JCCD helps provide ASL interpreters at Jacksonville Main Street concerts
By Ben Cox
The Jacksonville Main Street Downtown Concert Series has had a new addition to the concert stage the last couple of shows.
American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters are becoming more common at major music events all across the country. Music artists have been giving them love for their enthusiastic interpretation of their songs all the while making their concerts more accessible to persons who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
Kia Moore of the Jacksonville Community Center for the Deaf (JCCD), and program director for the Substance Use Prevention and Recovery program through the Illinois Department of Human Services, says she and a co-worker got together to make the Jacksonville Main Street concerts more accessible to the local community. “The June 27th concert with Laura Rain & The Caesars was a big step forward for the deaf community in Jacksonville,” Moore explains, “The crowd gained a good 30-40 more concertgoers all because the ASL interpreters were there to interpret for the Deaf and hard of hearing audience.”
Moore says the idea for inclusion of persons in the local community who are Deaf or hard of hearing could not be passed up. She says that the JCCD sponsored two interpreters for the Laura Rain concert on June 27, and that Jacksonville Main Street community sponsors and JCCD are sponsoring the remaining schedule for interpreters. The final concert is slated for Friday, August 1.
