PIERRE-LOUIS FAMILY

Family, with deaf parents, needs help meeting basics

UPDATE Feb. 5, 2010

In Lake Worth, a deaf couple struggling to raise two young daughters amid tough economic times also felt the community’s giving spirit. Elna and Wilnick Pierre-Louis, hotel housekeeping attendants who often went without meals so they could afford to feed their girls, ages 2 and 4, have received clothes, shoes, household necessities and cash donations to help pay bills.

Their daughters have been inundated with gifts, says Jeanned’arc Tousignant, the family’s caseworker at Adopt-a-Family of the Palm Beaches.

“They got clothes, toys - so many learning toys and toys that make noise,” says Tousignant. “People went crazy. It was awesome.”

The caseworker says the family has been adopted by at least two community clubs, including a Girl Scout troop.

“This means this family can now breathe. They don’t have to live the way they were living, worried every single minute,” says the caseworker. “It’s a big weight off their shoulders.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

By LIZ BALMASEDA
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

In the silence between them, the young husband and wife communicate in elegant sweeps of hands and soaring words unspoken. Elna and Wilnick Pierre-Louis, both deaf, share a language that combines American sign language with the colloquial touches of their native Haiti, where they met and fell in love.

They are parents to two little girls, ages 4 and 2, both girls born hearing able. While the Lake Worth couple faces daily challenges in navigating the sensory gulf that divides their quite vocal daughters from their own soundless world, these are nothing compared with the larger hardships they face as a family.

This extraordinary family is facing struggles that in today’s bleak economy may seem ordinary. Elna, 28, was laid off from her housekeeping job at a local hotel. Wilnick, 32, works shortened hours in the laundry room of a beach resort.

“His hours seem shorter every day,” says Elna, a slender woman with a disarming smile, through an interpreter. She keeps a watchful eye on her youngest girl, Merline, who is sounding out words nearby with the family’s social worker.

Money is so scarce now that she has been forced to cut back on essentials. “If I make rice and chicken, we’ll save half of it for tomorrow,” says Elna.

What worries the couple most is not being able to pay the light bill, which runs about $86 a month. No light means they cannot see one’s hand signals at night.

But Elna, like her husband, will speak about the scarcity only when probed. The couple prefers to speak of their gratitude toward Adopt-a-Family of the Palm Beaches. Thanks to the agency, the family has lived in a cozy townhome in a subsidized project since last year. Left homeless when they could no longer afford their $745 rent, they were offered a new, clean place for $500 a month. The unit is outfitted with flashing light sensors to alert the couple to the door bell and with a screen that displays missed calls.

“We’re so lucky to have this nice apartment,” says Wilnick, a quick-witted, energetic man with a strong commitment to the education of his daughters.

It takes a while for him to reveal what’s missing in the two-bedroom apartment: beds. The family has slept for years on the floor. The detail was lost in translation. As soon as the agency heard about it, it found beds for the family. But the incident brought up a central issue: this family needs regular interpretation services to keep it engaged, healthy and safe.

Sign language interpreter Deborah Wesson Gibson contributed her services for this report.

PIERRE-LOUIS FAMILY’S WISH

Elna and Wilnick Pierre-Louis, a deaf couple living in Lake Worth, struggle to provide the basics for their two young daughters. They scrape by with little income, since Elna was laid off from her housekeeping job and Wilnick’s hours have been reduced to part-time. They would benefit greatly from supermarket gift cards for groceries, clothes and shoes for the girls — ages 2 and 4 — and Christmas toys and decorations. They ask for nothing for themselves, but clearly they could use clothing and shoes for themselves. The family also needs regular interpretation services to keep them engaged in their daughters’ world — and keep them healthy and safe.