According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one in four adults in the United States have some form of disability. The results are nearly identical when you look at the data for Utah. What is most important, however, is that those with disabilities know the resources available to them at both the state and local levels. For residents of the Castle Country Area, you can learn about those resources at the Disability Services Resource Event on Tuesday, Oct. 8 from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Castle Country Radio sat down with Phillip Redlinger from the Utah Department of Health and Human Resources to discuss the event and learn more about what resources are available in our community.

Opening our conversation, Redlinger discussed the specifics of the event. “It’s at the Southeastern Regional Development Agency, or as some would call SERDA from 3 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. on Oct. 8 … folks just need to show up and they’ll have the services and resources available to them.”

Redlinger then moved onto the topic of resources that will be present at the fair,” On the state level, we’re going to have the Division of Services for People with Disabilities. We’re going to be there with our intake team, and our employment team. And then we’re going to have information on waivers and resources available through DSPD … And then we’re going to have some federal organizations, hopefully, social security.” Redlinger continued to local resources,” We’ll have local providers like Chris Liz, we reached out to TKJ Services and NES. We’ve also reached out to the Utah Parent Center and the Disability Law Group. Just everybody out there that provides services to anybody with a disability seeking resources and services, we’re bringing out to this event.”

Switching gears, Redlinger spoke on the importance of knowing what resources are available to aid those with disabilities in our area. “This event is very important for Carbon County in that it is one of the highest barrier-driven counties as far as access to respite and supported living. And so, the key to this event is to bring all of those resources available in one location, but also bring the providers together, network, and communicate so that those can expand out in the community a lot more and better.”

The penultimate topic of conversation was about how the community can best aid people with disabilities,” the best thing we can do is if you’re a family member or a friend and you know that you have someone in your family or your community that is seeking resources due to their disability, connect them with this event. This is actually very important because we’re trying to get everybody connected to those resources.”

Ending our conversation, Redlinger again emphasized the importance of this event. “There are resources and services for people with disabilities, and our goal is to break the barrier with the limited access and resources for respite and supportive living. So, this event would actually open the door, not only for those that are living with a disability but also for providers working together in the community at large.”

The DHHS Disability Services Resource Event will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 8 from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the SERDA building located at 252 South Fairgrounds Road.