Happy 32^nd Anniversary of the ADA!!

In celebration of the 32^nd Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), our awesome Employment Director, Lauren Singleton, represented the CIL today at a local event!  The CIL was honored to have her serve as a panelist at the Alachua County, Florida and City of Gainesville Office of Equity and Inclusion’s Disability Awareness Virtual Webinar.

Lauren spoke about CIL services with a focus on Employment Services the CIL offers including Resume Building, Work Readiness Courses, Interview Practice, Work Ethics and Hygiene Counseling, Job Coaching, and Retention Services; as well as opportunities for our consumers in our programs, the challenges faced in employment, and the resources they develop and utilize to help our consumers maintain their employment.

Thank you so much Lauren for representing the CIL at this annual ADA event, and for all that you do to support people with disabilities in our community!

If anyone is interested in learning more about our Employment Services, please contact Lauren in our Ocala office at 352-368-3788 or lsingleton@cilncf.org.

Image is a picture of Lauren standing to the right of the CIL sign at the Ocala office.  She is smiling and wearing black pants with a white top that is patterned with black hexagon shapes.

We’re continuing to celebrate 40 years of service here at the CIL!  This month, we wanted to highlight our Employment Program!

Our Employment Team has done a fantastic job providing vocational evaluations, job readiness, on-the-job training (OJT), job coaching, placement and retention, especially throughout the challenges of the pandemic.  Please read an awesome Employment Success Story below, provided by Lauren Singleton, our Employment Director!

“Kayla was initially interested in an office/clerical OJT. When we met with Advent Health to see if any clerical OJTs could be done, they asked if there was interest in helping prep patient trays and working with their food systems. Kayla was hesitant, but took to it like a duck to water. She completed her OJT in just over 3 weeks, and then was immediately hired; in fact, they had a hire date the week she started her OJT because they were so impressed with her! Kayla has been officially working there since the end of February and absolutely loves it. She has fun interacting with the kitchen staff and patients, and went into this field starting off at $15/hour and access to full benefits at just 22 years old!”

The Employment Program works in concert with The Florida Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. If you have a disability and are seeking employment, you may be eligible for a variety of support services. Contact your local VR office to get started.

If you would like to learn more about our Employment Program here at the CIL, please contact Lauren Singleton in our Ocala office at 352-368-3788 or lsingleton@cilncf.org.

Special thanks to Lauren and the entire Employment Team for all of your hard work and dedication to ensure the success of both our consumers and business partners! 

Image is a picture of Kayla wearing a black uniform, blue gloves, light blue mask and work badge, standing to the left of stacks of patient trays.

Come celebrate the 32^nd Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with us!  The CIL will be a participating agency at the Alachua County, Florida and City of Gainesville Office of Equity and Inclusion’s Disability Awareness Virtual Event, taking place on Tuesday, July 26^th from 10am to 12pm. 

Join us for a panel discussion on employment regarding the challenges faced, and resources and opportunities available for persons with disabilities.  Participating agencies also include Goodwill Industries of North Florida, Disability Rights Florida, Florida Department of Education, Vocational Rehabilitation, and the UF Disability Resource Center.

To register, please click on the following link, or scan the QR code in the flyer.

Webinar Registration – Zoom

If you have a disability and need an accommodation in order to participate, please contact the Equal Opportunity Office at 352-374-5275 at least 2 business days prior to the event.  TDD users, please call 711 (Florida Relay Service).

Image Description:  Event flyer with white background containing all of the information listed above.  There is an picture at the top half of the flyer, of a ramp with railings leading up to a building.  The Alachua County, Florida and City of Gainesville logos are at the top left of the flyer, and the logos of all the participating agencies are displayed in the middle, with registration information below the logos.  An ADA logo, specifically created to celebrate 32 years, is at the bottom middle of the flyer with wording that states, Celebrate, Learn, Share, ADA32, 1990-2022, Americans with Disabilities Act.

The JP-PAS Program continues to change lives by providing monthly stipends to qualified Floridians with disabilities who are employed and require personal assistance services for daily living. 

JR has become empowered through gainful employment and being a participant in the JP-PAS Program!  Please read his testimonial below and consider all the possibilities about how the JP-PAS Program can empower YOU to live a more independent life.

“Are you working? Sitting on the sidelines of life and watching it go was very frustrating. The possibilities of a full and active life are endless through gainful employment! The JPPAS Program is a fantastic Florida tool to help you move from dependency to self-sufficiency, empowerment, and a world of choices. Try work, you might like it!”

If you or anyone you know would benefit from this amazing program or if you would like to learn more, please visit http://www.floridacils.org/pca-services-program!

Image description:  Two pictures of JR with a green background.  The top picture is a headshot of JR smiling and wearing glasses and a red shirt with a blue, checkered pattern suit jacket, and the bottom picture is a headshot of JR scuba diving, wearing his diving mask and breathing apparatus. 

