerings to new areas for the general public as well as to continue our current popular pages for SWCers. During the next year you will see changes take place that make our websites more effective and valuable as a resource for people with hearing loss.
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