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Julie Dutchess, an assistive technologist with NCDHHS, received this year’s Joy Zabala Spirit Award in recognition of her dedication and passion for utilizing assistive technology in the workplace for people with disabilities. The award was presented to her at the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) Conference last week in Orlando, Florida.

NCDHHS celebrated the historic investment in behavioral health this week with a kickoff at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. Secretary Kody H. Kinsley, Representative Carla Cunningham and Senator Jim Burgin opened the event by noting the $835 million allocated by the NC General Assembly, which will provide for transformational changes in behavioral health care for every person in North Carolina. This funding was made possible by the federal signing bonus from the enactment of Medicaid expansion.

NCDHHS is in partnership with Alliance Health, the Wake County Public School System and Embassy Suites to help implement Project SEARCH, where interns with disabilities are spending their senior year of high school working and learning in one of the nicest hotels in Cary.

This week, NCDHHS leaders joined the annual NC Crunch event at A Safe Place Child Enrichment Center in Raleigh in celebration of NC Farm to School and Early Care and Education Month. NC Crunch recognizes the importance of healthy eating habits in supporting child and family well-being, while promoting North Carolina agriculture, by crunching into locally grown fruits and vegetables.

Read about how a Goldsboro automotive manufacturing company has benefited from hiring people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through NCDHHS' Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

The application period is now open for NCDHHS’ Historically Black College/University and Minority Serving Institutions (HBCUs/MSIs) and Change Champion Internship program's 2024 Spring cohort.

NCDHHS' Assistive Technology Program held its first in-person Annual Assistive Technology Expo event in three years on Oct. 5 at the McKimmon Conference and Training Center in Raleigh. Learn more about how the attendees learned about some of the latest advancements in assistive technology.

October is National Protect Your Hearing Month, which is a great opportunity to raise awareness on how to prevent noise-induced hearing loss. Read more about the signs of hearing loss and what you can do to prevent it.

Read about how Inclusion Works allows individuals with disabilities, including intellectual and developmental disabilities, to be successful in competitive integrated employment when provided with reasonable accommodations – Brittany Ellis's story.

This week, (Aug. 28 - Sept. 1) is National Community Health Worker (CHW) Awareness Week. CHWs are frontline public health workers who are trusted members of and/or have an unusually close understanding of the community served.