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 are less than ONE week out from The Amazing Give!

The CILNCF will be participating in The Amazing Give, a 24-hour, online fundraising event, that is hosted by the Community Foundation of North Central Florida. The donations we receive through this fundraiser are an essential part of supporting our organization!

We would like to highlight one of our youth programs, High School High Tech (HSHT), one of the youth programs that will benefit from your donation!

“Although the HSHT program had a difficult time this year because of COVID-19, it still had a very high graduation rate for its seniors! 99% of students graduated this spring, and 90% of them have decided to pursue their dreams through post-secondary education. While there are many excellent success stories about these students, we wanted to highlight Nelson Williams a 2020 Palatka High School graduate from our Putnam County HSHT Program. Nelson has earned a full scholarship from Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, and he will be playing football for them in the fall. We are very proud of him and we will continue to encourage him to shoot for the stars even after he has completed his time in the HSHT Program!”

Your generous donations will go directly into our youth programs, and our Wheelchair Ramp Building Program!

The event lasts 24 hours starting August 19th at 6pm and ending August 20th at 6pm. This year, we are setting a goal of $10,000 and we need your help!

If you are interested in donating and supporting our amazing youth and ramp building, please visit our Amazing Give campaign page: The Amazing Give: Center for Independent Living

Please also help spread the word to those who might be interested! Thank you so much for your support!

The CIL recently received some devastating news. Sadly, our dear Rose lost her brief battle with COVID last week. She was part of our CIL family for over 12 years. Rose had a caring heart and provided excellent service to our consumers. Even during these unusual times, Rose used her personal phone to assist consumers with what they needed. She had a wealth of knowledge about the community and services available and was always learning more.

In addition to assisting our consumers, Rose was very helpful to our CIL team. She was always willing to assist where she could in between her receptionist duties and was especially helpful in the ADA Paratransit process. Rose went out of her way to help staff, the center and our consumers. The office will never be the same without her.

Rose had a large family and she was especially excited about the recent birth of her twin granddaughters. All of us here at the CIL are sending many thoughts and prayers to her family during this very difficult time. It is hard for us to imagine not seeing her wonderful smile and hear her infectious laugh and encouraging words. We will miss you always Rose!

This past month, our Community Outreach Specialist, Shera Curtis, continued to distribute food to those in need, and also worked with the Supervisor of Elections! The first photo shows Darryl Williams, one of our CIL consumers. After receiving his food, Darryl stayed to assist other residents who did not have a basket or cart to bring food to their homes. He also helped out by encouraging other residents to sign up for assistance, who weren’t signed up prior. He was a pleasure to work with and truly an asset to his community.

The second photo shows Thomas “TJ” Pyche, the representative from the Supervisor of Elections. TJ assisted several consumers with registering to vote and also completing a mail-in ballot. He was amazing to work with and was there to help with whatever was needed from beginning to end!

Sunday, July 26th marked the 30th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act! Here is a word from our Executive Director, Tony Delisle, about what the ADA means to him!

“The ADA is for all people because nearly everyone is touched by disability. The ADA provides access to a door where people with disabilities can enter to achieve their full potential. It is up to us as individuals, communities, and organizations to go through this door together and live up to the ideals of the ADA by creating a society that is just for all.” – Tony Delisle

The CILNCF is distributing Emergency Kits to our consumers in need! The kits were put together by Kevin (pictured below), Shera and CIL interns, and include first aid supplies, masks, hand santizer, a File of Life card, and a special gift from St. Leo! Special thanks to the following regional coalitions! Through funding from them, we were able to include first aid supplies in each of the kits:
North Central Healthcare Coalition
NE Florida Healthcare Coalition
Coalition for Health and Medical Preparedness (CHAMP)

All of us at the CIL would like to give a huge THANK YOU to the following organizations and individuals who have so generously donated PPE supplies during this past month:

Eric Dresser, Diane Owens and the entire UnitedHealthcare Team for the donation of 500 reusable masks and 50 small hand sanitizers!

The Florida Department of Health, as well as Alexandra Boswell with the Department of Emergency Management and Peter Newman with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation for the donation of 22,000 masks! Wow!

Carla Lewis-Miles, Khadijah Camps and another woman who would like to remain anonymous, for making masks that were distributed to the CIL, the Greater Duval neighborhoods and throughout Gainesville where there is the most need!

As we continue to work day by day to re-open our doors to consumers, the CILNCF will be in crucial need of PPE supplies, so we are extremely grateful for these donations and community partnerships! Thank you all for helping keep our consumers and community safe and healthy!

After a long wait, the CILNCF Ocala office will officially be moved into their new office location on June 29, 2020! At this time, the office will remain closed to consumers and the public. However, staff will be available by phone, e-mail and video conferencing. We are so excited and happy for our Ocala Team!

At the beginning of this month, after several years of trying, the Center for Independent Living was officially declared the WINNER of the May Charity of the Month contest from Sunstate Federal Credit Union! All of us at the CIL wanted to give a big THANK YOU to Sunstate Federal Credit Union for offering this amazing opportunity to us and all of the wonderful charities in our community, and of course, to everyone that voted for us! Thank you all for making this possible!