Making a Difference: Hear This
Pheona Kelly, human resources consultant at Dominion Energy South Carolina, says she was only 5 or 6 years old when her cousin, then just 2, became profoundly deaf—a side effect of the medication used to treat a bout of rheumatic fever.
Kelly remembers her family and her cousin struggling to communicate with one another—until her cousin started attending the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind at age 6, where she learned American Sign Language. “She came home, and you could see her personality shine,” said Kelly. “She just needed a different way to communicate.”
That was when Kelly first realized the power of sign language for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
The connection was solidified when, in her early 20s, she met a family at church whose little girl was deaf. The child had no one—not even parents—who could sign with her and was thrilled when Kelly could sign a few words. Kelly and several others at church then took a sign language class, where the instructor talked about the vital need for sign language interpreters. “That locked me in,” said Kelly, who, while working full-time, enrolled in a technical college to earn a degree in American Sign Language, then in public service with a focus on interpreting, and finally a four-year degree in interpreting.
Kelly soon connected with the South Carolina Association of the Deaf and with local agencies, where she could offer interpreting services after hours and on the weekends for various appointments, weddings, funerals, church services, schools—“tons of experiences,” said Kelly.
Twenty years later, Kelly, who also just celebrated her 28th year working at Dominion Energy, is still serving people who are deaf. “I just love it,” she said. “I love that I can do this. It’s my passion.”
Dominion Energy recently recognized Kelly and others as volunteers of the year at the utility.
The utility’s support includes eight paid hours for volunteerism every year, plus financial support to causes that employees care about. “That means something to us [as employees],” said Kelly. “For years, I kept what I did to myself. Nobody knew I had this whole other life outside of Dominion in the Deaf community. But Dominion makes it very clear that they want to support the community we live in. We hear this a lot: Bring your whole selves to work. It says so much about how the company sees volunteerism and how the company is committed to and even encourages supporting the community.”