Greetings | The Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida welcomes you! If you have any questions about the center or the services we provide, please contact us at 352-378-7474. Our number again, is 3, 5, 2, 3, 7, 8, 7, 4, 7, 4.
Fun Fact Friday: The Florida AgrAbility Project keeps Florida farmers farming. With our new partnership with the University of Florida IFAS Extension, we can serve farmers with all types of disabilities to ensure they secure, maintain and sustain meaningful work in agriculture. We can do this by offering worksite and home-based assessments; providing Assistive Technologies; modifying equipment and work sites; restructuring farm tasks; identifying resources and services that can aid their independence; and assisting them with inclusion in their communities by offering social opportunities that are essential for a high quality of life. Please support this impactful cause by donating to our Amazing Give campaign: https://www.theamazinggive.org/…/center-for-independent…
ID: Image is a blue square with the text “What is AgrAbility” in the middle. AgrAbility is written in purple with a white outline. The CILNCF and The Amazing Give logo are display at the top middle of the graphic.
ID: Image is a farmer using assistive equipment to get onto his tractor. The words “7 days!” is displayed on the center of the image in white, bordered in purple. The Florida AgrAbility logo is shown in the top right of the graphic. The CIL and Amazing Give logo is on the bottom middle of the graphic.
The Amazing Give is just 2 WEEKS AWAY on April 20th, and we wanted to share more about where your donation dollars will go! This year, all funds raised will benefit our brand-new program, AgrAbility!
Our work here at CILNCF is all about supporting individuals with disabilities to live independently and fulfill their goals. To gain a better understanding of AgrAbility, please read below:
Farmers and workers within the agricultural fields are more likely to have a disability than the general population due to hazardous conditions of their profession. It is estimated that nearly a third to half of farmers have a disability compared to a quarter of people in the general population. Farmers are more likely to have physical disabilities which prevents them from continuing to farm and work in agriculture. Many farmers with physical disabilities need adaptive equipment to keep working; however, they often cannot afford this equipment. Farmers experience high rates of mental health issues, have high rates of mental health issues and have six times the rate of suicides compared to the general population. Unfortunately, farmers rarely seek out mental health services and often to not have access to these services if they do with to utilize them.
The CILNCF started a brand-new collaboration with the University of Florida called the Florida AgrAbility Project. AgrAbility aims to serve farmers with all types of disabilities to ensure they secure, maintain, and sustain meaningful work in agriculture through: offering worksite and home-based assessments; providing Assistive Technologies; modifying equipment and work sites; restructuring farm tasks; identifying resources and services that can aid their independence; and assisting them with inclusion in their communities through offering social opportunities that are essential for a high quality of life.
VD: Video begins with showing the logos for: CILNCF, AgrAbility, and The Amazing Give. It then shows Lindsey Head at a farm/ranch speaking about Florida farmers. It then shifts to various videos of Mika Hardison speaking about her farm, The Herbal Bee. There are various scenes of bees and farming throughout the video as Mika speaks. Towards the end of the video, Tony Delisle speaks about the services that CILNCF provides. The video ends with logos for AgrAbility, CIL, The Amazing Give, and the following text: To donate to CILNCF’s Amazing Give, please visit: https://www.theamazinggive.org/organizations/center-for-independent-living-of-north-central-florida
We just have THREE WEEKS left until The Amazing Give on April 20, 2023, from 8 am to 8 pm! All of your generous donations will be used towards our newest program AgrAbility. You can learn more about the program by clicking on the link below to the latest episode of our podcast, The Independent Life, featuring our AgrAbility team. It’s a great listen, so please check it out and discover where your donation dollars will go!
Listen Now: Supporting Farmers with Disabilities through AgrAbility with Dr. Serap Gorucu and Lindsey Head
Thank you for your support and stay tuned for more updates!
ID: Blue and gold sparkle background with pink wording that states, “3 weeks until..” at the top. In the middle is The Amazing Give logo, containing the date and time of the event, written in black with a white background, and the date is in a red, rectangular box. At the bottom is a red banner flag with black wording that states, “Join Us for a Day of Giving”.
Judith “Judy” Heumann has been a part of almost every pivotal moment in the disability rights movement. Considered “the mother” of the movement, she was a lifelong advocate for the rights of disabled people. She has been instrumental in the development and implementation of legislation, such as Section 504, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
“Disability only becomes a tragedy when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives — job opportunities or barrier-free buildings, for example,” she said. “It is not a tragedy to me that I’m living in a wheelchair.”
The month of February is dedicated to honoring the long history of Black Americans and their many contributions to society. This month, we wanted to highlight the stories of Black heroes whose vision, commitment and activism helped advance progress for people with disabilities. As we reflect on the past, we remember the incredible advocates who are too often left out of the retelling of history.
ID: There are 5 graphics, each colored black, green, yellow, and red with the following text about each unsung hero of Black History Month:
Johnnie Lacy: A Voice for Black Women with Disabilities Johnnie Lacy helped found the Center for Independent Living at Berkeley and became the Director of the Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL) in its early days from 1981 to 1994. During her time at CRIL, she engaged the community in groundbreaking and essential conversations about identity and the challenges that come with being a Black woman with a disability.
Brad Lomax & Chuck Jackson: Uniting the Civil Rights Community The “504 Sit In” has been widely written about, but the involvement of two Black disability activists, Brad Lomax and Chuck Jackson, has been largely overlooked. These two members of the Black Panther Party, Brad Lomax, and his assistant, Chuck Jackson, participated in the sit in. Lomax was an Oakland resident with multiple sclerosis which required him to use a wheelchair. Together, Lomax and Jackson worked with their community to cook and deliver hot meals to disability rights advocates during the 28-day protest.
Bessie Blount: Transforming what is Possible through Assistive Technology Blount believed that it was important for people with disabilities to be able to feed themselves in order to have independence and increase their self-esteem. To do this, Blount came up with a device that consisted of a tube that transported individual bites of food to the patient’s mouth. Blount’s innovation was one of the earliest forms of assistive technology for individuals with disabilities and she paved the way for many more advancements in the field.
These Black advocates, inventors, and activists — Johnnie Lacy, Brad Lomax, Chuck Jackson, and Bessie Blount — each contributed something unique to the disability movement and have helped our communities get to where we are today. It’s hard to imagine a world without their significant contributions.
Please join us this February for both in-person and online classes at the CIL! We are still offering one online class per week for those of you who prefer that option.
Independence Hacks (ILS) classes will be on Tuesdays in Ocala, Wednesdays on Zoom, and Thursdays in Gainesville. All classes will be from 10:30am – 12pm.
Youth Leadership and Social Group classes are still on Tuesdays from 3:30-5pm. So far, they will continue to be conducted online until further notice.
For every online class, the meeting username is 352-378-7474 and the password is cilclass
Please be sure to share this with anyone who would like to participate, and contact Terri Poucher at 352-378-7474 or tpoucher@cilncf.org with any questions. We look forward to seeing you soon!
ID: Graphic with light pink background with heart designs all over. Black bold text heading that reads, “February Calendar”. Below header are three heart graphics graphics, each labeled “Tuesdays”, “Wednesdays” and “Thursdays” respectively. Each correlating day’s class titles and meeting times are written beneath its respective weekday. The meeting ID and password is written on the bottom of the image. The CIL logo is at the top left.
Earlier this month, Project Looking Ahead students at Hernando High School, participated in a fun, teamwork building activity. The objective was to work as a group to build the tallest free-standing structure possible using only dry spaghetti and marshmallows. The activity not only helped students build their structures, but also helped them build essential communication and leadership skills. The winning team was composed of Ethan, Omar, Richard, and Alex.
ID: There are total of 5 photos. Each are of students sitting and standing around a circular wooden table, participating in team building activities described in the caption.
Although the holiday season has passed, we wanted to still send some holiday cheer in January! After three years of virtual events, our High School High Tech (HSHT) students were finally able to celebrate their Annual Holiday Party in person this year! In mid-December, students from all of our HSHT counties in Alachua, Levy, Marion and Putnam were able to come to the CIL and celebrate the holidays together. Everyone enjoyed yummy snacks, door prizes and fun holiday games that included, Face the Cookie, Holiday Pictionary and Holiday Reverse Charades. They also had a special surprise guest crash the party…Santa! All of the students had a great time and were grateful celebrating the holidays in the CIL activity room after such a long time.
ID: There are a total of 8 photos of the HSHT students celebrating their Annual Holiday party in the Activity Room at CIL Gainesville. The photos show everyone playing games, eating delicious snacks, and having a great time together.
