New York City shelter residents who are deaf or hard-of-hearing will get a novel tool in the coming weeks to help them communicate basic information, like asking for toilet paper or describing pain.
The Department of Social Services is distributing visual cards printed with images of basic needs. It can take time to find interpreters, even for video calls. The idea of the cards is to give people with communication disabilities a way to point to what they need help with, rather than wait for interpreters. That can include complaining about a bad smell, or bugs and rodents, or needing shampoo.
“This is a way to get your basic needs met. Not to replace interpretation ever, but if you need toilet paper at 2 o'clock in the morning, how are you indicating that to the shelter staff?” said Jennifer Shaoul, the department's executive director of disability affairs.
The “CommuniCard” includes nearly 60 images on one side describing health issues, food, maintenance, toiletries and household items. The other side of the card includes the alphabet, numbers and signs for morning, afternoon and evening to schedule appointments.
City officials say the cards are part of the city’s plan to make New York more accessible for people with disabilities and reduce the stress for homeless New Yorkers as the city’s shelter population remains at record-high levels.
“For most of us in the deaf community, when we know we have to go in somewhere, anywhere, we already go in with the mindset that it could be a frustrating process,” Tony Wooden said through a sign language interpreter. Wooden supervises ASL Direct, a video calling system for American Sign Language users, at the Mayor's Office for People With Disabilities. “I hope this encourages more city agencies to start thinking more proactively about accessibility.”
Wooden said he gave feedback on the design of the CommuniCard to offer the perspective of the deaf community. The card was also improved after several focus groups gave feedback about it, city officials said.
Last year about 30% of shelter residents spoke languages other than English, and sign-language interpretation services were used more than 1,500 times, city officials said. About 1 million New Yorkers have disabilities, and people with disabilities are twice as likely to live in poverty as the general public.
Interpreters are available through video or in-person. Video interpretation can take a few minutes or up to half an hour to connect, while an in-person interpreter can take much longer.
The cards are available to download in 15 different languages and will be distributed at every homeless intake facility as well as every shelter. While the cards are focused on shelter needs, city officials said anyone can use them, such as people who don’t speak English as a first language or have a cognitive disability.
“The tool’s universal design and versatility allows its use across various agencies and is now publicly available for anyone to use,” Department of Social Services Commissioner Erin Dalton said in a statement.
Shaoul said nonprofit groups and the state have also asked for the cards to help street homeless outreach or people in shelters statewide.
“I know a tool is good when I want a stack of them in my office to start using immediately,” said Ben Thapa, associate director at the state’s Office of the Chief Disability Officer.
The city will also offer CommuniCards to domestic violence shelters, youth shelters and shelters for people with HIV/AIDS.
“I haven't seen anything like this for shelter anywhere,” Shaoul said. “The point here is to change a culture to not only just follow the law, but see how we can find ways to actually meet the needs of people with disabilities, and doing creative things to do that.”
Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers