![[Image description: The flyer with a white background has a deep brown colored hand surrounded by green leaves to look like a tree. Tucked away in the leaves on the right side is a red KODAheart logo.The KODAheart logo. A slanted infinity symbol, with the top right circle replaced by a heart. The word KODA in all capital letters to the left of the heart and the word heart in all lower case letters at the bottom right of the symbol. On the left side of the trunk are the words “Koda Family Fun Day” in different shades of red. On the right side are the words “Oct 19 Austin Deaf Club” in the same shades of red.]](http://kodaheart.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/K3SavetheDate.jpg)
On October 19th 2014, KODAheart, an organization focused on helping kodas and their families, officially launched in Austin, Texas! Organization members hosted a KODA Family Fun Day at the Austin Association for the Deaf for the purpose of kicking off the activities of KODAheart and to help raise awareness about the needs of this community.
After months of planning, the KODAheart team spread the news of the event on social media while members of their team ran in the Ragnar Trail Relays Hill Country. Great thanks to our friends in team Mile Infinity, who also braved the rough trails of Flat Rock Ranch! Though the race left us exhausted, we were energized by the idea of spending a day with kodas and their families!
The night before the event, the KODAheart team received disastrous news – due to an issue with plumbing, there was a water issue at the Austin Association of the Deaf! With over 200 children and parents scheduled to attend, we had no running water or functioning plumbing for the bathrooms! Quickly confronting the difficulty, our team members were able to strategize and, with gracious assistance from Wazoo’s (a neighboring business), the event was able to proceed as planned!
Under the warm sun of central Texas we came together. The parking lot filled with cars, the smiling faces of parents and kids filled the walls of the deaf club and our day of fun began!
Parents and children were introduced to the KODAheart philosophy and mission through a series of activities. Children spent the afternoon in the company of KODAheart volunteers (codas from Austin and from as far as Rochester, New York and Washington) who led them in icebreakers, games and arts & crafts. Parents worked with members of the KODAheart board to highlight issues or concerns relating to deaf-hearing families. A presentation provided further details about the KODAheart organization and a panel of Codas enabled parents to learn more about the experiences of growing up as a koda in the deaf and hearing worlds.
The group came back together for a delicious cookout prepared by Chef Jenica VonGarrel. And in true deaf club and koda camp traditions, we ended the evening with a video presentation created by Summer Crider Loeffler.
KODAheart wants to thank the Austin Deaf community for coming out to learn about us and for letting us spend the day with you and your family! We are also deeply indebted to our wonderful volunteers for their time and energy – thanks to each of you for donning an orange shirt and helping us! And finally, many, many thanks to the Austin Association of the Deaf for providing us with space and support – thanks for making your home our home for an afternoon! We hope to see you soon!
