“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/

Events, Aktion ClubBrittany CoonMarch 8, 2019self advocacy, advocate, Advocacy, deve, Developmental Disabilities, Disability Awareness, developmental disability awareness month

Boots & Belles : DD Awareness Month Kickoff Dance

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!

EventsBrittany CoonMarch 6, 2019Knox County Career CenterDance, DD Month, Developmental Disabilities, Disability Awareness, Inclusion

Lego Club: Out of this World Spaceships!

Thank you to everyone who came out to Lego Club at MVNU on 1/31! We had another great turnout and families enjoyed creating fun ‘out of this world’ Lego Creations!

Events, Lego ClubBrittany CoonFebruary 22, 2019Mount Vernon Nazarene Universitylego club, lego, Inclusion works, Inclusion, sensory inclusive

Lego Club: Captivating Castles

On January 16th, over 60 people joined us and built their very own Castle Creations! Everyone had a great time— especially those who won door prizes!

Thank you everyone for joining us and to MVNU for hosting us! Stay tuned for our next Lego Club event in a couple of weeks!

Students, Events, Lego ClubBrittany CoonJanuary 23, 2019Mount Vernon Nazarene UniversityLego, Lego Club, Inclusion works, Inclusion, play together, play Comment

It takes Heart

The Knox County Chamber of Commerce holds their Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony each January. The Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities was nominated for and received the Heart Award, which honors a Chamber member that “achieves and maintains architectural design that compliments our community.” The All-Inclusive Playground that has been built at Memorial Park has been a massive project that broke ground in September and was completed in December of 2018. This playground will be a wonderful place for all families to come together to play and make wonderful memories!

Thank you, Knox County for helping us make our community a wonderful place to live, work and play!

Awards, StoriesBrittany CoonJanuary 8, 2019Heart Award, Knox County Chamber of Commerce, Award, Playground, Inclusive Playground

2018 Holiday Video

The staff at the Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities wish you a wonderful Holiday season!

StoriesBrittany CoonDecember 10, 2018happy holidays, holiday video, theres no place like homeComment

It's a Wonderful Life [Orange Barrel Productions]

Knox County is an amazing place to live. We have such great supports, opportunities and a wonderful community of people. Orange Barrel Productions has been so inclusive to some people that are in our program and have included them in this year’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” performance.

You can catch Joe, Devine, Paul and David give exemplary performances at any of their upcoming shows. The show is scheduled for November 8, 9, 10, 15, 16 & 17. All shows begin at 7PM and tickets are $10.

Make sure you like Orange Barrel Production’s Facebook Page!

Events, StoriesBrittany CoonNovember 9, 2018Mount Vernon Developmental Center, Great Roominclusion, Inclusion works, Orange Barrel Productions, acting, its a wonderful life

Katie - Baker's IGA

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!

Employment, StoriesBrittany CoonOctober 15, 2018Baker's IGAemployed, employer, Developmental Disabilities, disability employment awareness month, bakers iga

Carina - Dairy Queen

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!”

— Carina G.

Employment, StoriesBrittany CoonOctober 8, 2018Dairy QueenDevelopmental Disabilities, disability employment awareness month, employed, employer, dairy queen

Luke - AVI Food Systems

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.