Josh worked with our Employment Manager who helped him through some of the different employment programs that we can offer to help people with disabilities be employed in the community. This past summer he landed a job at Premier Theatre 7. He loves getting to go to work for each of his shifts and work hard. He loves being able to help clean the theater to keep it looking nice for all of the customers. Each shift he cleans the benches in the hallway, cleans all of the posters, door knobs, hand rails and all of the booster seats. This opportunity has meant the world to him!
Jocelyn and Debbie have been working together for many years. Jocelyn has been learning more about her disability over the years and Debbie has been a wonderful support for her to help her get to conferences to learn how to advocate for herself and others who have disabilities.
Jocelyn is a wonderful advocate and role model. She has gone to college to get her Associates Degree and she works two jobs in the community! She is truly an inspiration! Make sure you check out the billboard that she will be featured on in October for Disability Employment Awareness Month!
Cheyenne started working with Paula just a few short months ago. In that time, their relationship has truly started to blossom! Cheyenne has been learning about taking care of horses and farm life since Paula owns her own farm! They love to spend time outdoors, taking care of horses and going out doing fun things.
Mary and Diane have been working together for years! Mary comes into Diane’s home and helps her around the house, helps her get ready for work and they go out and have fun! Mary and Diane can’t imagine not working together—they have formed an amazing relationship with each other that can’t be broken.
Mary is honored to be able to help Diane live the life she chooses and loves being able to help her achieve her dreams!
Jackie and Kelly have been working together for a little while now. Jackie is an independent provider and provides opportunities for Kelly to be able to go out to eat, go shopping and go to the theatre! Jackie and Kelly also enjoy spending time with Alyssa; the three of them make quite the team!
Will and Peter keep busy by participating in many different activities! A few years ago, they found out about the Adaptive Sports Connection in Powell, OH which provides adaptive technology to help empower anyone with physical and cognitive challenges through sports and therapeutic outdoor recreation! The mission of the Adaptive Sports Connection is to help people with challenges stay healthy and happy by focusing on their ABILITIES.
While at Children’s Hospital for one of Will’s appointments, they have met many other families who help encourage and provide resources to each other. One of the resources that Will and Peter learned about was the Adaptive Sports Connection program. Will and Peter try to regularly go to the kayaking, water skiing and downhill skiing programs. Will’s favorite is the skiing--- he loves speed! Each time Will goes, the instructors and volunteers try new ways of adapting the equipment to make Will’s experience as enjoyable as possible.
Once the custom pieces of adaptive equipment are added to the kayak, Peter and the instructors load Will into his tailored kayak, get different pieces of foam to strategically add around his body to ensure he is able to sit upright and get his paddles ready! Once it’s his turn to load into the water, a float with wheels is loaded under his kayak and he is wheeled down to the water’s edge. His kayak has a set of outrigger floats on the back to help prevent him from tipping it over.
Each time Will goes out kayaking, he has his father Peter, as well as a volunteer (Christina) and the instructor (David). As a group they work diligently to learn how Will kayaks and what can help him have a better experience. Each time he goes out, he builds his stamina and is able to kayak longer than the last time! Once he gets tired, he can either paddle himself back in or his volunteer can tether their kayak to his and paddle him back in.
If you are interested in participating in one of the great programs offered by the Adaptive Sports Connection, please go onto their website to learn how to get involved! https://adaptivesportsconnection.org/
For the past 6 years we have held the annual Summerfest! Each year it has been something fun and different—- this year we decided to bring it back to the basics and have a simple and fun picnic at the park! The rain didn’t deter us from having a nice afternoon together. There was lots of fun and laughter during our picnic!
We had several families join us back in June for Lego Club: Sports at MVNU! Our next date is 8/7, 4:30-6:00 at MVNU again! We hope everyone can join us as we create fun musical Lego masterpieces!
As Jacob hops from one piece of equipment to another at Harmony Playground, it can be hard to imagine that just a short time ago he was needing a lot of assistance navigating stairs, uneven surfaces and new surroundings.
Jacob and his family have been utilizing the PLAY Project through Early Intervention and Help Me Grow at Knox DD. The PLAY Project is an autism intervention program that helps young children who are suspected to have autism or have an autism diagnosis reach their full potential through play. The PLAY consultants meet the families and children where they are developmentally and help them learn how to interact with each other in meaningful ways. The PLAY Project helps coach the families and care givers to learn how to have playful interactions with their child. Parents implement different techniques through the week and meet with the PLAY consultants regularly to gauge what is working and not working to help build the confidence and relationships in the home. When you do what the child likes to do, the child will love being with you, interacting with you and building you relationships stronger.
