Backgrounder

History
Spokane Hearing-Oral Program of Excellence (HOPE) was founded in 2004 by a group of families with
children who are hard-of-hearing or are deaf. The families had the same goal of wanting to help all children in
Spokane with hearing loss to better transition into first school experiences. A devoted group of individuals with
significant experience in professional fields was attracted to the opportunity to make this educational dream a
reality for local families with deaf or hard-of-hearing children. The early intervention toddler program began in
2005, which 40 toddlers have gone through. In 2014, the in-home early intervention program was started to help
children at an earlier age. Spokane HOPEs vision from the start states:
That all children with hearing loss should have the opportunity to maximize their listening and speaking
skills.
The Hearing and Speech Clinic of Washington State University and the Eastern Washington University
Riverpoint campus are partners with Spokane HOPE. Spokane HOPE is located at EWUs Riverpoint campus. The
families who started Spokane HOPE soon realized the uniqueness of the idea, when they learned that there are only
two other schools in the country like Spokane HOPE that are connected to a college campus. In the region, Spokane
HOPE is the only program where listening and spoken language are used. Spokane HOPEs purpose is to have a
low student-teacher ratio while promoting an environment that is language-enriched to maximize the potential of
the students in the communication and academic sense.
Current Status
Since Spokane HOPE was started in 2004, over 80 preschoolers have been served by the organization.
Spokane HOPEs mission states:
To optimize the acquisition of listening, learning, and speaking skills in children who have hearing loss and
to provide a supportive environment for their families with the ultimate purpose to prepare the students for a
seamless transition into the students mainstream educational setting in their neighborhood schools.

Some of the key services offered include the Birth-3 In Home Therapy, Preschool and Toddler Group, SpeechLanguage Therapy, Parent Caregiver Support, Outreach Mainstream Services and Family Communication Services.
The Birth-3 In Home Therapy was a milestone for Spokane HOPE. The program involves home visits to children
with hearing loss starting at the time of diagnosis to age three. A certified Teacher of the Deaf conducts the home
visits. Parents are taught skills to help their children with the beginning steps to lay a foundation for speech and
language. Spokanes early intervention providers are in partnership with Spokane HOPE to help provide the Birth-3
In Home Therapy program.
The Preschool and Toddler Group involves a daily school program on the EWU Riverpoint campus. Here,
there are certified Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and also graduate students in speech-language
pathology from the university programs in communication disorders. Speech-Language Therapy is an on-campus
daily service at the EWU Riverpoint campus provided by a certified speech-language therapist that conducts
individual speech-language therapy and audiology services. Parent Caregiver Support involves educating the
parents to best help their childrens progress. Outreach Mainstream Services involves Spokane HOPEs partnership
with providing services with the Center for Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss. Lastly, Family Communication
Services involves daily letters, individual communication books and parent support meetings. The Education
Philosophy for Spokane HOPE states:
Children with hearing loss should have the opportunity to maximize their listening and spoken language
skills in order that they may transition into their neighborhood school, interact with normal hearing peers, and
require little or no special services.
One fundraising event is the Negative Split Half Marathon, 10K, 5K benefiting Spokane HOPE. This event
took place on April 10th, 2016, and is open to people of all levels- runners, walkers, and joggers. For the event,
Spokane HOPE partnered with Negative Split, Spokanes local premier running group, to raise money and
awareness for children with hearing loss and the services that Spokane HOPE offers. The largest fundraising event

for Spokane HOPE is Hoedown for HOPE, which will take place on Saturday, October 1 st 2016. Hoedown for
HOPE includes a dinner, raffles, auction, live music, dancing and an inspirational message from Justin Osmond.
Spokane HOPEs Board of Directors includes Ryan Grant (Board President), Jan Krogh (Board Vice
President), Deanna Davis (Executive Director), Monique Corigliano (Treasurer) and Cindy Bishop (Secretary).
Since Spokane HOPE is a small local nonprofit, there are no local/national chapters. There are no volunteer
opportunities listed on the Spokane HOPE website, but volunteers are always welcome to help with events.
Hoedown for HOPE will need many volunteers to help make the event a success. The 2014 Annual Report lists
many corporate sponsors, some including Clear Care, DCI Engineers, Greenstone Homes, RiverBank and WSU
Spokane. Spokane HOPE also has a presence on social media with a Twitter account (@SpokaneHOPE) and a
Facebook page (Spokane HOPE School). The social media sites are often utilized to post pictures of Spokane
HOPEs students.
Future
As Spokane HOPE looks to the future of the organization, there are some goals to look forward to. The first
goal is the upcoming name change from Spokane HOPE School to just Spokane HOPE. An important aspect that
comes along with the name change, is to get the word out to the community once the change is made. Another goal
is to serve more children who have hearing loss or are deaf in the community. In order to make this goal happen and
stay true to the 1:1 student-teacher ratio, more teachers are needed. In order to hire more teachers, Spokane HOPE
needs to raise more money.
This leads to a third goal, to receive more donations. Hoedown for HOPE, Spokane HOPEs largest
fundraiser, is a big part of helping to meet this goal. If more people attend the event or donate more at the event,
then Spokane HOPE can be greatly benefitted in many ways including the ability to hire more teachers and buying
more technology for serving the children. Another resource for the public of Spokane HOPE is telepractice
communication. This will put telecommunications technology into use and allow for children to learn remotely.

A fourth goal for the future is to grow Spokane HOPEs programs into other schools. The organization
hopes to be recognized as a main resource in the community for families and their children with hearing loss or
who are deaf. With training of new teachers in the field, this could become a reality and be a great support for
current teachers in the classroom. A vision that comes along with this goal, is for Spokane HOPEs programs to
grow to involve total communication including sign language. Through all the goals and changes in the future,
Spokane HOPE wants to stay true to the mission of the organization.