Civic activities such as voting has been difficult because the lack of accessible information. Well, SignVote is an organization dedicated to serving Deaf and HoH communities. Your vote is incredibly important, so please vote!

Join us for our monthly Zoom Bingo! Below are the dates and times for the next few months. If you would like to participate RSVP at iongainesville@gmail.com. The zoom link and bingo card will be emailed to you. See you there! 🙂

October is Disability Employment Awareness Month! Just because someone has a disability doesn’t mean that they can’t get the job done and done well. It is so important to have an inclusive workplace. So, join us as we celebrate!

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is to always be prepared because disasters don’t wait. September is National Preparedness Month, and FEMA has wonderful resources for your family. Their resources account for people with physical and cognitive disabilities, the elderly and children. So check out their website below!

https://www.ready.gov/plan

Recently, a CIL board member, who wishes to remain anonymous, generously donated $1500 to the CIL. Also, that amount was matched by another foundation this board member is affiliated with!  It was such a wonderful gift, and we cannot say thank you enough to this AMAZING board member!  

In addition, we are proud to say that 100% of our board members donated during the Amazing Give. We are so grateful for our board and their continued support of the CIL and our consumers!

Thank you to everyone who helped make The Amazing Give 2020 a success for the CIL! 
Your donations will help us continue our youth programs and ensure that youth with disabilities can successfully transition from high school to post-secondary education and/or employment.  Your donations will also be incredibly helpful for our Wheelchair Ramp Building program, as the funds will provide additional resources for building ramps. But these are only a few examples of the things we can achieve with your support!

Overall, your contributions will help us to continue with our mission, to empower people with disabilities to achieve their goals for independence!

We raised nearly $5,500 this year, which is AMAZING, especially during these challenging times. We could not have done it without your generosity and support!

Thank you again, and we can’t wait to do amazing things with you in the future!

Are you ready for The Amazing Give?? The Amazing Give is a 24 hour online fundraising event hosted by the Community Foundation. It gives generous donors a chance to support their local nonprofits. Starting at 6 PM today until 6 PM tomorrow, you can donate and spread the news about the CIL! Donations to the Center for Independent Living go directly to our life-changing programs, such as our Wheelchair Ramp Building Program and our youth programs. Thank you so much for your support!

Also, join us tonight during our Kick-Off Nonprofit Power Hours! From 6 to 9 PM, the organization with the most donors receives an extra $500 to put back into the community.

You can support us and those with disabilities by visiting our Amazing Give page below! 

https://www.theamazinggive.org/organizations/center-for-independent-living-of-north-central-florida?fbclid=IwAR1Thsb-4QwuTf6kMk2YkMdX7tPKZjv_CZGNry1AGw64jjPhSgkIh1QnO5Q

We wanted to give a shoutout and thank you to our own Kevin Towles for his hard work in Tallahassee at the States Emergency Operation Center (SEOC) recently. Kevin has been working with state directors who are in charge of responding to the COVID 19 Pandemic. We have heard a lot of positive feedback about his work throughout his time in the SEOC. Many have thanked Kevin for his awesome work and for helping to make a difference!

This is the first time that the Independent Living Network and CIL’s around the state are working with state officials, and finding ways together to help people with disabilities have access to food, personal protective equipment, transportation, contact information and other emergency needs. Special thanks to Bryan Russell with the Department of Health and Peter Newman with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation for your continued support during this time.

Thank you Kevin for all of your hard work and dedication, and helping our Center provide this great service to the state and people with disabilities throughout the state!

Here are some pictures of Kevin working and of the environment he was in! Thanks again, Kevin! Keep up the great work.

Throughout these challenging times as we deal with the coronavirus as a community, we wanted to highlight the CIL’s partnership with the Gainesville Police Department and their BOLD program. This program works with boys between the ages of 18 to 26 years of age and helps them attain independence by learning essential personal, professional and educational skills. The BOLD program is currently helping the community by delivering food to people and families in need during this pandemic.

Robert Wright, an intervention specialist with BOLD, is spearheading this campaign and taking it upon himself to deliver food to people in need throughout Alachua county. The BOLD program is working together with the CIL to determine who in the community is in need of these food delivery services.

The feedback for the program has been positive and there has been an overwhelming amount of gratitude and appreciation expressed by those who are receiving these deliveries. Robert says that “receiving food is a very personal moment” and finds the experience to be very humbling. Robert has worked with the CIL’s Mark Brisbane and Catholic Charities to seek out those who need food and delivery assistance.

The CIL’s Mark Brisbane has said of the program that BOLD has been a blessing through their assistance with delivering food to those who cannot get out to buy groceries. Mark has been in touch with Robert and has helped schedule food drop offs to certain homes so that people are receiving food when they need it.

Robert would also like to thank the BOLD manager, Mr. Steven Belk along with the Youth Services Director, Robert Woody and the Chief of Police, Tony Jones for their support. Other supportive BOLD staff members include Michael Booth and Pamela Boykin.

The CIL and our community are very grateful for the work being done by BOLD during these tough times. The hard work being done by people in our community to help others is truly outstanding and we appreciate all of you. We hope everyone continues to stay safe and healthy!  

We know everything is so uncertain right now as we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but if you are able to donate, any amount would make a huge difference in the lives of our consumers with disabilities we continue to serve. You can help support us during this difficult time by making a donation to our Emergency Relief Fund. Powered through the Amazing Give platform, our Emergency Relief donation page allows the CIL to receive donations that will help us continue to help our community! We have already received a generous anonymous donation of $100 and we are very grateful! Special thanks to the Community Foundation of North Central Florida and Give Gab for providing the online platform traditionally used during The Amazing Give to support immediate funding needs for local non-profits! Please check out our page!

https://www.theamazinggive.org/organizations/center-for-independent-living-of-north-central-florida

Once again, we thank you so much for your continued support during these challenging times. Stay safe and healthy!