Written by: Amy Kerrigan, Community Education Specialist
People with developmental disabilities want to lead lives just like everyone else. They want to live independently, spend time with friends, contribute to the community, and join the workforce. Sometimes they just need a little help in achieving those goals. But CCBDD cannot act alone in helping people with DD. As the saying goes, it takes a village. The most obvious CCBDD collaboration is with service providers like Creative Foundations, PCS, Downsize Farm, CRSI, and more. The County Board regularly contacts these providers to help individuals with DD find everyday care, living options, employment training, and life skills training. CCBDD also assists the providers themselves by recruiting Direct Support Professionals and coordinating other needs.
Another little known collaboration is between CCBDD and Champaign County businesses. Not only do area businesses and the County Board work together to fill needed positions and find employment for individuals with DD, but they also work together to create opportunities like Touch-A-Truck, summer camp at the YMCA, and meeting places for CCBDD social clubs.
The work of Champaign County Board of DD would not be what it is today without the help of all the community partners. These collaborations help people with developmental disabilities live independently, socialize, work, volunteer, and celebrate the abilities that make them an integral part of the Champaign County community. The Champaign County Library system collaborates with the Champaign County Board of DD throughout the year on various activities and projects. Pictured here are the CCBDD Tech Club (a group that meets regularly at the library's Imagine Lab to learn how to use crafting technology), Roaming Readers (a book club that meets regularly at Mechanicsburg Library to walk and discuss their favorite books), and Kiwanis Club members sharing sensory bags with the Urbana Fire Department which were made with the help of the library's Imagine Lab.
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