Angelo Damante is a man of commitment and achievement. He is involved in his community and has supported numerous events and organizations over the years, even as he has grown a thriving Southern California business. Still, the community leader specifically avoided involvement with hearing loss causes out of respect for his son who has hearing loss. For the same reason, he now serves on the board of Deafness Research Foundation (DRF).
“This is my first tangible involvement with a deafness-related organization. The reason I held back was my son, John-Paul, and, of course, he is the reason that I am now so committed as well.” Damante and his wife felt strongly that John-Paul should grow up without focusing on his differences from other young boys and girls and Damante was reticent to call attention to his son via potential involvement at the time.
The strategy apparently paid off. Diagnosed deaf at two years of age, John-Paul Damante is now an independent high school senior who is “well-cemented in his own identity,” according to Damante. A recipient of the 2005 Hearing Healthy Youth Award, the younger Damante is the inspiration for his father’s position as a member of the DRF board of directors, and now sees himself as an example for others with hearing loss and he hopes to make a difference in their lives.
“I’ve served on many boards,” explains Damante, whose community involvement has included work with the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation and the Junior Seau Foundation, among numerous other non-profit organizations. “I serve on the DRF board because of the inspiration of my son,” says Damante. “It’s an honor to be asked and I hope to bring firsthand experience of what it is like to live with a Deaf child, as well as a little of my business-savvy to the board in order to help grow the organization.”
Damante’s first-hand experience was indeed memorable, as he and his wife took on what felt like Herculean tasks in the form of enrolling John-Paul in their local school’s mainstream classes, helping their son learn to process sound with his cochlear implant, and, of course, the frequent visits to audiologists and other hearing specialists that are characteristic of the world of concerned parents of a child with hearing loss.
With his son now approaching adulthood – and the impending new challenges of college life and beyond – Damante knows there will be more forks in the road and unanticipated obstacles that young hearing adults may not encounter.
The elder Damante, a highly successful Mercedez-Benz dealer who has grown his 18-year old business from 38 to 200 employees, and recently unveiled an impressive $16 million expansion and state-of-the-art modernization of his San Diego-area dealership, is confident the younger Damante is up to the challenge. Apparently, this apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
