Rene Brinson was recently appointed by Judge Ralph Winkler to replace Jill Meyer on our board. She is a Senior Lead Program Manager at TIAA-CREF, a financial services organization.
Rene's son, Logan, was one of the faces of our 2014 levy campaign. He recently graduated from Mariemont High School.
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Online Survey
The Ohio Abilities Task Force is conducting an
online survey to
collect information
about what individuals with disabilities and professionals in the field see as needs in their communities.
Answers from the survey will help the Task Force plan future activities such as providing relevant training and information to address issues affecting individuals who are part of the disability community.
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Some of the Southwest Early Intervention team participated in the Queen Bee on Oct. 10. Marcia Storm, Occupational Therapist, and Amy Drees, former Developmental Specialist, completed the half marathon.
Brandy Angelo, physical therapist and colleagues Armira Beech-Mango, Cortni Wright, and Monique Lucas from Lighthouse Help Me Grow finished the four-mile race.
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State champions!
Congratulations to the Special Olympics Hamilton County Unified Softball team on their state championship! Unified Sports pairs people with disabilities and their peers without disabilities on the same team. This group has seven Special Olympians and eight partners, and was coached by SSA Jerome Hawthorne.
"I'm proud to have been given the opportunity to coach a great group of Special Olympians and partners," Hawthorne said.
"The team came together, made individual sacrifices in a team effort for several weeks, practiced hard and triumphed as champions of the 2015 Special Olympics Ohio Unified Softball Division. It's something that Special Olympics Hamilton County had never before done in all the years of Special Olympics Ohio Unified Softball."
The finals were Sept. 12 in Oregon, Ohio.
Team:
Michael McNamee, Nathan Michelson, Nicholas Mosley, Jay Newbold, Daniel Terry, Brian Tate, Walt Kube, Mike Bedel, Jackie Cornielius-Bedel, Mark Flaspohler, Travis Mapp, Robert Meece, Richard Mullins, Charles Pressley, Nick Speckert and Coach Jerome Hawthorne.
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From the Superintendent
Planning our next steps
B
y now you have heard we are consolidating our four adult centers to three. This first step, which will be complete by March 1, is part of a long process being driven by several state and national issues.
These forces will significantly change the traditional ways services have been delivered for more than 40 years.
Since The Board announced the consolidation of Jackson a little over a month ago, we have also been busy preparing for the next steps in our agency's process to comply with these various forces.
We held two community forums and visited the parent group meetings at Franks and Beckman to share information about the consolidation, answer questions, and address concerns.
We also have a stakeholder work group that has met twice since the consolidation announcement.
This group includes families of people who receive all kinds of different services, people served, providers, and staff. They will meet several times to discuss what the future of services will look like in Hamilton County before providing a report with feedback and recommendations to the Board in December.
You can find information from the stakeholder group, as well as answers to questions we received from families after the consolidation announcement,
on our website.
We are grateful to the members of this stakeholder group for helping us prepare for a future that looks different than our past. We are also grateful for our staff who are working hard to make sure this transition is as smooth as possible for all involved.
While change is hard, we must choose to look at these unprecedented times as an opportunity to guide a brighter future for people with disabilities.
Alice C. Pavey
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Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) and we want to share a few local employment success stories with you.
 Latasha, who attends Beckman, got her first community job at LaRosa's. Her manager said she's doing a good job and is always happy when she arrives at work.
Read Latasha's story here.
 Sydney and Julie, who both have visual impairments, have been successful in their jobs at Live Reps Call Center. Steve Wachs, owner and CEO, said Sydney and Julie "have a strong work ethic and ... prove themselves every day."
Read their story here.
 April works at Sleepy Bee Cafe's second location in Blue Ash and is known for her hospitality and always welcoming customers with a warm smile.
Read April's story here.
Earlier in October, we also participated in a Twitter chat hosted by America's Job Exchange. Discussion focused on inclusion and best practices for hiring or employing people with disabilities. You can read a recap of the conversation here
.
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Upcoming Events
- "Kids in Crisis: Preventing tragedies through earlier intervention." 10:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 2. A virtual town hall with DODD Director John Martin and Tracy Plouck, director of Ohio's Mental Health and Addiction Services. Click here for details.
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Building Provider Capacity in Southwest Ohio. 4:30 - 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3 at the Embassy Suites in Dublin. Superintendents from Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Warren, Greene and Montgomery counties will be presenting during this session for providers at the OPRA conference. No registration needed for this free meeting. Click here for the flier.
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Faces of Autism. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5 at the Cooper Creek Event Center in Blue Ash. Annual Autism Society Celebration. Tickets are $30 per person. Click here
for tickets or
email Carole Willenborg
for more information.
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Common Threads Network.
9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 7, at Wildey Center, 2040 U.S. Highway 50 in Batavia. "Planning for a Good Life: Future, Estate and Financial Planning." Free for families. $5 donation for professionals. Register online or click here for the flier
.
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HCDDS Board Meeting. 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10. Support Center, 1520 Madison Road.
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