Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month Luncheon

During the month of March, The Coshocton County Board of Developmental Disabilities (CCBDD) Celebrates Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month with many activities for everyone.

Each year we host a DD Awareness Month Luncheon where we invite community leaders, families, and people in our program to highlight a different facet of our programming. On March 15^th, we had around 165 people gather at Lake Park Pavilion to hear about how we are making Coshocton County more inclusive for everyone, hear about the seven different award winners (details below), and enjoy a delicious meal from Schumaker Farm.

We had a panel of community members who are working diligently to make Coshocton more inclusive. The panel consisted of Crimzen Christmas, Corazon Britton; Coshocton Public Library, Jacob LaVigne, and Valerie Shaw, Coshocton County Coordinated Transportation Agency. Crimzen shared how her journey with severe bilateral hearing loss has impacted her life and how she is using her disability to make the world a more inclusive place for everyone. Corazon shared about the many different programs the Coshocton Public Library offers that can accommodate anyone and also how partnering with us has changed the way they do their future planning for events and general accessibility. Jacob shared about how he is using his role as a Special Olympics Athlete Leader to guide the Coshocton County Special Olympics program. He also shared about being able to compete in Orlando, FL at the USA Games for Team Ohio and at the National Unified Bowling Tournament in Reno, NV. Lastly, Valerie was able to share how CCCTA is making transportation more accessible for everyone in Coshocton County.

Award Winners:

Local Hero Award: Crimzen Christmas, US Miss Buckeye State
Employer Award: Bob Evans Restaurants
Dedication Award: Wendy Shearn, Horizons & Tina Partmiter, Hopewell School
Community Partner Award: Coshocton County Coordinated Transportation Agency & Cindy Hilbish, Coshocton Public Health District
Individual Spotlight Award: Seth Fleming