Come out on Monday, June 10th and give your input on the Florida State Plan for Independent Living. All interested members of the public are welcome!
See the flyer below for more information.
On May 20th, the Center for Independent Living and The Villages Public Safety hosted an Emergency Preparedness Conference for people with disabilities, senior adults, and the community. This conference was aimed to update people on how to best prepare for emergencies and to ensure they’re exposed to all of the resources that are available to them.
We would like to thank all of the companies, vendors, and speakers for helping out with this conference. Without the support and contributions from these following organizations, we would not be able to put on conferences that address these crucial topics!
Thank you again to all of these organizations for your unwavering support and contribution!
Womber Hill, of Brooker, Florida, lived in a house with a crumbling back porch and a dangerously uneven back door frame. Womber has poor balance and lives by herself, and as a result she often fell while exiting her dangerous back door and accumulated many scrapes and scratches.
The Center for Independent Living coordinated with Amwake Home Improvement to provide Womber with accessible home modifications which were completed on March 23, 2019.
Benjamin Amwake and a student volunteer from Santa Fe College revamped Womber’s porch, cleaned her yard and built her an accessible ramp. Womber is now able to safely navigate in and out of her home, and the freezer, refrigerator and hot water heater that she kept outside are now safely braced thanks to the new porch.
“Blood, sweat and tears [put into these projects] are more valuable to us than money,” said Mark Brisbane, coordinator of the ramp program at CILNCF. “That’s just rewarding.”
Cynthia Khalsa, of Live Oak, Florida, had “no way in or out of her house” as a result of Stage 4 Bone cancer in her left hip- that is, until the Center for Independent Living got involved.
Before the Center built her a ramp, Cynthia relied on Alachua County Fire Rescue to physically lift her in and out of her home. She would call 911, request lift assist, and wait, she said. Fire rescue would lift her and her wheelchair out of her house, sometimes unavoidably bumping her body against the steps and causing her immense pain. She would go to a medical appointment (the only time she could use this assistance from Fire Rescue), and then have to endure the entire cumbersome process again when she came home.
On March 16, 2019 the Center for Independent Living coordinated with Custom Design Renovations to build Cynthia a ramp out of her house, empowering her to come and go as she pleased. The construction of the ramp has enabled Cynthia to live more independently and to take control over her everyday life.
“I cannot begin to tell what a blessing your organization has been to me,” she said. “This ramp will give me the freedom to even just get out in the sun for a bit.”
Do you want to try delicious Brazilian snacks, enjoy live Brazilian music, and hear from guest-speaker Welson Tremura, a professor of music at the UF Brazilian Music Institute and co-director for Jacaré Brazil, a Brazilian music ensemble?
Join us at the Center for Independent Living tomorrow, April 11, at 5 p.m. as we kick off our Intercultural Latin Group at the CIL!
This new group was started to reach out to Hispanic/Latinx people with disabilities and to “create a new community,” according to Nicolli Sorice, the event organizer and Hispanic Outreach Core Specialist at the Center.
We hope to see you there!
The CIL, and several other organizations in the community, had the pleasure of participating in a free shopping day at the Junior League of Gainesville Thrift Shop due to its official closure.
We left with several bags of interview clothing and craft supplies that will surely benefit our consumers.
Thank you to the Junior League for your generosity and commitment to making a positive impact on the community!
One small click each day could have an enormous impact on empowering those with disabilities.
Every month, the Center for Independent Living is eligible to be SunState Federal Credit Union’s “Charity of the Month” – and to receive a donation of $1,000.
All it takes is a vote on Facebook to get started. Visit https://www.facebook.com/SunStateFCU/, scroll down the page and click on the “Charity of the Month” tab, locate the CIL icon, and cast your vote.
Facebook users can cast one vote every day, each day of the month. The charity with the most votes at the end of the month will receive a $1,000 donation and be profiled in SunState Federal Credit Union’s Our Town Magazine.
Charities are also eligible for a randomly selected $500 donation. The more votes received each month, the better the chance of receiving that month’s $500 donation.
This April, remember to set an alarm, post a sticky-note reminder, and vote for the Center for Independent Living for “Charity of the Month”!
Thank you to everyone who helped make The Amazing Give 2019 a success for the CIL! We raised OVER $6,500 this year, a record-breaking amount for the Center and $1,500 more than we raised last year. We could not have done it without your generosity and support.
Your donations will help us continue building ramps for those who need accessible home modifications; they will help us continue our High School High Tech youth program and ensure that youth with disabilities can pursue careers in science and technology; and they will help us continue to provide essential transition and employment services – but these are only a few examples of what we can do with your help!
Overall, your contributions will help us to continue striving towards our mission of empowering those with disabilities.
Thank you again, and we can’t wait to do amazing things with you in the future.
Today at 6 p.m., The Amazing Give, a 24-hour online fundraiser hosted by the Community Foundation, will commence, giving our generous community an opportunity to directly support the Center for Independent Living’s countless programs. This year, your generous donations will go directly toward supporting our youth programs, including High School High Tech and Transition.
In addition, there will be a Kick-Off tonight at Gainesville’s own Adam’s Rib Co., at 2109 NW 13th Street, with raffle prizes and delicious ribs and barbecue. Supporters will have a chance to win two $20 gift cards to Adam’s Rib Co.
Get ready to give! Please visit the Center for Independent Living’s Amazing Give campaign page to get started at: https://www.theamazinggive.org/organizations/center-for-independent-living-of-north-central-florida
For the fourth year in a row, the Center for Independent Living will be participating in The Amazing Give, a 24-hour online fundraiser that is hosted by the Community Foundation of North Central Florida. The donations raised through the Amazing Give are an essential part of supporting our organization. This event is only ONE WEEK AWAY, so be sure to mark your calendars!
From 6 p.m. on March 20 to 6 p.m. on March 21, you will be able to support our organization by visiting our campaign page at:
https://www.theamazinggive.org/organizations/center-for-independent-living-of-north-central-florida
This year, donations raised will directly support our High School High Tech and Transition Services! Our goal this year is to raise $10,000 dollars, and we know we can reach it with your generous support!
In addition, please help us kick-off the Amazing Give at Adam’s Rib Co. on March 20 from 6-8 p.m.! 10% of the proceeds from your meal will be donated to the Center if you mention you’re supporting the CIL for the Amazing Give! Check out the flyer below for more details about the Kick-Off.
