2020
Annual Report
Annual Report
Video Transcript 1
[ID at the beginning: a white background with two hands signing “equality” with large, bolded black words that read: ADJACENT SPACE. At the center of the image there is a triangle that depicts a colorful and vivid mix and swirl of colors that include the following: teal blue, green, gold, brown, gray, black, and dark colors. There are words that are in red that read: 2020-2021 Annual Report Part 1.]
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Adjacent Space’s Mission Statement”]
[ID: a white woman wearing trapezoid-rectangular wire glasses. Her hair is wrapped in a messy bun where a bun is noticeable but the hair is on behind her back. She is wearing a black shirt.]
Adjacent Space is committed to advance public spaces into a more visual-tactile accessible and equitable place for Deaf, hard-of-hearing and Deafblind communities.
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Introduction of the Annual Report”]
[ID: A white man is wearing a black shirt and brown glasses. He has a beard. In the background there is a beige-colored wall with two paintings. The painting on the left depicts a small brown boat with green-blue seas and blue sky, white clouds, and bright yellow sun. The painting on the right shows a tan lighthouse, a red-roofed and bricked house, and a rocky trail right next to the beach.]
2020 was a great year! We did not expect that our 2020 would look like that. We had ideas, plans, and goals lined up before the Coronavirus came along. We had to change a lot of things. Our modus operandi—our purpose, our existence—is listening and following to the needs of our communities and making them accessible. We changed our approach and this is what our 2020 looked like. The annual report is a summary of what we have done for this year. Our accomplishments, our plans, and our financials—we want to share with you all because we want to be transparent. You all are our mission and the purpose of this nonprofit organization. You and your communities. What does our 2020 look like? Check it out!
[ID: 5 people in Santa hats and reindeer antlers and masks are grouped in a small room for a selfie.]
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Accomplishments of 2020”]
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “ClearMask Campaign”]
[ID: A white man is wearing a black shirt and brown glasses. He has a beard. In the background there is a beige-colored wall with two paintings. The painting on the left depicts a small brown boat with green-blue seas and blue sky, white clouds, and bright yellow sun. The painting on the right shows a tan lighthouse, a red-roofed and bricked house, and a rocky trail right next to the beach.]
When the Coronavirus hit our communities, we came together to discuss how we can make our communities safe during the pandemic. We came up with an idea to host a fundraising campaign for the month of September. We wanted to give away ClearMasks for free to our communities! So, here’s the results:
[ID: a light blue background with letters in black: Clear Mask Campaign. Sponsored by 6 Alabama organizations: ALBDA, SLIS, AAD, BrightSigns, M&N Language Services, Adjacent Space. 44 shipments to community entities. 6,480 total masks delivered. Thank you for your support!]
You see that picture with different stats? I want to name four major stats. 1) 6,480 masks were given out to communities in the state of Alabama. 2) 44 different organizational entities have contacted us asking for ClearMasks to be distributed to their own businesses. 3) 6 different organizations have partnered for this fundraising campaign. This shows the power of teamwork and collaboration! 4) We were contacted by 5 different media and news organizations to discuss about this campaign. That helped us to get the word out!
The campaign was a success! We believe that it is powerful when we work together to achieve accessibility and safety for our communities. Thank you for your help and support!
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Blooper #1”]
[ID: a white woman wearing trapezoid-rectangular wire glasses. Her hair is wrapped in a messy bun where a bun is noticeable but the hair is on behind her back. She is wearing a black shirt.]
Adjacent Space always has something going on everyday—something new! They are constantly improving! Like our work? Go ahead… blah! Again!
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Drive-in Captioned Movie”]
[ID: a light blue background with black letters that read: “Open Captioned Drive-in. Dec. 13th, 2020. 2 films, 49 families. 100% satisfaction rating! Reviews: “So much fun!”…”Excellent Accessibility! Thanks Adjacent Space!”…”Our family had a ball! It’s amazing that something as simple as open captions on the big screen is such a big deal - but it is. Thank you so much!” There is a large outdoor screen shows an image from “The polar express”. Captions are visible at the bottom of the screen. It’s night time, and several cars are parked with their hatches up]
[ID: a white woman is wearing a black shirt. Her hair is held back, overflowing her shoulders. The background is black.]
On December 13, 2020—Adjacent Space hosted Drive-in captioned movie. 49 total families came to watch two movies. After the event, we had a survey asking respondents if they were satisfied with the event. 100% said they were satisfied! The popular message was that they want to see the drive-in captioned movie event to happen again.
