Happy Holidays from everyone at the Knox County Board of DD! People from all across our county submitted pictures of them creating beautiful artworks and crafts celebrating this joyous holiday season. We hope you enjoy their amazing talents!
We hope you have a wonderful and magical holiday season!
“Always work with a smile!”
Dairy Queen has been a great partner in our community for employing people with disabilities. Mark has started working there this past summer and loves every minute of this opportunity! His entire shift, he is smiling, happy and working hard to keep the dining room spotless. He is very diligent about making sure all the condiments on the tables are fully stocked, the soda machine is clean and ready to use and he keeps the floors clean of trash and dropped food. He said that his motto is “Always work with a smile!”
If you’ve been to Goodwill Knox on Upper Gilchrist since they moved up there, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Blake. Blake started his job there during the summer when they were still located on Coshocton Rd. and has transitioned to their new location. He said that he really likes their new location and he enjoys going through all of the donations that come in and help organize them for sale. Blake works hard each and every shift he comes to work to help make sure Goodwill Knox is stocked and ready for customers!
As March comes to a close, it’s so wonderful to take some time to reflect on how amazing Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month is. We have been honored to be able to speak to Ohio State Legislators, have a fun evening dancing the night away, had a few Sensory Sensitive Movie showings, two Lego Club events, hosted our annual coloring and essay contest with all public schools in Knox County, and we had an amazing luncheon where we were able to honor so many great community leaders who make Knox County so amazing to live, work and thrive in.
At our DD Month Luncheon we discussed how technology can assist people who have developmental disabilities be more independent and have fuller lives. We were also able to honor 6 different people/groups who make Knox County so amazing.
Local Hero Award: Terri Pribonic, New Hope Industries
Employer Award: Justin Newell, Kenyon College Athletics
Community Partner Award: Public Library of Knox County and Mount Vernon
Community Partner Award: Premiere Theatre 7
Dedication Award: Tiffany Cagnon, Midwest Community
Individual Spotlight Award: Jocelyn Gilardi
Thank you for making Knox County so great!
“The Developmental Disability (DD) Advocacy and Awareness Day is an annual event that has taken place for over a decade at The Ohio Statehouse in March which is DD Awareness Month. The purpose of this event is to educate and empower people with developmental disabilities, their family members and other community allies to come together on a single day to advocate policy issues which impact the lives of people with developmental disabilities.”
Knox County had several self-advocates attend this event and were able to advocate for people with disabilities in our communities. Great job, everyone!
https://ddohio.wordpress.com/about/
For the past few years, we have held our annual Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month Kickoff Dance— This year our theme was “Boots & Belles”. We collected donations for Riverside Recovery Services- they enjoyed spending the evening with us, collecting donations and helping us tear down decorations at the end of the evening. Thank you everyone who made this night a success!
Please enjoy some of our photos! If you have any you’d like to share, feel free to send them our way!
Katie works at Baker’s IGA in Mount Vernon. She started her employment career through the Summer Youth Work Experience where she toured many different places of employment— Baker’s was by far her favorite! After she graduated from high school she started working with them two days a week. She loves working hard so she can save her money to go to concerts! Each day she starts with restocking the ice cream section, then makes her way through the store until all the departments are fully stocked and clean!
Carina has always had a dream of working in the community, talking to new people and earning her own money. Since July she has been working at Dairy Queen in Mount Vernon. She enjoys delivering food and ice cream to all the different customers, busing tables, cleaning the restaurant and learning new skills. She loves talking to all of the customers that come through and she ensures they have a wonderful experience at their location!
“It makes me proud that I can be on my own!”
Luke started his employment journey by doing Summer Youth Work Experience at various places around Knox County. His favorite place to work was AVI Food Systems at Kenyon College. He recalls that the first time he worked there he ate so much food he almost made himself sick! He’s been employed there for a little over a year and really enjoys working in the bakery department. He enjoys helping students fill up their plates, cleaning, sweeping, mopping and ensuring the departments are clean. He has great supports from his co-workers, managers and job coach.
“I like getting paid and trying to do different things”
"We love getting to do normal things- go to the movies, the zoo. We do totally typical things!" -Laura Sanders, mother to the beautiful and wonderful Elli and Levi, siblings who were both born with Down Syndrome!
