Disability Awareness 

Lafayette Consolidated Government's Awareness Committee for Citizens with Disabilities is dedicated to promoting awareness, accessibility, and inclusion for individuals with disabilities within the community. This committee works to identify and address barriers faced by people with disabilities, ensuring they have equal opportunities to participate in all aspects of community life. The committee collaborates with various departments, local organizations, and the public to advocate for policies and practices that enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.

Disability Awareness Awards Ceremony 2024

Lafayette Consolidated Government will host the Disability Awareness Awards Ceremony on October 8, 2024. These awards are given annually by the Mayor-President’s Awareness Committee for Citizens with Disabilities and are intended to recognize individuals/entities in the community who are improving the lives of those living with disabilities. All nominees must either be living in or working within Lafayette Parish. Awards include:

• Business of the Year: The Business of the Year Award is presented to a Lafayette Business for going the extra mile in service of the Lafayette Disability Community. The award can be given for being a model employer of people with disabilities, for offering programs and activities that encourage participation and promote positive social engagement for the Lafayette Disability Community, or for other actions that benefit people with disabilities and their families in ways that promote inclusion and belonging.
• Non-Profit of the Year: The Non-Profit of the Year Award is given to a disability related non-profit organization in Lafayette that has, in some way, distinguished itself as a premier resource for the Lafayette Disability Community. New programs, grants, community outreach, and offering enhanced services or community participation activities for people with disabilities are some ways that an agency might garner recognition as a premier resource.
• Youth of the Year: The Youth of the Year Award is given to a young person, under the age of eighteen, who has distinguished themselves as an advocate for people with disabilities or who has performed actions that have, in some way, provided substantial and lasting benefits to people with disabilities and the Lafayette Disability Community.
• Public Servant of the Year: The Public Servant of the Year Award is given to a person who, through their actions as a public servant, have provided support, opportunity, and belonging to people with disabilities in the Lafayette Disability Community.
• Vickie Nettles Advocacy Award: The Vickie Nettles Advocacy Award is given to an adult, eighteen and older, who has distinguished themselves as an outstanding advocate and representative of the Lafayette Disability Community. The Vickie Nettles Advocacy Award recognizes personal achievements by a person with disabilities and honors the efforts of that person for giving back to the Lafayette Disability Community.
• Lynette Fontenot Community Achievement Award: The Lynette Fontenot Community Achievement Award is given in recognition of any actions, by an individual, that demonstrate extreme dedication to the Lafayette Disability Community that result in profound advancements in support, inclusion, belonging, and access. The Lynette Fontenot Community Achievement Award is reserved for members of the Lafayette Community who have risen above expectations and have devoted themselves to promoting opportunities for people in the Lafayette Disability Community.