Disability Resource Expo: Reaching Out for Answers

06/02/2026

The Champaign County Developmental Disabilities Board would like to recognize Allison and Dylan Boot for their exceptional performance over the years. Their dedication, commitment, and consistently high-quality work made a significant impact on the DisABILITY Resource Expo and the disability community in Champaign County and East Central Illinois. Mr. & Mrs. Boot were sent the awards pictured as tokens of appreciation, gratitude, and recognition for their great work with the Expo.

05/04/2026

The Second Annual Savoy Lumiere continues this week (and throughout the month), at the Savoy 16. At 7PM TONIGHT, you can catch "Just One Man" for the special ticket price of ONE DOLLAR. This documentary is about a man who traveled all over Indiana on a "Tenderness Tour" to raise money for organizations serving children and families. He has a new goal, to pay off the medical debt of Indiana residents, which will cost $155m. He has not raised more than $20k.
I hope to see you and everyone you know there tonight. PLEASE spread the word!!!

Monday, May 4 – 7:00pm Just One Man TICKETS Documentary • USA • 2025 110 Minutes Synopsis: In 1989, award-winning activist, writer, and minister Richard Propes embarked on a 41-day,…

04/09/2026

Dear Disability Resource Expo Partner:

We have been going strong since 2007 with large in person expo events ALMOST every year.
During that time:
- We celebrated people and learned a lot.
- We noticed many changes in this community.
- Those changes included new resource events and new sources of resource information.
- We overcame many challenges.

To that last point, the challenges presented during 2025 are taking some time to work through. Over the past few months, some of the folks who have been very active in planning the Expo have opted to pause and reflect, hopefully resulting in an updated approach to our shared goals.

From participant, exhibitor, and sponsor input, our most important accomplishment appears to be the camaraderie. Building a community which not only includes people with disabilities but starts with them is a pretty big deal.

Additionally, the committee would like to acknowledge the loss of Barb Bressner and the tremendous impact she has had on the Disability Expo over the years. To many, she WAS the Expo. Barb was a lifelong advocate for people with disabilities, championing equal access, resources, and rights for all. She will be dearly missed by our community.

03/31/2026

Honoring our longtime Disability Resource Expo lead, Barb Bressner, whose passing is a huge loss to the community. Barb was the power behind our in person events for many years, and when the Boots took the lead, she continued to offer her support and wisdom to the project. Much love to her sweet family and infinity of friends.

Take part in remembering Barbara Bressner. Read her obituary, share your own memories, and learn about any funeral details on Ever Loved.

12/23/2025

Read books on disability by disabled authors!

[Image descriptions: five book covers are shown:
Menace to the Future: A Disability and Q***r History of Carceral Eugenics by Jess Whatcott
Counter-Cartographies: Neurodivergence and the Errancies of Performance by Leon J Hilton
Care at the End of the World: Dreaming of Infrastructure in Crip-Of-Color Writing by Jina B Kim
Unfurl: Survivals, Sorrows, and Dreaming by Eli Clare
Mad Among Us: A History of the Care of America's Mentally Ill by Gerald N Grob [LS]]

MOre about the book project:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1514776362836001&set=a.392651951715120&type=3

10/17/2025

10/15/2025

Thank you Thrivent for donating the bags for children attending the Expo and shout out to The Champaign Urbana Junior Woman's Club (https://www.facebook.com/share/169J5PZN7d/) for filling the 300 bags with goodies in about 15 minutes!

Make sure you check out the Disability Resource Expo THIS Saturday @ MarketPlace mall 11am-4pm!

10/14/2025

Help set up or tear down on Saturday, October 18th! Use this link to sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0948ABAF2BA5F9C43-58016288-disability