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Last night was a huge hit for our family. Our daughter couldn’t quit saying how much she was loving and it is super rare for her to watch and enjoy a group movie experience.” —A comment after Adjacent Space’s Drive-in Captioned Movie Event]
We wanted to host this event for two reasons: 1) We wanted to fundraise to help support our operating costs for our nonprofit to get ready for 2021. 2) We wanted to create an accessible event for our families and communities!
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Letters of Advocacy”]
[ID: A white man is wearing a black shirt and brown glasses. He has a beard. In the background there is a beige-colored wall with two paintings. The painting on the left depicts a small brown boat with green-blue seas and blue sky, white clouds, and bright yellow sun. The painting on the right shows a tan lighthouse, a red-roofed and bricked house, and a rocky trail right next to the beach.]
Our state governor and local mayors did not or rarely provide sign language interpretation in their live and recorded press conferences in midst of Coronavirus pandemic. That is a massive problem. We penned letters of advocacy to these places explaining that they need to provide sign language interpretation according to ADA as they are public information during emergencies like Coronavirus pandemic. We want to make information accessible so that every Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and Deafblind can get access they need to protect themselves and their families during this crisis. After sending them letters, they have improved considerably in providing sign language interpretation during their press briefings. We want to thank them for listening to our needs and providing accessibility!
[ID: a screenshot of a virtual meeting. Images clockwise from top right: A white woman with brown hair and glasses sitting on a couch with an orange blanket, a black man in a grey shirt sits in front of a grey wall, a white man with glasses and facial hair is giving a thumbs up to the camera, a black woman sits on a couch with many pillows, a white woman in a green shirt sits in front of a black curtain]
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Deaf Ecosystem”]
[ID: A white man is wearing a black shirt and brown glasses. He has a stubble. In the background there is a beige-colored wall with two paintings. The painting on the left depicts a small brown boat with green-blue seas and blue sky, white clouds, and bright yellow sun. The painting on the right shows a tan lighthouse, a red-roofed and bricked house, and a rocky trail right next to the beach.]
Adjacent Space fervently supports the deaf ecosystem. How did we support, promote, nurture, and spread the awareness? Three things that we did. We spent money in hiring deaf interpreters to translate and improve access. We weren’t satisfied with mere access; we wanted to maximize access and provide top-notch ASL translation to make it more culturally accessible for the communities. We’ve paid over $1,000 to deaf interpreters, with more to come soon!
We created a page where you can find the deaf business directory, list of deaf ASL teachers, and deaf organizations in Alabama so that you can connect with them, buy things from them, and more! Supporting these individuals and organizations will make our ecosystem grow stronger!
We are fortunate to have a fantastic Deaf art leader named Kim Thornsberry. Her work is amazing. In her works, she includes Deaf lens where culture is recognized and celebrated! She has done five different projects for Adjacent Space to the communities, with sixth coming up soon!
We are very blessed to have you all to be part of this and we look forward to growing the deaf ecosystem more!
[ID: a canvas painting that shows sunflowers and three different signs of “unity”.]
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Partnership with ADA Lawyer Ed Zwilling”]
[ID: A white man is wearing a black shirt and brown glasses. He has a beard. In the background there is a beige-colored wall with two paintings. The painting on the left depicts a small brown boat with green-blue seas and blue sky, white clouds, and bright yellow sun. The painting on the right shows a tan lighthouse, a red-roofed and bricked house, and a rocky trail right next to the beach.]
In April, we contacted an ADA lawyer named Ed Zwilling to make a partnership. His knowledge and expertise in ADA is unmatched, and we wanted to educate and empower our communities in understanding ADA and to confidently ask for reasonable accommodations wherever you go. Ed was incredible in how he had helped us. We had an event with Ed on September 30 in where we had questions and answers session with Ed. The public came and asked questions to Ed Zwilling about Coronavirus and ADA. The event was great! Check out the picture.
[ID: four people in a Zoom call. The woman in top left is interpreting what Ed is talking about.]
We are thankful and appreciative of Ed’s leadership and help in our partnership and we look forward to more as we aim to make accessibility the standard for all!
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Blooper #2”]
[ID: a white man wearing round brown glasses. He is wearing a black shirt. He is sporting a beard. The background is black.]
You may be wondering why… uhh… CUT!
[ID at the end: a white background with two hands signing “equality” with large, bolded black words that read: ADJACENT SPACE. At the center of the image there is a triangle that depicts a colorful and vivid mix and swirl of colors that include the following: teal blue, green, gold, brown, gray, black, and dark colors.]
