CDSC - About Us

About Us

On a Sunday afternoon, June 4, 1976, the elderly deaf of Greater Hartford responded to a call by Albert Berke, then the president of Connecticut Council of Organizations Serving the Deaf (CCOSD), to meet in the basement of the Lutheran Church of the Deaf, West Hartford, for the purpose of considering whether or not to formally organize a group of deaf senior citizens. Mr. Berke opened the meeting by stating that there were a number of deaf senior citizen groups in other states and suggested that we considered the possibility of forming one in Connecticut.

Mr. Berke then turned the meeting over to Gordon Clarke of West Hartford, who, with approval of those present, became the official chairman. Andrew Kostruba of Rocky Hill was appointed by the chairman to take notes of the proceedings. The 23 senior citizens, the majority of whom were West Hartford residents, voted unanimously to form a group called Deaf Senior Citizens of Greater Hartford and later on became incorporated with the State of Connecticut and became Deaf Senior Citizens, Inc.

They moved from the Elmwood Community Center to the Newington Senior and Disabled Center in 1990 in order to have a bigger facility for more people to attend for socials. Today the membership number has increased to over 150. The group meets every Tuesday from nine to four-thirty at the Senior Center to hold meetings, socials, and on occassions to have guest speakers. The CDSC is affiliated with the Connecticut Council of Organizations the Deaf.