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Leah Palmer: A Journey of Perseverance
From overcoming childhood hearing loss to building a fulfilling career, Leah Palmer's journey is a testament to resilience, determination, and the transformative power of community.
Leah Palmer lost her hearing when she was just seven years old. At this young age, she committed herself to learning American Sign Language which would be instrumental in helping her learn how to read, write, and communicate with others. American Sign Language and Leah’s incredible perseverance have guided her quest to teach and help others with special needs.
Leah first came to The Kennedy Collective (TKC) for services in 1993. When she started with TKC, her first job was helping with a variety of tasks – whatever needed to be done. Wanting to do more and become more independent, Leah turned to TKC to help her prepare for and secure a job with Stop & Shop which she held for more than 20 years. TKC helped Leah develop the skills she needed to do the best job she could do and that’s what she did.”
While at Stop & Shop, Leah held a number of positions from bagging & loading groceries in customer’s cars to helping customers find items and teaching sign language to the staff. She officially retired from Stop & Shop in 2019 to pursue her dream of going back to school to become certified to teach American Sign Language to others.
Indra Prendergast, Residential Support Worker in The Kennedy Collective In Home Services group, is Leah’s case manager. Indra started her journey with The Kennedy Collective in 2019. She loves working with Leah and is particularly proud of Leah’s determination to learn and her unwillingness to ever give up.
According to Indra, Leah is the definition of perseverance. “She decided she wanted to pursue certification for teaching American Sign Language and found a program at Northwestern Community College. Northwestern was too far to travel so Leah enrolled in the online program but soon discovered the challenges of online learning, especially for someone with a disability. That didn’t stop her. Leah is very solutions driven and has a passion for helping others, so she turned her focus to art.
After much soul searching and research, Leah discovered Housatonic Community College (HCC) offers a program that would allow her to pursue certification to teach art as an art therapist. Today, Leah is enrolled in two classes at HCC. She has embraced the program and the people she has met on her new journey and is excited about the prospects ahead. Leah says her ultimate goal is to come full circle and become an art therapist helping individuals who attend TKC’s Maggie Daly Arts Cooperative program.
