[0:00] [Music]
[0:03] I initially wanted to become a board
member because my children received
[0:07] early intervention services and one of
my children still receives Services
[0:11] through the board and we have always
received just an excellent level of
[0:15] service and I wanted to be a part of
that and help to make sure that anybody
[0:19] in our County with developmental
disabilities is receiving that same
[0:22] level of service that we've received so
in my opinion what drives the board is
[0:27] providing excellent service to anybody
in the county that has a developmental
[0:32] disability and just making sure that
they are equipped with the tools that
[0:36] they need to live their best life an
accomplishment of the board that really
[0:40] makes me proud and my time that I've
been on the board since back in 2017
[0:44] there has been so much change and in the
time that I've been here I have really
[0:49] seen the board grow and move in a really
exciting direction we went from having
[0:55] staff in five different locations around
town to now all housed on one campus we
[1:02] previously shared our superintendent and
SSA director with another County and
[1:07] have been able to transition into having
them here directly with us and we also
[1:13] were able to successfully move through
the privatization of the perco workshop
[1:17] into its own private organization so all
of those things have really just been so
[1:22] exciting to be a part of in the time
that I've been on the board my
[1:26] relationship with the board of GD began
years ago go when my youngest two
[1:31] children were enrolled um I can truly
say the Perry County border DD was the
[1:36] first place where we encountered true
support and help where we were believed
[1:42] about their disabilities and uh real
supports were given it was the beginning
[1:47] of the change for our family to a more
sustainable life I'm a board member
[1:51] because I really believe in what we're
doing I believe we offer supports and
[1:55] opportunities to individuals with
disabilities and their families that are
[1:58] just unique and I think we have a staff
that truly sees and listens to these
[2:04] people and their families seeing
individuals with disabilities having an
[2:08] equal part to play in the community as
well as really looking for unique ways
[2:14] to make that happen are the driving
forces for the board of
[2:17] DD I would say the things I'm most proud
of there are two the first is our summer
[2:23] camp that we offer every year and the
second is the
[2:28] intentional collaborative relationship
that our board has with schools
[2:34] businesses and agencies in our County
over the next couple of years I'm really
[2:38] excited to see the board continue to
provide excellent service to our
[2:42] individuals with disabilities and really
just expand and continue to grow how we
[2:47] serve them and creating their best lives
and their independence in the most
[2:52] meaningful way for them I think what I
would hope to see in the next two
[2:57] years would be to see see US expand on
the rest bit program because it provides
[3:03] such a real need for families and also I
would love to see us explore the
[3:08] possibility of helping young people with
disabilities transition from high school
[3:13] to post high
school so to somebody who's considering
[3:17] being a board member I would say that it
is so much reward for not too much of
[3:22] your time to contribute um being able to
guide the board in the decisions that
[3:27] they are making is such a rewarding
process because we're really making a
[3:31] difference in the lives of the
individuals who have developmental
[3:34] disabilities in our County I think
someone should consider being a member
[3:39] of this board if they want to be a part
of making a real actual change in the
[3:44] community and if they enjoy a respectful
collaborative atmosphere like there is
[3:50] on our board I want to say
congratulations to all the award winners
[3:54] tonight
[3:57] [Music]