The Mid-Hudson Interpreter Service (MHIS) is a program of Taconic Resources for Independence, Inc. (TRI). TRI/MHIS was founded in 1989 by Mary E. Wambach, the first Deaf Executive Director of TRI. Since our founding, MHIS has a proud 30-year history of coordinating interpreting services for, and working directly with, the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (Deaf/HH) community of the Mid-Hudson Valley. MHIS in addition to interpreter coordination services, provides advocacy support for Deaf/HH individuals in an effort to educate businesses and entities about accessible communication guidelines for the Deaf/HH community under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as to assist and guide Deaf individuals when accessing services and supports through various community entities. MHIS Deaf/HH advocates work closely with medical providers, emergency responders, schools, courts, and other entities in our community to educate them not only about their responsibilities under the ADA, but also about Deaf culture and how to respectfully work with Deaf/HH individuals. Additionally, MHIS also directly hires Deaf adults from within our community to teach hearing families with Deaf children American Sign Language (ASL) in an effort to preserve ASL and Deaf culture and to also eradicate occurrences of language deprivation and Deaf isolation in hearing families with Deaf children. Families from this program have received Smoke/Fire alarms for the Deaf/HH children in the household. Click here for more on MHIS

Taconic Resources for Independence, Inc. joined forces with other disability advocacy groups to put pressure on the county to relocate a polling place that was not fully accessible. The Andrew Goodman Foundation (AGF) and Bard College won the lawsuit against the Dutchess County Board of Elections to relocate an inaccessible polling site to the Bard College campus. The original site for the 5th Legislative District, the Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist in Red Hook, NY, violates several of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations and is too small to accommodate voters in a way that will permit social distancing. Although the NY Supreme Court originally turned down the lawsuit and ruled that it was too late to change the location, The Supreme Court Judge reversed her decision and approved the opening of a voting site at Bard College. The voting site at Bard, in the Bertelsmann Campus Center, was open to all District 5 voters from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM on Tuesday, November 3rd. The existing voting site at the Church was also open for the election.