More than half a million Kentuckians are living with a disability, and nearly 3 in 10 adults provide care for an adult, family member or friend.

Well, this weekend, this statewide community will come together in Louisville for the Disability Support and Advocacy Awards.

I recently sat down with the organization's event coordinator to learn more.

Elena Chesser is the event coordinator for the Disability and Advocacy Awards here in Louisville.

Coming up this Saturday, this is an all day event.

Explain what happens here.

Yeah.

So in the beginning, we will have our doors open at nine.

Our morning session will run from 10 to 1.

And during that they will go along the school.

We have a path called the Tour of Support.

And in each classroom we will have a resource table or organization.

Things like special, which is all things special education.

We have Quiz Spin to help parents and students who are graduating into an out of school program.

And we have moving forward limbless for those who are impure.

And they are also going to be some of our guest speakers, and we're going to be looking at workplace safety and coping with the disability from them.

So people from all over the state come and, you know, there are a lot of cuts in this area right now.

And so it's so important connecting people to the resources that are available.

Right.

That's exactly right.

And that's what we hope to do more than anything.

And we invite everybody to come.

It is a fun day.

There's tons of entertainment for adults and for the kids.

Like we have the Kozara clowns coming, and we have a magic show, which is a professional magic show by Aaron Harp.

He's toured with Lance Burton before I got to see that show when it was in Elizabethtown.

It was great.

He did some close magic and I still don't know how he.

Did anything.

Yeah, so.

And that's free as well.

The entire event is free.

That's incredible too.

So the tour of support is one thing, but you all have a ton of guest speakers.

It's really a learning experience.

Yeah, and it's learning for educators, social workers, parents, caregivers, anyone that just wants to know more about the disabled community.

And we actually have two very young hosts who are going to be doing the daytime programs and introducing the guest speakers, and they are both in their first year of college.

So we're excited to have them and we're glad they're interested in the disabled community.

That's great.

And it all tops off with, of course, the award.

So explain what some of these awards are.

So some of our awards are things like special education teacher of the year.

That's always a good one.

And then we have our advocates of the year.

And my favorite because I got to go around as Miss Wiltshire Kentucky.

We actually this program does Mr.

and Miss Wheelchair Advocate of the year.

So they will be crowned at the end of the event and everybody can cheer them on from there.

It's so important to have that support system out there.

Talk about why it is so important for not only this community, but the the people outside the community to understand and learn about disability and caregiving.

So there are some things that people kind of do that think they're helping, but it's not necessarily helping.

Like, you know, someone might push your wheelchair for you and even if you don't know them.

So coming out and learning about these things will help you serve the community better.

It'll give you some insight.

And there's 1 in 4 people in Kentucky living with the disability.

That's a lot of people.

And when we start looking at our caregivers, family members and educators, that number grows.

So anything that people want to get into will be there.

And we are looking for that positive progress in the disabled community.

And bringing that community together.

Absolutely.

30 Special list resources.

Ten guest speakers a school that is absolutely amazing.

They cater to students with disabilities and those who are medically fragile that need a little help for their education.

So they go there and they are amazing kids too.

And that is the host at Churchill Park School.

And that is where the event is happening.

That is this Saturday.

Again, a free, family friendly event at Churchill Park School this Saturday in Louisville.

The Disability Support and Advocacy Awards, happening October 17th at Churchill Park School here in Louisville.