Bridges for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Bridges for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing was founded in 1927 by Margaret Lane Washington. After learning she was losing her hearing, this young, Middle Tennessee mother, with no services available to her locally, moved to Washington, D.C. where she became a certified lip reading teacher. In 1927, she taught her first speech reading class at the Watkins Institute in downtown Nashville. That first class of thirteen students was the genesis of Bridges for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and Ms. Washington remained a guiding light at Bridges until her death in 1991, seeing the organization evolve through different names and services. Today, we are a comprehensive service organization with programs and services for birth through senior years. ​ With three offices, BridgesTN (Nashville), BridgesEAST (Johnson City), and BridgesWEST (Memphis), BridgesDHH serves Tennessee, northern Alabama, southern Kentucky, and parts of Mississippi, Arkansas, Virginia, and North Carolina. We serve D/deaf, Deaf-Blind, and hard of hearing individuals and hearing families and allies in these areas, providing education, outreach, case management, interpreting services, and more--always striving for a vibrant community of equality, access, opportunity, and self realization, a community in which all are welcomed and valued.

We are a Deaf service agency, we provide ASL interpreters, as well as set up community events for the Deaf community. We also have Empowerment and outreach services.