Durham College’s Communicative Disorders Assistant (CDA) (graduate certificate) program recently received a generous donation when the Oshawa Horseless Carriagemen presented the college with a cheque for $2,500 on behalf of Harmonize for Speech, a fundraising project of the Ontario District Association of Chapters of Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Singing of America, commonly known the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). The project provides funds for numerous speech-related projects and equipment at organizations across the province.

In addition, a portion of the funds donated were also raised by the Oshawa Horseless Carriagemen, a BHS member that has been supporting the college for eight years.

“Thank-you so much to the Oshawa Horseless Carriagemen and Harmonize for Speech for this wonderful support of our CDA program,” said Elizabeth Maga, CDA program co-ordinator. “We could not provide as high a quality of learning as we do without this very generous donation.”

The CDA program uses the funds to purchase new textbooks, assessment tools and resources that will be used to prepare students for working with clients who have speech impairments both in their field placements and in the workforce. The funds also allow the program to bring in guest speakers such as Debra Goshulak, a world-renowned speaker from the Speech and Stuttering Institute, who came to campus in November to speak to students as part of the Articulation and Phonology course.

The CDA program is a one-year graduate certificate program that prepares students to work with speech-language pathologists and audiologists to help implement effective treatment plans to help people of all ages communicate more effectively. It welcomes approximately 32 students each year.

“We are very grateful for the support of the Oshawa Horseless Carriagemen and Harmonize for Speech,” added Maga. “All these resources are of such great benefit to our current and future CDA students and to the community in general. What the students learn from using these resources now will help so many individuals with communicative disorders in the future.”