Video Transcript 2
[ID at the beginning: a white background with two hands signing “equality” with large, bolded black words that read: ADJACENT SPACE. At the center of the image there is a triangle that depicts a colorful and vivid mix and swirl of colors that include the following: teal blue, green, gold, brown, gray, black, and dark colors. There are words that are in red that read: 2020-2021 Annual Report Part 2.]
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Plans, Projects, and Priorities in 2021”]
[ID: a white woman is wearing a black shirt. Her hair is held back, overflowing her shoulders. The background is black.]
Plans, projects, and priorities of 2021 are what? First of all, ACTCP, ADA Coordinator Training Program. Trey Gordon and I, Angelica Dill, co-founders of Adjacent Space, have signed up for this training program. Why? We’ll take 40 hours worth of training being devoted to the law of ADA and fully understanding everything that we need to know about ADA. We’ll be focusing on effective communication but we will be learning different stipulations of ADA. After we take 40 hours of classes, we need to take an exam. If we pass the exam, then we are certified ADA coordinators. This will help our work improve access and equity for our communities.
As for another project we plan to do: continuing to advocate ADA for our communities. Our mission and vision statements are all about access and equity, as much as hearing people enjoy their access. We need to continue to educate ADA to the public so that our mission and vision on access can become a reality.
Last November, we hosted “How to Create Space for Equity” series where we partnered with organizations that may share similar experiences as we do. Some of these experiences may not be exact, but we all can learn from each other—about their organization and the work they do, as much as they learn from us—Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and Deafblind communities. The conversations are casual, learning how they overcome barriers… that’s something that we can benefit from. We hope to host this event again soon--it’s called “How to Create Space for Equity.”
And, we intend to continue to support the deaf ecosystem! We’ve developed a page dedicated to deaf ecosystem on our website. It includes: deaf ASL teachers, deaf business owners, deaf-run and deaf-led organizations, deaf artists, and deaf interpreters… and more! Whatever helps the deaf ecosystem, we want to support that too! We intend to spotlight different deaf leaders in our local communities!
[ID: three women are standing, holding clipboards. They all are smiling. From the left, there is a white woman wearing a maroon shirt with black coat, black pants, and black shoes. In the middle there is a Black woman wearing a white beanie cap, and she is wearing a black coat with white gloves and blue jeans. She is wearing black glasses and pink-white shoes. On the right, there is a white woman wearing a large red coat with blue jeans and brown shoes. In the background there are buildings with lights being lit—in a late evening. At the bottom of this picture it reads: FEBRUARY 2020.]
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Financials”]
[ID: an excel spreadsheet that shows the numbers of Assets and Expenses. Assets are in green while Expenses are in red. The current cash on hand is $12,406.60]
[ID: a white woman is wearing a black shirt. Her hair is held back, overflowing her shoulders. The background is black.]
One of our values is transparency. We want to be clear in what our financial report is like in 2020 to today. See two columns in the excel? One is in red—our expenses. Another column—that’s our assets/revenues and they’re in green. This shows that we are healthy in how we manage our finances. We’ve spent the money to support our community. We’ve used the money to maintain our organization. For example, our operating costs include equipment, website—to keep our website running we need to pay to keep our features on the website, to keep our organization’s name, advertising—like business cards to develop potential relationships with our partners. You may notice “contractors”—we use that for paying deaf and hearing interpreters to interpret for our events and translate stuff, like translating English to ASL on our website, for example. That’s one of expenses that we’ve made as an organization.
Now with our revenues and assets, we’ve gotten money from our grants. As you may know, grants require specific rules and expectations to fulfill while using their money. We’ve also categorized individual donors—people who independently gave us money. This group also includes people who paid our Adjacent Space products and gear.
Thirdly, we’ve fundraised after hosting the Drive-in Movie Theater back in December. We’ve paid for all expenses needed to make this event happen and then fundraised for that.
Lastly, AmazonSmile—it’s a new account that we have set up. When you buy stuff with us as your AmazonSmile choice, we will earn a small amount of money occasionally. That’s the reason why it’s so small right now.
[ID: a black background with white letters that read: “Blooper #3”]
[ID: in a background that consists a fireplace, woods, and a fence and bushes, there are two white individuals sitting. The white woman on the left is wearing a large light green sweater with black pants, gray socks and white shoes. The white man on the right is wearing a gray sweater, gray jeans, and gray shoes. He is sporting a mustache and brown glasses. The video is being fast-forwarded at 2x speed.]
Trey: Do you know your line?
Angelica: Yes. Hey, do you remember explaining about the Drive-in Movie Theater? What’s up?
Trey: Wait, I thought you were starting at the beginning? I thought you’d say about coronavirus and how sad we were. We had two things: one short, one longer version of this project.
Angelica: Right.
[Awkward silence]