Jacob and his family have been working with our PLAY consultant Kae and they have seen extraordinary progress from Jacob as he learns how to better navigate his world. Jacobs’s mom Amy stated that she has learned so much about interacting with him in a way that is beneficial for him and meets him where he is developmentally. While going through this program as a family, they have observed that he has started engaging in his surroundings more and he has noticed more of what’s happening around him rather than just living in his own little bubble. While we were at Harmony Playground there was a tractor mowing grass, and he noticed it and was fascinated watching it! This is something he wouldn’t have noticed before.
Jacob was building his confidence throughout the PLAY session at the playground. He started his visit with crawling around on the different pieces of equipment to learn how they all worked and by the end of our visit he was running, navigating the equipment like a pro and he dared to get onto the “Drop Zone!”
If you are interested in learning more about the PLAY project, please visit their website at: https://www.playproject.org/statewide-p-l-y-training-ohio/ or contact Brenda Coffman, Early Intervention Director at bcoffman@knoxdd.com
On April 25, 2019 the Knox County Chamber of Commerce held the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Harmony Playground, the new fully inclusive playground in Mount Vernon. Harmony Playground has been a wonderful collaborative project with the Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Crossfit 1808, the Knox County Health Department Creating Healthy Communities and many other wonderful team members that brought together this amazing playground for all families in Knox County and beyond.
Carol Grubaugh, with the Chamber of Commerce led the ceremony and we heard wonderful remarks from Katie Fiorilli, Crossfit 1808 & Caroline’s Classic; Tami Ruhl, Knox County Health Department Creating Healthy Communities; Steve Oster, Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities; and Mayor Dick Mavis, City of Mount Vernon. Thank you to Jamie and Levi Sanders for cutting the ribbon!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this project a reality, and thank you to everyone who came out to the ribbon cutting ceremony!
Generous donors who made this project a reality are:
Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities
The Ariel Foundation
Diversified Products & Services
Richard & Arline Landers Foundation
Crossfit 1808 Caroline’s Classic
United Way of Knox County
Kiwanis Club of Mount Vernon
The Energy Cooperative Operation Round Up Foundation, Inc.
The Ramser Family
Licking/Knox Goodwill Industries, Inc.
Knox County Health Department Creating Healthy Communities
Women United
First-Knox National Bank, Division of Park National Bank
Elks Care, Elks Share - Mount Vernon Elks #140
Celestine Watkins
Siemens Energy Systems, Inc.
Mount Vernon Rotary Foundation
City of Mount Vernon
Knox County Foundation
Foundation Parks Conservancy
Concepts in Community Living, Inc.
Margo de Camp
Steve Oster
Kim & Pam Rose
Ian & Charlotte Watson
Creative Foundations, Inc.
Gordy & Fran Yance
Delta Kappa Gamma of Knox County
Knox Community Hospital
Chip & Katie Wilson
Marc & Jen Odenweller
Geotechnical Consultants, Inc.
The Marlow Family
Deb Romas & Associates
Dr. Robert & Patricia Ronk
Riverside Recovery Services - Where Recovery Brings Hope
Amy Albery
Elena N. Brechler
Craig Black - Tricia Moore - Andrew & Anna Breen
Team “Neverquit” - AFC
Adam Daniels - Ben Durbin - Natalee Johnson - Trista Butler
Brock M. Evans
Lara K. Farmer
Built By Unity
Hanna Ford
Matthew Gibson
The Hickman Family
John & Kristin Hofferberth
Matthew Kelling
Always Forward CrossFit
Tara Lamb
Alex Lambert
Melissa Leonard
Ron & Natalie Lucas & Family
Dan & Rebekah Mullins
Emily Nussbaum
Alicia Olson
Evan Palmer
Kathy Patton
Chad & Tami Ruhl
Holden Richards
The Ruffner Family
In Memory of Dorothy “Dottie” Marchal
Megan West
Neal Bell - Justin Satin - Loriann Fuhrer - Kris Whiting
Nichole Williams
“N8” Woodford
Dick & Peggy Mavis
Flappers Bar & Grille - Norm & Erron Porter - Steve Oster
Benjamin Peter Ollis
Lucy Peterson
Barbara Jordan
Anonymous
Easterseals Central & Southeast Ohio
ViaQuest, Inc.
Gantt Homes Inc. & The HIVE
Teresa Bemiller
Joe & Miranda Conkle
Nick & Katie Fiorilli
Rhonda & Chuck Gherman
Steve & Kathy Greenich
Mike & Karen Hagans
Jaclynn Mahle
Joe & Sally Nelson
Donald & Nancy Omahan
Friends of Kelly Shoemaker
In Memory of Ashton Cordray
Moms of Mount Vernon Giving Back