Partnership for Families, Children and Adults (FCA)—a nonprofit agency that provides counseling, crisis intervention and prevention services to thousands of people in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama—is collaborating with Clarity—the Chattanooga-based division of Plantronics (NYSE: PLT) that designs smart solutions to boost quality of life for people with hearing loss. The two organizations will work together to expand the services available to the deaf and hard of hearing community in Chattanooga and to bridge the communication gap that these individuals experience each day.
“Partnership FCA has played a vital role in assisting the deaf and hard of hearing community in Chattanooga for years, and we’re eager to combine our expertise in order to continue serving those in need to the best of our abilities,” said Jamie van den Bergh, president of Clarity. “We look forward to this collaboration and to helping even more of our friends and neighbors as they face a health issue that is often overlooked.”
Clarity is the leading provider of amplified telephones in the U.S. and has pioneered several firsts for the hearing loss community. In addition to financial contributions, the company will provide Partnership FCA’s Service for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing with several of their devices including the Q90D TTY, the C210 ringer, the JV35 telephone, the Alto and Alto Plus amplified telephone and the Savi 740 Plantronic headset.
Partnership FCA will host free American Sign Language (ASL) classes to help bridge the communication gap between the hearing and deaf communities.
“For more than 40 years, Clarity has worked to develop devices that dramatically improve the quality of life for their customers’ and their customers’ loved ones,” said Pam Smith, director of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services at Partnership FCA. “This collaboration will allow us to offer a broader range of expertise and resources to our clients and ensure that they are able to communicate with their loved ones and their community with ease.”