Our Home: Expansion and Growth

Eric Horodas, Jill Ellis, and Tom Bates at the CEID Ground Breaking, 2003

One of the most pivotal moments in CEID history in the 2000s was the design, funding, and construction of CEID’s current Center in Berkeley, CA. After 15 years in a rented North Berkeley location on Hopkins Street, CEID raised funding to secure the property on Grayson Street and began building a specialized facility for our Bay Area community, a place where families could get all the services they need under one roof. Designed by a CEID alum parent, the CEID campus was custom-built to meet the needs of children and adults who are deaf and hard of hearing. Some of these unique features include one-way observation windows for parents and health professionals, a fully accessible playground, and a completely quiet radiant floor heating system for sound to be readily available.
 
With the custom building came much growth and expansion. Not only did the building allow CEID to better serve the existing children and families, it also paved the way for new services, including our on-site Audiology Clinic. This gave CEID another avenue to meet the needs of both new and existing patients through professional, licensed audiology services. Today, the Clinic serves all ages from newborns to seniors through hearing screenings, evaluations, hearing aid fittings, and so much more.
 
The building also allowed CEID to open the Sunshine Preschool and Childcare for typically developing children to attend alongside their peers who are deaf and hard of hearing. Today, the Sunshine Preschool and Childcare continues to foster an environment of inclusion, where children are exposed to sign language and participate in field trips with their peers who are deaf and hard of hearing. Through this integrative approach, we are proud to create a space for CEID students to develop sensitivity, empathy, and compassion.
 
During our 40th anniversary, we gratefully remember the donors and key advocates who made the building possible and continue to stay connected today: Eric Horodas (Board President at the time), Jill Ellis (Founder and Executive Director), Susi Marzuola (Building Architect), Moe Wright (BBI Construction), and many others. The goal of the Center was to be a one-stop shop for individuals who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and the CEID campus significantly grew our ability to be adaptive and sensitive to the changing needs of the community around us.
 
Looking forward in the decades to come, we will continue using our unique home to foster connection, provide critical resources, and create a safe, inclusive, community for all who enter our doors.
 
To donate towards sustaining our state-of the art Center, please visit www.ceid.org/donate.
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For more information about our Center and a Virtual Tour, please visit https://www.ceid.org/our-center.html

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