The hurricane season is going strong, and our CIL Emergency Preparedness Team is making sure to keep our community informed! 😀

Last month, Andrea and Kevin attended the Hernando County Hurricane Expo. This event was open to all citizens of Hernando County. They connected with both partners and attendees to give them updated emergency information, as well as information on CIL services.

Thank you Andrea, Kevin and everyone who assists with Emergency Preparedness, for all you do to keep our communities safe and prepared!

Image is a picture of (from left to right), Andrea and Kevin tabling at the event.  They are standing behind the CIL table, that is covered with a blue tablecloth, with CIL brochures and giveaways, and the CIL banner is behind them.  Andrea is wearing a light grey CIL polo shirt with logo, and Kevin is wearing a white CIL t-shirt with logo.

Last week, the FAAST Program had its first vendor demonstration at our satellite office in Ocala!  We were happy to host Enhanced Vision representatives, David and Tish Christensen.  Enhanced vision is a leading developer of assistive technology for the visually impaired, dedicated to helping individuals maintain their independence. They provided excellent information about their low-vision products, and participants were able to try out the easy-to-use devices with a hands-on demonstration.  Discounts will be offered to those who order any Enhanced Vision products through our FAAST Program!

Everyone who attended enjoyed the presentation and also learned more about the FAAST Program from CIL Assistive Technologies Specialist, Claudia Avendano and CIL Consumer Specialist Brandon Palermo. 

To learn more about Enhanced Vision and all it has to offer people with visual disabilities, please visit https://www.enhancedvision.com/

To learn more about our FAAST Program, please contact Claudia Avendano at 352-378-7474 or cavendano@cilncf.org.

Image is a picture from the FAAST event at the Ocala CIL.  From left to right is Brandon, Claudia, Tish and David, standing behind a table displaying the Enhanced Vision products, with a FAAST banner to their left. 

With the new variants of COVID-19 circulating, now is the best time to consider getting vaccinated!

Come out to our accessible vaccine clinic next Friday, July 22^nd anytime from 10am to 2pm to get your (free!) vaccine/booster shot and be entered into our raffle. There will be three winners selected for a $50 giftcard. ASL interpreters will be provided on site.

This event will take place at the Center for Independent Living, 222 SW 36^th Terrace, Gainesville, FL 32607, and you will need to bring your vaccine card and a mask. We have COVID-19 vaccines available for seniors, Floridians with disabilities, their families, caregivers, and direct service providers.  Learn more at DisablityRightsFlorida.org/vaccine

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Images are informational flyers in both English and Spanish, and contain all the information listed above, with a picture on the bottom left of a nurse providing a vaccine to a patient. The bottom right contains logos of the CIL, Disability Rights Florida and the UF Clinical and Transitional Science Institute.

We finally got the in-person Independent Living Skills (ILS) classes up and running again for a couple of weeks in June.  The picture attached is of our welcome back pizza party in the CIL’s activity room, where we played some card games and bingo with grab bag prizes.  Everyone was very happy to be back together again.  However, classes are unfortunately closed again temporarily, until the positivity rate for COVID goes down.  So stay tuned and hopefully we will all be back together again soon!

Last month, CIL staff members, Claudia and Sada took a trip to visit the FAAST State Headquarters in Tallahassee. Their mission was to collect as much gently used assistive technology and durable medical equipment as they could fit in their trailer – and that they did! Much of this haul has already been distributed to our consumers in need, including an adjustable bed and a power chair a consumer is borrowing while she awaits her replacement from her insurance, after her old chair broke down.

If you or someone you know needs AT or DME, please reach out to The Center for Independent Living. These donations are going “FAAST” and we look forward to making another trip soon to get more of these valuable tools for independence to our community members in need!

Image is a picture of Sada and Claudia standing in front of the FAAST office, at the foot of a white picket ramp that leads up to the side door. Various DME items are in front of them, such as walkers and a powerchair.

We couldn’t run our High School High Tech (HSHT) programs so successfully without the support of such fabulous administrative teams and staff at each of our high school sites!  Recently, one of our HSHT coordinators, Drew Dees, visited with each of his sites, and gave them all a certificate of appreciation for all they do for students and the HSHT program.  We would like to give a shout-out to the following people for all of their hard work and dedication to the HSHT program this past school year:

Santa Fe High School – Amy Grunder and Debbie Warner (pictured with Drew); Newberry High School – James Sheppard and Melissa Mauldin (not pictured); Williston High School – Benjamin Hawkins and Dede McLeod (not pictured)

THANK YOU ALL for your commitment to helping students with disabilities succeed! 👏🏻👏🏻🏅🌟😁

And Special Thanks as well to Drew for all of your hard work and dedication to the HSHT program and your students!

Image is a picture of (from left to right), Debbie Warner, Drew and Amy Grunder, sitting and smiling in a reception area at Santa Fe High School.  Debbie and Amy are holding their certificates.