Please join us for a training event at the CIL in Ocala on Tuesday, December 6th, at 9:45 am! The CIL, in collaboration with Thera-mate AND Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology will be providing a training on Thera-Mate Pro, which helps those with limited mobility better take care of themselves and their hygiene needs.

Please call (352) 368-3788 to reserve a seat, space is limited!

DATE: Tuesday December 6th, 2022 at 9:45 am

LOCATION: The Center for Independent Living
2760 SE 17th Street, Suite 300 Ocala, FL 34471

The CIL wishes everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you are able to spend quality time with family and friends! These last few years have been extremely challenging for everyone, and we are so very grateful for all of YOU, our amazing CIL consumers, board and staff, our generous donors, loyal volunteers, and wonderful community partnerships. We are so thankful for the opportunity to continue to work and grow together for people with disabilities in our community! Enjoy the holiday!

Gobble Gobble! Thanks to Trinity Missions, and our amazing partnership, the CIL was able to continue to provide 20 Thanksgiving baskets for our consumers in need this holiday season! Frozen turkeys were BACK too and we could not be more grateful! Special thanks to Trinity Missions and all you continue to do for our community, especially during the holidays!

A warm message of gratitude from Tony for our community, and for each and every one of you who work tirelessly to serve and give back to those who need it most. Thank you for all that you do! Cheers to a week full of thanks and to the season of giving.

We are so grateful that the CIL has been back to in-person classes for our ILS consumers!

Our most recent ILS class last week was so much fun as consumers learned all about food safety in light of Thanksgiving fast approaching, such as how to cook a turkey and how long we should keep leftovers. They also learned about various leftover recipes and everyone talked about their favorite Thanksgiving foods. Everyone was well engaged and left smiling!

Special thanks to CIL team members Sada Ahmed and Eric Skanes, who helped out with class while Terri Poucher, our ILS Coordinator, was recovering from being under the weather.

The CIL recently won $1,000 in the Radiant Credit Union October Charity of the Month contest! Our very own Associate Director, Amy Feutz, nominated CILNCF as an organization making our community a better place. Those who nominate the winner also receive a $100, which Amy donated right back to the CIL for a total of $1,100!

We are so grateful to everyone who voted for the CIL, and to our incredible staff for all the hard work they do to help our community thrive, every single day. What a wonderful way to enter into a season of giving and thanks!

Thank you to Radiant Credit Union for your continuous efforts towards giving back to our community. If you know an organization that is working to make our community a better place, nominate them at https://www.radiantcu.org/comm…/charity-of-the-month.shtml

It’s the season of gratitude and the CIL will be spreading tons of gratitude cheer throughout this holiday season!  Starting with this testimonial from Julie, daughter of John, a recent FAAST Program recipient who received a new power wheelchair!  Please enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

“Claudia with FAAST has been extremely helpful and accommodating. We would not have been able to get the power chair for my dad without her help.

“My dad is 84 and has just recently moved into a private home with the caregiver. We don’t have a lot of money, so we do need a lot of help. He has a deformity in one foot making it very difficult and painful for him to walk. Poor circulation and many other issues mean the power chair is life-changing for him.

“He can now get around the house to get his own food from the kitchen. He already feels more independent and happier.

“Thank you, Claudia and FAAST! You have made a huge difference in my dad’s life!”

ID:  Picture of John using his new power wheelchair in his kitchen at home. He is smiling and giving a thumbs-up.

Friday Night Fun Night for young adults with disabilities, is kicking off this Friday, November 18th from 7pm to 9pm at the CIL! Start the weekend off right with bingo, karaoke, pizza, and fun for all!

Please RSVP for in-person or online attendance, by 12pm on Friday the 18th at: IONgainesville@gmail.com

*There is a $5 cost per person to defray the costs of refreshments and prizes.

For more information, call Trish Thoburn at 352-339-6278.

Event Sponsored by:

Independence and Opportunity Network of Gainesville (ION)
CILNCF
HEROES at UF
Gator’s Domino’s

ID: Bingo flyer that includes all of the information listed above, with a colorful border containing bingo cards in the bottom left corner and numbered bingo balls in the remaining corners.

CIL Team Members tabled at the McIntosh 1890 Festival last week, the largest fundraiser of the year for several local organizations. Kevin, Cammeron, and Claudia spoke with hundreds of attendees throughout the day about CIL services and all we have to offer to community members and families.

It’s wonderful to be back attending community events in person again after all the challenges we faced with outreach during Covid. The festival was twice as large than last year, with over 1,000 attendees.

For more information about the event, visit: https://mcintosh1890sfestival.com/

ID: image includes 2 photos. Top picture is staff standing behind their table filled with brochures and giveaways at the CIL booth: Consumer Specialist Kevin Towles (left), ADA Paratransit Coordinator Cammeron Smith (center), and Assistive Technologies Specialist Claudia Avendano (right). Bottom picture is of attendees walking the festival, surrounded by vendors booths and streets shaded by massive oak trees.

Happy Veterans Day to all those who served and currently serve bravely in the U.S. Armed Forces!  Everyone here at the CIL is so grateful for your service and sacrifice to our country, and we are proud to serve you with our programs and dedicated staff. We have a variety of services that benefit veterans with disabilities, such as Employment, Wheelchair Ramp Building, Advocacy, and Housing.  Please check out our website today to learn more about how we can help!  www.cilncf.org

ID:  Background of a field with orange flowers with a person standing in the middle foreground, holding and spreading out the American flag behind them. The person is facing away from the camera.  White, capitalized text across the middle says, “Happy Veterans Day”, and smaller white capitalized text below that says, “Thank you for your service.”