My Journey with the Delaware County Board of Developmental Disabilities

I have a unique perspective that not many people get to experience. I am both a person who receives services from the Delaware County Board of Developmental Disabilities and someone who has the honor of working for the Board as an Outreach Advocate. My journey with DCBDD began when I was just two years old, and it has shaped the entire course of my life.

My earliest support came through early intervention services, which included attending Hickory Knoll Preschool. I was there from age two until almost five, preparing to enter mainstream kindergarten. Hickory Knoll provided essential services—speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and the foundational skills every preschooler needs. Those early years played a major role in the person I am today.

Support continued throughout my school years. Through elementary school into high school, DCBDD made sure I had what I needed to succeed. When I entered my upper-class years, the Board helped me access job training through my school so I could be ready for life after graduation. None of this would have been possible without the waiver funds made available through our county levy.

After graduating high school, the Delaware County Board didn’t stop supporting me. They connected me with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD), where I met a counselor who helped me prepare for job interviews and complete assessments to find a job that suited me. Through that process, I got my first job as a receptionist with Alpha Group of Delaware. Thanks to DCBDD services and my waiver funding, I worked with a job coach who helped me learn my responsibilities and become as independent and successful as possible. My waiver funds also provided transportation to and from work.

I worked at Alpha Group for five years before deciding I was ready for a new challenge—a job with more hours and new opportunities. I went back through OOD to start the job search again. Around that time, I learned about a receptionist opening at the Delaware County Board of Developmental Disabilities. It offered everything I was looking for: more hours, a five‑day work schedule, and the chance to work directly with the organization that had supported me my entire life. I started on July 1, 2019.

I had no idea that job would change my life.

After working as a receptionist for nearly three years, I felt ready to grow again. When a posting for an Outreach Advocate position appeared on my computer screen, it felt like fate. It was the perfect role—one where I could advocate for accessibility, inclusion, and a community where everyone belongs. I applied, interviewed, and got the job. That moment

started an incredible new chapter where I get to make our community more inclusive for myself and for others with developmental disabilities.

My waiver services also allow me to live independently, ensuring I have staff to help me get up in the morning, get into my wheelchair, and access transportation to work, community events, and school. They support me as I work toward my degree in social work, something I’m deeply proud of.

Without the Delaware County Board of Developmental Disabilities and the levy that funds vital waiver services, my life—and the lives of many others with developmental disabilities—would look very different. The levy makes independence possible. It makes employment possible. It makes inclusion possible. And it protects the supports people rely on every single day.

This November, the future of these services depends on the levy. For me, and for countless others in Delaware County, it’s more than a vote—it’s our way of life.