Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerry Lacsamana.
Kerry began working with Deaf children in the special educatiown settings of Fort Bend ISD. It was here that she found a calling and entered into the Interpreter Training Program at Houston Community College. Upon graduation, she interned with Nightingale Services. This intern position rapidly became a position as the scheduling coordinator.
Within a few years, the owner of Nightingale Services sold the American Sign Language Interpreting Division of his company to Kerry and Nightingale Interpreting Services Inc. as we know it today, became the Woman-Owned Business that serves the entire state of Texas.
As President of Nightingale Interpreting, Kerry has expanded to serving both American Sign Language as well as spoken languages in the Houston region. The company has embraced new technology and provides services by Video Remote Interpreting to locations far and wide.
During Kerry’s ownership, Nightingale has provided service for the City of Houston, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Houston Police Department Positive Interaction Program, and Harris County for natural disasters and celebrations, media events and press conferences.
Nightingale has also served the Deaf Community directly, working with the Houston Center for Independent Living and the Greater Houston Action Center of the Deaf, Houston Black Deaf Advocates, and Houston Deaf Senior Citizens/ Deaf Seniors of America.
Through all of this Nightingale is able to fulfill it’s mission and remains committed to improving conditions and access for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Visually Impaired Deaf Communities.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nightingale has encountered two major obstacles. The first is a shortage of qualified and certified interpreters to fulfill the daily requests for interpreting. The second obstacle is the ongoing education of the general public in making communication accessible to Americans of all abilities.
America has come a long way since the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act and signing by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 https://www.ada.gov/ada_intro.htm. But still has farther to go. Our efforts have been directed towards serving the entire community by providing education and resources; this is best exemplified by our motto- Helping people… Helping businesses… Helping communities.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Nightingale Interpreting Services – what should we know?
Nightingale is a woman-owned business and was established in 1987 by the Chung family. Kerry Lacsamana, Nightingale’s current owner, is dedicated to serving this often under-served segment of society – the deaf, hard of hearing and blind – by providing certified interpreters for every type of event, large and small.
Her passion is unrivaled when it comes to providing quality interpreting services through live interpreters and VRI (video remote interpreting) to the Houston community, throughout the state of Texas and beyond.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Nightingale has a Deaf Heart and is dedicated to the idea that each individual is entitled to live, work and contribute to the community to his or her fullest potential.
Nightingale is committed to providing communication support and equal access by assigning professional, caring, qualified and dedicated interpreters tailored to the specific setting.
Nightingale Interpreters are focused on ethics, integrity and following all HIPAA privacy practices.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6220 Westpark #245I Houston, Texas 77057 (Offices)
3130 Grants Lake Blvd. #18631 Sugar Land, TX 77496 (Mail) - Website: ASL.services
- Phone: 713-893-8844
- Email: Nightingale.interp@gmail.com
- Instagram: 1q2018
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nightingaleASL
- Twitter: @nightingaleasl
- Yelp: 1q2018
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/17877418/
Image Credit:
anthonylacsamana
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