“It couldn’t happen here.”
That assumption — that mass casualty events are someone else’s problem, in someone else’s community — is exactly what Deaf and hard of hearing professionals across the country needed to hear challenged. We are proud to share that four Maine professionals took this message to the national stage in May 2024 — representing Maine’s Deaf community, state government, interpreting, and social work.
At the 2024 ADARA Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, four Maine professionals presented together — bringing perspectives from Deaf leadership, state government, interpreting, and clinical social work:
Sitara Sheikh (Co-President of MeAD), Terry Morrell (Director of the Division for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Late-Deafened at the Maine Department of Labor), Tristen Evah Hellewell (hearing ASL interpreter, Maine), and Kristine Gile (licensed social worker, Maine) presented:
“It Couldn’t Happen Here: Lessons Learned from/in the Aftermath of the Mass Shooting in Maine”
The presentation took place on Thursday, May 30, 2024, at the ADARA Conference hosted at the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North.
What They Presented
The presentation drew directly from the lived experience of Maine’s Deaf community in the hours, days, and weeks following the October 25, 2023, Lewiston mass shooting — the deadliest in Maine’s history. Four Deaf community members were among the 18 killed.
The title was intentional. “It couldn’t happen here” is the assumption that leaves communities unprepared. Lewiston proved that it can happen anywhere. And when it does, Deaf and hard of hearing community members face layers of crisis that hearing survivors do not: inaccessible emergency alerts, interpreters locked out of hospitals, VRI systems failing under load, law enforcement unprepared to communicate with Deaf witnesses and survivors.
The four presenters brought different perspectives to the same event — organizational leadership, state government, interpreting, and clinical social work — making the case that the gaps exposed in Lewiston are systemic, not local, and that every community with a Deaf population needs to prepare now.
ADARA and Why It Matters
ADARA (American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association) is the national professional organization for practitioners working at the intersection of deafness and mental health, vocational rehabilitation, and social services. Its annual conference brings together clinicians, counselors, interpreters, social workers, and VR professionals from across the country.
Presenting at ADARA meant Maine’s Lewiston experience reached the professionals who work directly with Deaf people in crisis — and who have the ability to change protocols, train colleagues, and push for systemic reform in their own states.
The Broader Impact
This presentation was one of several ways MeAD and Maine partners have taken the lessons of Lewiston beyond state lines. Earlier in 2024, Matt Webster, MJ Grant, Liz Seal, and Kevin Bohlin presented at the Greater Rochester Deaf and Hard of Hearing Emergency Preparedness Summit at RIT/NTID, reaching New York State emergency managers, first responders, and elected officials.
The goal of both presentations was the same: make sure that what happened to Maine’s Deaf community never happens to another community — and that when it does happen, the response is faster, more coordinated, and more accessible.
Maine Association of the Deaf (MeAD) is Maine’s only Deaf-led advocacy organization. Est. 1877. Learn more at deafmaine.org.