Sign Language Café opening in Portland, Oregon
Renca Dunn, Daily Moth Reporter: A new sign language café will open up this March in Portland, Oregon. It is run by a non-profit organization called CymaSpace. This non-profit organization has served the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community by making performing arts more accessible and inclusive. They are taking this to a new level by running a café for community connection, safe space, and cultural celebration.
[Video clip - Credit: CymaSpace]
We connected with Myles de Bastion who is the founder and co-artistic director of CymaSpace and Andre Grey who is the operating/co-artistic director for an interview about the grand opening of this café.
Renca: It’s a very exciting time that’s happening soon. Can you describe your relationship, Myles and Andre?
Myles de Bastion: We met about six years ago. I was interested to know him and saw that he was a filmmaker and an artist, just like I am. I invited him to become involved in our organization. We’ve been working together since that time.
Andre Grey: I moved to Portland in 2016. I was looking for support from the Deaf community and saw CymaSpace. I learned more and thought, “Why don’t I become involved and support them?” I’m Deaf and Deafblind myself. I’ve noticed that a lot in the Deaf community don’t have a lot of opportunities. I want to figure out what we can do, what the CymaSpace organization can do to change that. We focused on – my part is on media, café operations, and opportunity development.
Renca: Now, I’m curious, what is the goal with the Sign Language Café? What’s the goal?
Myles: We have several goals for our café. What’s really important is supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing culture. To put a spotlight on sign language. Also to offer a bridge for people who may not know sign language to come to the cafe to practice and learn. They may have a different experience from the normal café culture. It’s important that we can create jobs for Deaf people. There are applications to workplace and career development. They may not have worked in customer service or made coffee or food/drinks before, but we provide training. We try to apply Deaf culture with food culture.
Renca: Andre?
Andre: What is the goal of the café? We noticed that the Deaf community doesn't have strong experience with food culture in Portland or the PNW region. There is a huge food culture so we want to include the Deaf community within that, to find that solution. Also, the food options here are considered an art form. It is one of CymaSpace’s goals to provide accessibility to arts and culture. So why not involve a café experience with the community? The second thing is that many Deaf people are not able to work at cafés or restaurants – they may just work as a dishwasher. We don’t think that’s fair. We want to give a better experience with this new and big food culture in Portland.
Renca: How long have you been working on this?
Myles: Our nonprofit has been in operation for ten years now. It’s been growing and we have a bigger team now with various roles. For the café, we recently saw an opportunity and decided we needed a social place for Deaf people and the signing community to come together. Sit, chat, have a sip. We’ve been working since last November. We are now renovating the café and starting to hire staff. We will train them and open it soon.
Andre: Many community members said they’re tired of going to bars at nighttime so they may host events by themselves. The café is more of a daytime event, a daytime social opportunity. The numbers are growing faster than expected so I’m excited about that.
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Sponsored video by Convo: www.convorelay.com
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988 Helpline (Description)
Exciting News! The 988 Lifeline launched new American Sign Language services for callers who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. It’s a new resource for people to access help when they need it. Visit 988lifeline.org and select “ASL Now.”
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Andre: I want the Deaf community to know that a part of the CymaSpace process is to solve problems facing the Deaf community. One is that there isn’t a strong café/food development opportunity, to be a part of the food culture. The second is I want everyone to know that it won’t be like Starbucks. Starbucks tends to have a different style and different operations. This Deaf café food will be made from scratch, in-house. Milk chocolate. No syrups. It’s important to us to be able to help the Deaf community to see what is in their food. It’s not going to be a big corporation style, but more of a small business, mom-and-pop operation style.
(End interview)
Renca: The café’s temporary name is Woodstock Café, but it will change after consulting with the Deaf community in Portland. While the café will open in March, they are still raising support in order to invest more in new equipment and other needs for the café. We have included a GoFundMe link and their Instagram account in this transcript. If you are ever in Portland, Oregon, check it out!