[sw-l] SignWriting non-profit organizations in the US...

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
March 6, 2005

Dear SW List!
Did you know that Stephen Slevinski and I are working together under
the same non-profit organization here in the US? I started the
educational organization to give a gift to the world...namely a way to
read and write any sign language in the world...SignWriting is yours to
use as a tool in your daily lives...I want nothing more but to see
libraries filled with beautiful books written in the beautiful signed
languages of the world, giving them the proper respect and dignity they
deserve...

To do this, I formed a non-profit organization, under the US tax-code
called a 501c3...The organization is called the Center For Sutton
Movement Writing, and we write grants to foundations, hoping that we
can get funding...There is now a second non-profit organization,
founded and run by Deaf people in Iowa that is also a 501c3 and is also
using SignWriting!! Stuart Thiessen and Phillipe Galant, are two Deaf
ASL signers who have started an organization called
Pass-It-On-Services...and I am so proud of their work with SignWriting!

So here in the US we are trying to build respect and also jobs for all
those who work with SignWriting. One way is for us to expand our web
services so that all of you can get better services through SignPuddle
and SignBank...with Stephen and I, as your "technical support
providers"!

That is why last week, Stephen and I made a big leap...We moved from
one server to another...In other words...it is like moving a
house...but we moved all of our computer files...all of our 8 web
sites...I have 7 and then Stephen's SignPuddle...every single country
file had to be moved to a new machine that will give us a bigger web
site later....So we had to do this...BUT...it has taken a lot of time
to move all the files and now we find that some of our pages are not
working properly on the new machine...and DeafVision, our web server,
is trying to help us, but we have not solved all the problems of the
move yet...I am afraid some features may not work as well right now,
and that is only because we made a move a week ago...It is most likely
not connected, Anny, to the SignSearch feature, but instead it is
connected to moving our server...

So if you find problems with SignPuddle, it is only because of this
move, and we are really working hard to try to rectify these
problems...I want to thank Stephen for providing us with such great
tech support...

But now, the real purpose of this message is to explain that our
non-profit organization needs funding to pay Stephen and others who
work with us...Therefore we are writing grants, but we are also going
to be setting up fee-based special technical support for groups that
need special help, and special web services...

So if your research group needs help and has a big project, write to me
privately and we can discuss the costs for us to give you your own
private web area to create your own dictionaires...

Ingvild Roald is flying in from Norway tonight to visit me!! I hope we
can write an email message to you later this week....Ingvild wil be
here until Friday next week -

So if my communication is a little disjointed in the next week, that is
because Ingvild and I are talking a lot!! smile Ingvild and I are old
friends...we have known each other since 1988, when Ingvild starting
using SignWriting teaching physics and science to Deaf students in
Bergen, Norway...

We are also having our annual board meeting Monday, March 7th...that is
tomorrow evening! So lots happening...

Val ;-)