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I initially wanted to become a board
member because my children received

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early intervention services and one of
my children still receives Services

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through the board and we have always
received just an excellent level of

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service and I wanted to be a part of
that and help to make sure that anybody

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in our County with developmental
disabilities is receiving that same

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level of service that we've received so
in my opinion what drives the board is

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providing excellent service to anybody
in the county that has a developmental

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disability and just making sure that
they are equipped with the tools that

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they need to live their best life an
accomplishment of the board that really

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makes me proud and my time that I've
been on the board since back in 2017

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there has been so much change and in the
time that I've been here I have really

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seen the board grow and move in a really
exciting direction we went from having

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staff in five different locations around
town to now all housed on one campus we

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previously shared our superintendent and
SSA director with another County and

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have been able to transition into having
them here directly with us and we also

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were able to successfully move through
the privatization of the perco workshop

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into its own private organization so all
of those things have really just been so

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exciting to be a part of in the time
that I've been on the board my

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relationship with the board of GD began
years ago go when my youngest two

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children were enrolled um I can truly
say the Perry County border DD was the

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first place where we encountered true
support and help where we were believed

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about their disabilities and uh real
supports were given it was the beginning

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of the change for our family to a more
sustainable life I'm a board member

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because I really believe in what we're
doing I believe we offer supports and

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opportunities to individuals with
disabilities and their families that are

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just unique and I think we have a staff
that truly sees and listens to these

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people and their families seeing
individuals with disabilities having an

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equal part to play in the community as
well as really looking for unique ways

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to make that happen are the driving
forces for the board of

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DD I would say the things I'm most proud
of there are two the first is our summer

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camp that we offer every year and the
second is the

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intentional collaborative relationship
that our board has with schools

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businesses and agencies in our County
over the next couple of years I'm really

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excited to see the board continue to
provide excellent service to our

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individuals with disabilities and really
just expand and continue to grow how we

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serve them and creating their best lives
and their independence in the most

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meaningful way for them I think what I
would hope to see in the next two

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years would be to see see US expand on
the rest bit program because it provides

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such a real need for families and also I
would love to see us explore the

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possibility of helping young people with
disabilities transition from high school

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to post high
school so to somebody who's considering

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being a board member I would say that it
is so much reward for not too much of

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your time to contribute um being able to
guide the board in the decisions that

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they are making is such a rewarding
process because we're really making a

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difference in the lives of the
individuals who have developmental

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disabilities in our County I think
someone should consider being a member

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of this board if they want to be a part
of making a real actual change in the

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community and if they enjoy a respectful
collaborative atmosphere like there is

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on our board I want to say
congratulations to all the award winners

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tonight

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