September is National Preparedness Month, and it serves as a reminder of how crucial it is for us to prepare for the unexpected. Each week we will be focusing on a different theme that will hopefully get us feeling more confident and secure if ever faced with a natural disaster or emergency.

This month, you’ll be reminded about making and practicing a plan, the importance of learning life-saving skills, checking your insurance coverage and why you should be saving for an emergency. Starting a conversation about natural disasters and emergencies is sometimes the hardest part; we’ll give you tips on what to do each step of the way.

Follow our weekly updates on our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/FloridaCenterforIndependentLiving

You can also read more about National Preparedness Month at: https://www.ready.gov.

“Just like harvest season rolls around every year, you can count on emergencies being a constant in our lives. And while we can’t prevent every disaster, it just makes sense to prepare for them now.” -Senator Jon Tester

The Voices Rising Community Chorus is having their semi-annual concert April 28! Every spring and fall, the inter-generational chorus gives a free concert and encourages donations in support of a local charity. This spring, the CIL has been chosen as the recipient!

Voices Rising is a group of adult and child singers ages 10 and up. They sing a wide variety of genres, including classical, folk and show tunes. The group has over 100 singers, and as the website says: “When we sing, magic happens!”

The CIL would love to see you at the concert to support people with disabilities in North Central Florida and listen to the voices of the choir. We’ll be there too!

Congratulations to our High School High Tech 2018 Speech Contest winners! The students spoke about future careers they were interested in pursuing and how HSHT helped them explore those careers. The first place winner won a donated laptop, and second and third place won chocolate!

Our first, second, and third place winners, Myles Goodwine, Deonis Jackson, and Logan Tugman, will move on to Regionals in Orlando on April 18. The top three students from Regionals will then move on to the State competition in Tallahassee.

We are so proud of all our students!

We raised a total of $5,025 from The Amazing Give this year!

Thank you so much for supporting us in such an amazing way and caring about such an important cause. The donations will impact CIL programs such as Employment, High School High Tech, Wheelchair Ramp Building and Independent Living classes. We appreciate you being a part of our mission to help empower people with disabilities to live independently during this year’s Amazing Give!

The Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida will have a FREE Emergency Preparedness Conference for people with disabilities March 22 from 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Marion County Sheriff’s Department in Ocala. ASL interpreters will be provided.

Emergency Management Director Preston Bowlin will present on behalf of Marion County’s Sheriff Department. He will verify that the special needs registry is up to par for each county, making sure special needs shelters are fully equipped in an emergency situation.

Ben Nelson, a national weatherman from Jacksonville, will speak on weather preparedness.

A representative from Ocala’s fire department will share how they prepare when emergencies threaten to strike.

The last session will be a panel of these speakers; Kevin Towels, a representative from the CIL; Kyle Drummer, Marion County’s communications manager; Randy Ming, from the Health Department for Shelters; Amy Brault, Marion Senior Services volunteer coordinator; and Andrea Melvin, CIL’s satellite office manager, who will host the conference. Attendees can ask any questions on the topics.

The vendors involved with the conference are: Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida, Marian County Sheriff’s Department, United Way, Ocala Fire, County Fire, Marion Senior Service, Shine, Seco Electric, Home Instead Senior Care, Visiting Angels, Kindred Hospice, Health South, Hearth of Florida, and Ocala PD.

If transportation is needed, contact Suntran (352-401-6999) or Marion Senior Services (352-620-3071). Say it is for the Emergency Preparedness Conference on March 22. Transportation should be free.

Registration is preferred and will be open until March 21, 8:30 a.m.

The CIL is once again participating in The Amazing Give, a 24-hour day of giving in the local community from March 21 at 6 p.m. to March 22 at 6 p.m., but don’t forget about our year-round fundraising opportunities! You can raise money for the Center just by voting in a contest, shopping for yourself and searching the internet.

The CIL enters SunState Federal Credit Union’s Charity of the Month contest every month for a chance to win $1,000. The contest also draws a random charity to win $500 each month, so if the Center isn’t #1, don’t get discouraged! The more you vote, the more likely it is to win the prizes. A random voter is also chosen to win $100 every month, and you can vote every day to increase the possibility of your name being drawn.

Search and shop online with Amazon Smile and Goodsearch! Amazon Smile donates 0.5% of your purchase when you go through smile.amazon.com, and Goodsearch, (powered by Yahoo!) donates a penny from each online search and up to 30% with each shopping purchase when you go through Goodsearch.com. Don’t forget to make sure the donations are going to the Center by entering “Transitional Living of North Central Florida” as your cause.

Thank you for your support!

We’re so excited to be a part of the #AmazingGive!

What It Is:

For 24 hours between 6pm on March 29^th and 6pm on March 30^th, The Amazing Give will raise money for local nonprofits, like the Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida, through a single online donation platform, providing an easy way to connect donors to the charitable causes they care about most and encourage them to take action.

Why We’re Doing It:

The purpose of this community-wide giving challenge is to increase public awareness of the impact local nonprofits make in addressing our community’s challenges, bring nonprofits and donors together, and connect people to the causes that move them the most.

Please visit this link to our page, consider a donation and help us spread the word: https://www.theamazinggive.org/organizations/center-for-independent-living-of-north-central-florida

Thank you for your support!

The CIL is proud to announce that we now have art classes!

Group homes and consumers of the CIL are welcome to attend these class every Monday and Friday from 1-2:30 p.m.

“The classes give them something different to do. It’s really good because it gives them something to do outside of peer support,” said Mark Brisbane, head of Peer Support and Peer Support Groups.

The SunState Community Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that serves the communities in and around North Central Florida by promoting and facilitating philanthropy. The Foundation was established to promote and provide charitable assistance that contributes towards the development, education and well-being of the communities, areas and members served by SunState Federal Credit Union.

Each month, The SunState FCU holds a Charity of the Month contest on Facebook and the charity with the most votes receives a $1,000 donation.

This month, The Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida is looking to capitalize on this opportunity!

—HOW YOU CAN HELP—

All you have to do is:
-Step 1: Go to the SunState Federal Credit Union’s Facebook page
-Step 2: Click Charity of the Month on the left side,
-Step 3: Click Vote, then vote for the Center of Independent Living of North Central Florida!

You can also vote by going to this link: http://woobox.com/cxhtzo/vote?web=1#

You are able to vote once a day, so if you have some spare time please vote for the CILNCF as much as you can!

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Support the Center when you search and shop online!
GoodSearch.com – powered by Yahoo! donates a penny from each online search and up to 30% of purchases from Goodshop.com
Amazon donates 0.5% of your purchases from Amazon Smile at smile.amazon.com
Donate to the Center by entering “Transitional Living of North Central Florida” as your cause!