WINNIPEG -- Manitoba family appeals to province to help fund Deaf students to go to only Deaf university in world.
A Manitoba family is calling on the provincial government to better fund schooling for Deaf students after they incurred thousands of dollars of debt for just one year of university for their son.
Last year, 18-year-old Cody Zimmer left his home in Winnipeg to attend Gallaudet University in Washington D.C., the world's only university exclusively for Deaf students.
"My vision of what it might be like was completely obliterated - it was so much more than what I expected," said Cody. "I made so many friends so quickly. I was involved in sports and soccer. It was just such a quick year because it was so exciting. It felt like a blink and it was done."
But his education came with a hefty price tag. One year of undergraduate study cost his family $56,000 (including tuition, dorm fees and health insurance.)
And financial assistance was limited; Cody's application and appeal to have the full cost covered were denied by the province. Instead, he got about $10,000.
"They would support him in going [to Gallaudet], however, they'll only pay at the level of what tuition would be at the University of Manitoba," said Rick Zimmer, Cody's father.
The province used to fund the cost of Deaf students attending Gallaudet completely, but they've since reduced the amount of money students can apply for and instead encourage them to go to a Manitoba school and use interpreters.
Officials with the Manitoba government said the province runs a $1.9-million-a-year program called marketAbilities, "that provides the same amount of funding to a student pursuing training out of province as would be available to the student if they chose to study in Manitoba. Courses that have no equivalent in Manitoba may be fully funded."... CBC News with Closed Captioning.
Why fundraising campaign? - April 14, 1997 Cody Zimmer was born and from that moment I knew he was bound for greatness. You see Cody is Deaf and he comes from a long line of Deaf family members and I knew from the moment we found out he was Deaf that he was going to change the world.
Cody and his family have spent countless hours advocating for basic human rights that Deaf people are denied. It is now time for Cody to pursue his dream of going to university. Cody wanted to go to a university where everyone shares his culture and language. Unfortunately there is only one university in the world that provides this opporunity That university is Gallaudet and it is located in Washington D.C. Read more: Cody's Gallaudet Dream - gofundme.com
Cody Zimmer's fundraising website:
http://www.gofundme.com/w5nz8g8
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