The TBRI® Podcast | Season 5, Episode 6
Our guest today is Becky Lloyd Founder and Director of Signs for Hope. Since it was established in 2009, Signs for. Hope has evolved into an all-encompassing ministry of adoption surrounding Deaf children. Our host, Sarah Mercado, sat down with Becky to talk about her work with Signs of Hope and about how TBRI is adapted when working with the deaf community. Whether you are a hearing parent of a deaf child, a deaf parent of a deaf child, a professional working with deaf children, or someone who just wants to know more about best practices in adoption of deaf children, there is something for you in this conversation today
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About Our Guest:
Becky Lloyd is the Founder and Director of Signs for Hope (SFH). In the fall of 2000, at the age of 41, Becky followed God’s leading to return to school with the goal of becoming a certified American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. Deafness was prevalent in Becky’s family including her maternal grandparents, two aunts and an uncle and four 1st cousins. After completing a two-year degree in ASL interpreting, Becky followed God’s leading, again, to transfer to a 4-year program at Gardner-Webb University (GWU) in the fall of 2003. She graduated, in December of 2008, with a BS in ASL Studies and minor in ASL interpreting.
During her 8 years of schooling, between 2000 and 2008, Becky became deeply involved with the interpreted Deaf ministry of her church and began interpreting for Christian events across the state of NC. Her obsession became researching the question, “What is best for the deaf child?” during those 8 years of school, which has now become a strong foundation for Signs for Hope. On March 18, 2008, while driving to the GWU campus, God called Becky to “coordinate the adoption of deaf orphans in the world”. After the initial shock dwindled and multiple confirmations from God, Becky and her husband Charles embarked on an adventure that only God could envision.
The establishment of Signs for Hope, Inc. was begun in February of 2009 and became an approved charitable organization (501c3) under the IRS in November of 2013. Signs for Hope has evolved into an all-encompassing ministry of “adoption” surrounding Deaf children. It not only includes supporting families involved in the traditional adoption of Deaf children in a variety of ways, it also includes the “Heart Adoption”—monthly sponsorship—of Deaf children around the world that may never have the opportunity to be adopted and ultimately, God’s “adoption” of all deaf children.
In Becky’s spare time, she delights in spending time with her and Charles’ adult children, their spouses and granddaughters and enjoys photographing God’s incredible creation all around her.
About Our Host:
Sarah Mercado is a Training Specialist with the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development (KPICD). As training specialist, Sarah’s main focus is instructing professionals working with children who have experienced trauma, in Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®). TBRI®, a holistic, attachment-based, and trauma-informed intervention designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children, offers practical tools for caregivers to help those in their care reach their highest potential.
Sarah earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Sweet Briar College in Virginia. She began her career as a direct care staff working with adolescent boys living in a Residential Treatment Center (RTC). After serving in the RTC for several years, she shifted her focus to foster care, where she was Regional Director for a foster and adoption agency.
Sarah spent 20 years serving youth and families within residential and foster care settings as a direct-care worker and trainer before beginning her work with the Purvis Institute in May 2016.