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!
News
Zoom Bingo
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! 🙂
Disability Employment Awareness Month
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!
National Preparedness Month
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!
A Special Thanks to our CIL Board!
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 for making The Amazing Give 2020 a success!
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!
The Amazing Give Starts Today!
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!
The Amazing Give 2020!
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!
Remembering Rose
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!
CILNCF Community Outreach still going strong
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!
