Kori Hawk (left) Brittany Conley (right), and Justin Hunneman (back right) visit the Independence Fair at the Allen County Board of Developmental Disabilities Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by Melissa Cress (back left), of Capabilities Community Clubs.
Emily McBride/The Lima News
LIMA — Self-advocacy and independence were promoted Tuesday by the Allen County Board of Developmental Disabilities and the Business Advisory Council, which hosted their first Independence Fair to connect families with area service providers.
Representatives from 26 vendors set up booths at Marimor School and spoke with guests and their families about the wide range of services they provide, including residential and day services, transportation, employment, payee services and more. Representatives from the Connected Equestrian in Bluffton and Rhodes State College’s Uniquely-Abled Academy also participated to help spread their organizations’ missions.
Melodie Conley, Employment Services and Advocacy Manager for the Board of Developmental Disabilities, said the event would help establish connections between guests and service providers to promote “independence in all aspects of their lives.”
“We want the individuals we provide services to, to be as independent as possible. We felt like this was a great way to give (providers) the opportunity to talk to families,” she said, adding that more than 500 people were invited to the fair.
Ryan Knodel, the Ohio director of Benchmark Human Services, said the fair was an opportunity to spread the organization’s work to “maximize potential” and “promote independence and community integration.” Benchmark offers numerous services, including transportation, residential and adult day services.
Independence impacts all aspects of life, from day-to-day tasks like folding laundry and cooking dinner to getting to the polls to vote, Knodel said, adding that people often take these things for granted. “Our goal in being here today is to meet with families, to explain what services we provide and help them live their best lives,” he said.
Knodel added that the event was not solely to connect families with services, but also served to help connect providers with each other.
“We want to engage with other providers and create that camaraderie. Together, we are more powerful and impactful than alone,” he said, explaining that the providers will be better able to refer individuals to services that match their individual needs. “The networking allows us to be more knowledgeable and to be able to give people names and numbers of the things that they need.”
Knodel also added that seeing this large number of providers was exciting as it promotes healthy competition, ensuring that services are constantly improving and involving and that individuals have a wide range of options when seeking assistance.
“The person who is being served is in charge,” Knodel said, adding that the competition helps to keep providers “on their game.”
