By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
It is their life and those attending the Your Life Conference were grabbing on with both hands.
The Crawford County Board of Development Disabilities (CCBDD) hosted a unique conference at Fairway School Thursday for adults being serving by the CCBDD. The conference offered various sessions which had been designed around what those being served by the board wanted to learn. The sessions focused on political tracks, self-advocacy, community employment, clubs and activities, life skills, and healthy lifestyles.
Jason Lumpkins quickly jumped at the chance to take advantage of the opportunities being offered. He questioned State Representative Jeff McClain on what can be done to better the county, especially for those with disabilities.
“We try to make sure we’re helping, especially our needy citizens,” McClain told Lumpkins. “We have a whole spectrum of folks that need help and that’s what the government needs to do.”
In response to Lumpkins’ question, McClain also addressed Crawford County’s problem with opiate addiction and what is being done to help counteract that as well as how they can go about providing services to people that really need them.
Overall, Lumpkins felt it was a great opportunity to speak to his State Representative.
“Well, I felt pretty good about it because a lot of the issues we have nowadays, they don’t get resolved real quickly,” Lumpkins said. “But if you speak up for yourself and speak up for other people, it will go a lot farther.”
Lumpkins also believed that the conference was beneficial to anyone attending.
“I think it’s going to be great,” Lumpkins said about the experience. “We’re going to get a lot of ideas. I mean, these are our ideas and they’re expanding on it and teaching us.”
Lumpkins planned on attending a track with the Board of Elections as well as sessions dealing with one-on-one time and problem solving.
Richard Corwin had been attending a session where he learned how to get involved in sports but the sports fan was eagerly awaiting a program on one of his other favorite things: food. He was scheduled to attend a session later in the day called “Learn What Foods Are All About.”
“I hope I get something good out of it (the conference) but they have it set up real nice and it’s going good,” Corwin said.
The conference featured speakers from the Humane Society, Avita Health System, and a representative from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. Sheriff Scott Kent, Municipal Court Judge Sean Leuthold, Bucyrus Law Director Rob Ratliff, and Police Chief Dave Koepke also made appearances for various sessions throughout the day.