Message From The Superintendent - November 2024

Greetings! 

We hope everyone is doing well! Here are the updates.

We were awarded money from the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities’ Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Grant.  We are utilizing some of that money to fix up Brady Lake Park.  The accessible walking path and parking lot are now complete at Brady Lake Park.  We just added some accessible playground equipment!  Thank you again to Franklin Township for our partnership.

We have shared grant instructions and an application to the Portage County community.  This grant is an Accessibility and Inclusion grant.  We want to make Portage County more accessible and inclusive, and this grant has been awarded to Portage County for things such as accessible playground equipment, ADA bathrooms, communication boards, ramps, accessible paths/trails, etc. We have received 21 applicants and given out grants to 20 who applied.  We are waiting to hear back from the 21st applicant after sending them some follow-up questions. 

October was a busy month.  We had several events at the end of October.  On October 24, we celebrated individuals and their employers for National Disability Employment Awareness Month. (NDEAM).  On October 25, we had our very popular Trunk or Treat at the Happy Day Services Building.  On October 30, we had our first Portage DD Symposium for individuals, families, providers, and advocates.  Thank you to the fantastic Portage DD staff for making these events memorable!!

We wanted to introduce 3 new Portage DD staff.  George Gabriel, James Risbeck, and Alex Lomicka are now members of the Portage DD team. 

George comes to us from the Mahoning County Board of DD, where he spent the last 39 years. He has a master’s in counseling from Youngstown State University and loads of managerial experience. We are both excited and fortunate for George to come to Portage!!  Welcome, George!!

James is one of our two new tech mentors.  James graduated from Streetsboro and then did two years of graphic design vocational training at Maplewood Career Center.  We are excited to have James bring his skills here to Portage DD.  Welcome James!

We are also excited that Alex is bringing her skills to Portage DD!!  Alex is the other new tech mentor. She has two degrees from Kent State University: a Bachelor of Science in News/Magazine Journalism and Fashion Merchandising. Welcome, Alex!!

Believe in People! 

WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.

Sincerely,

John Vennetti