By Alex Vlahopoulos
The National Court Reporters Foundation (NCRF) was proud to support Celebrate Communication 2026, a free community event bringing together deaf, hard-of-hearing, deafblind, and hearing individuals, families, professionals, and community partners. Trustees voted to provide a $1,000 sponsorship, which the Northern Virgina Resource Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Persons used at its event to provide live CART captioning.
Hosted on Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Springfield Town Center in Springfield, Va., the NVRC event offered attendees an opportunity to celebrate connection and communication while learning about resources, services, technologies, and organizations serving the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.
More than 30 exhibitors participated in the event, representing a wide range of organizations and services. Attendees could explore hearing-assistive technologies, captioning services, apps, hearing aids, cochlear implants, tinnitus resources, ASL, accessibility services, community programs, and more. The event also featured crafters, networking opportunities, raffle prizes, and family activities including face painting.
NCRF Manager Alex Vlahopoulos attended Celebrate Communication and had the opportunity to speak with Bonnie B. O’Leary, NVRC Outreach Manager. O’Leary, who is a Gallaudet University-certified peer mentor and Hearing Loss Association of America-certified hearing loss support specialist, expressed her appreciation for NCRF’s support of the event.
“We’re very grateful to the National Court Reporters Foundation for sponsoring this event. We’re going to show many, many people how wonderful captioning can be,” said O’Leary.
The Foundation’s contribution was also recognized by Darren Marquardt, Executive Director of NVRC, who shared his gratitude directly with NCRF. “I just want to thank NCRF,” he said. “We couldn’t do it without you.”
For NCRF, supporting events such as Celebrate Communication reflects the Foundation’s commitment to advancing communication access and supporting the communities served by court reporters, captioners, and other professionals who facilitate access to spoken and written information.
NCRF thanks NVRC, its staff and volunteers, all event organizers, exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees who helped make Celebrate Communication 2026 a day focused on connection, inclusion, and communication.
To learn more about the Northern Virginia Resource Center and its programs, visit www.nvrc.org.
For more information about NCRF, contact NCRF Director Jill Parker Landsman at jlandsman@ncra.org or NCRF Manager Alex Vlahopoulos at avlahopoulos@ncra.org.
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