Happy Hands Getting Helping Hand

Happy Hands is getting a helping hand. The non-profit school has been teaching deaf and hearing-impaired children for the past 15 years. They outgrew their tiny building long ago. Now, as News On 6's Steve Berg reports, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is helping them build a new facility.

For Al Proo, this building is a dream 15 years in the making.

"The new facility is transformational for Happy Hands," said Al Proo with Happy Hands Education Center.

When he started, Proo had no personal connection with a deaf person, or any experience teaching them. He just says he felt a calling. He started the Happy Hands Ministry in 1993 after discovering the average deaf adult only had a 3rd grade reading level and that there was no early-childhood program for deaf children in Oklahoma.

"When we started out, we grew 500%, just immediately," said Proo. "And so ever since that time, we've always had a waiting list. And so we've never really hurt for enrollment."

But, they have been hurting for space. The school is really a converted house with just 1,600 square feet.

"Very compact, like our speech therapist has to work in a laundry room," said Proo.

Now, they're going from 1,600 square feet to 20,000 square feet. This allows them to expand both programs and enrollment, making Happy Hands, even happier.

"We'll be able to double the amount of children that we serve now, which is wonderful. That's what we're here for," said Proo.

Proo says they'll be able to serve 70 children at the new building, but he estimates there are more than 1,000 hearing impaired children in Northeastern Oklahoma. So, he hopes this is still just the beginning of his mission.

The Reynolds Foundation is giving $6.6 million to the new Happy Hands building. Happy Hands has raised another $2.7 million of its own.

They hope to open the building in about 2 years.