On 9 February 2018, our community became aware of an enormous tragedy – the death of Ben Souter. Ben was a highly skilled and experienced interpreter, interpreter trainer and mentor. He was passionate about creating a mental health hub for deaf people because he felt strongly that deaf people, especially Auslan users, had incomplete access to mental health information and services.
In memory of Ben, Karli Health Centre – a service dedicated to the provision of mental health services to deaf and hard-of-hearing people – has established a Fund with the aim of providing grants to individuals who wish to contribute to growing the resources aimed at Deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Strathmore Wood has partnered with Karli Health Centre to administer the grants.
Grants from the Fund are awarded annually; each year has a different “theme”. Our purpose is to promote awareness and education in deaf mental health and deaf mental health interpreting.
