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.
Don’t forget to check out the CIL Podcast, The Independent Life, featuring special guests, news and important updates! Our Podcast team, Executive Director, Tony Delisle, and podcast assistant Sada Ahmed, work hard to bring you episodes every Monday and Thursday. Special shout out to our amazing producer Jasmine Tran with her magical editing skills. The Independent Life podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Check us out this week!
Image includes two pictures. The first picture is of Sada smiling at the camera, wearing a headset and white long-sleeved top in front of a computer, preparing for a podcast recording. The second picture is of Tony, wearing a headset and light grey short-sleeved polo shirt in front of a computer, talking into a microphone during a podcast recording.
All of us here at the CIL want to wish you a very Happy Memorial Day. Take some time today to remember and honor those who have served and sacrificed their lives for our freedom.
Image Description: Picture of a small American flag standing in tall grass at the bottom of the graphic, with the sun setting in the background. The sun’s rays are beaming upwards into a blue sky and white and darkening clouds. A quote from Barack Obama is in black text at the bottom that reads, “Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay.”
The CIL’s Emergency Preparedness Program keeps staying busy!
Last week, Kevin and Sada attended the 2022 Citrus County Sheriff’s Office All-Hazards Expo at the Crystal River mall and we feel so lucky to have been invited! The attendance at the event was incredible and we got to share important information about CILNCF with many new community members and organizations. Huge thanks to the organizers, fellow vendors, and the Citrus County community for such a fantastic experience!
Kevin also attended and represented the CIL at the first annual Dixie County Emergency Preparedness Expo earlier this month. Special shout out to Alison with Community Paramedic for helping to put this Expo together in a small setting within a short amount of time, less than a month!
The first Dixie County Expo turned out great and Alison shared these thoughts, “It was an excellent opportunity for the providers to get together and learn about each other. This was kind of a practice run for a more large-scale event. I feel like each of the vendors were pleased with the location and information they learned about each other and everyone was willing to attend another one in the future.”
GREAT JOB to our Emergency Preparedness Team and all that you do to help prepare people with disabilities for the upcoming hurricane season!
Image includes two pictures from both events. The first picture is from the Citrus County event of Sada (left) and Kevin (right) tabling with CIL information and the CIL standing banner to the left of the table. The second picture is from the Dixie County event of Kevin presenting to the attendees.
We’re continuing to celebrate 40 years of service here at the CIL! This month, we wanted to highlight one of our Five-Core Services, Independent Living Skills (ILS)!
Terri Poucher, our ILS Coordinator, has done a wonderful job planning and implementing ILS classes each month for our consumers, especially throughout the pandemic. Please read below about what she has to say about the latest ILS happenings at the CIL!
“This month (May) we have been discussing Mental Health, since it is Mental Health Awareness Month. We talked about thinking errors (that we all make) and how to correct them, as well as the 6 different aspects of health and why it’s important to focus on all of them (wholistic) and not just one area. We also talked about the kinds of foods that are best for your mental (and overall) health in our basic cooking class, with a live demo on protein shakes.
For the next 6 months, we have some great topics coming up like: how to deal with changes, how pets help your health, basic first aid, Deaf Awareness, more on basic cooking and possible (future) guest speakers and outings.
We will be reopening to ILS in-person groups in June for a small test group and if that goes well and we all stay healthy, we look forward to opening up to more people and the ability to do more things.”
ILS will continue to have zoom meetings on Wednesdays- so feel free to join us there! Here is the sign in info: ILS-WED 10:30AM – 12:00PM
If the link above does not take you to the meeting, go to zoom.us, and on the top, right side, click on the button that says join a meeting and enter the information below:
The JP-PAS Program continues to empower and make a difference for people with disabilities by providing monthly stipends to qualified Floridians who are employed and require personal assistance services for daily living. Peter, pictured below, is a recipient of JP-PAS and had a wonderful opportunity to work for the United States Air Force. What does your future hold? Sign up for JP-PAS today!
Image description: Blue sky background with white clouds throughout the graphic. The top of the image reads: “The JP-PAS Personal Attendant Services and Employment Assistance Program” in large dark blue lettering. In the bottom center of the graphic, there is a picture of Peter smiling, receiving an award for his work with the United States Air Force. He is sitting in his wheelchair, holding his award, and wearing a black suit with tie and a white collared shirt. Another individual in Air Force fatigues is standing to his left, also smiling and holding a part of the award. The FACIL logo is in the center of the graphic on the left side and the JP-PAS logo is in the center on the right side. In between them is the program’s website, written in the above paragraph.
Please enjoy a video below, highlighting our two High School High Tech (HSHT) seniors in the Alachua Rural HSHT Program. Congratulations to you both! All of us here at the CIL wish you the BEST in your future endeavors!
Image below video is a picture of Aidan and Ethan in posing in front of the Charles R. Perry Construction Institute at Santa Fe College during one of their job shadowing experiences.
Our Consumer Specialist Kevin Towles recently represented the CIL by attending the 36th Annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference. He was able to participate in various workshops with Volunteer Florida and FEMA, and learned new strategies to assist people with disabilities in an emergency. He tabled for two days, providing CIL resources to all attendees throughout the state of Florida. Additionally, Kevin joined a panel discussion and shared resources and checklists to remember in an emergency situation, especially for people with disabilities. He made several new partnerships throughout the week, and was able to reconnect with past and current business partnerships. Thank you so much Kevin for helping the CIL prepare our community and people with disabilities for the upcoming hurricane season!
Images Include two pictures: Kevin tabling at the conference and Kevin representing the CIL on a discussion panel.
The JP-PAS Program continues to change lives by providing monthly stipends to qualified Floridians with disabilities who are employed and require personal assistance services for daily living. Please read JR’s testimonial below about how the JP-PAS Program empowered him to live a more independent life.
“Are you working? Sitting on the sidelines of life and watching it go was very frustrating. The possibilities of a full and active life are endless through gainful employment! JPPAS Program is a fantastic Florida tool to help you move from dependency to self-sufficiency, empowerment, and a world of choices. Try work, you might like it!”
Image description: Two pictures of JR with a light blue background. The top picture shows JR driving and smiling in his fully accessible vehicle, and the bottom picture shows JR on a boat, smiling and sitting at the helm with his friend Erika, also smiling and standing to his right with her arm around his shoulder.
We wanted to give a HUGE shout out to our High School High Tech (HSHT) team members Niusha and Pepper! During last month’s HSHT Annual Conference, Niusha achieved the Able Trust Quality Program Award for the Alachua County HSHT Program, and Pepper achieved the Able Trust Quality Program Award for the Putnam County HSHT Program! Congratulations to you both and thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to your programs and our high school students with disabilities. Great job!! #FloridaHSHT
Image Description: Two pictures with light blue background. The first is at the top left of the graphic, and shows Niusha holding up her award with Joey D’Souza, Vice President, External Engagement with The Able Trust to the left, and Coleen Agner, HSHT State Director with The Able Trust to the right. The second picture is at the bottom right of the graphic, and shows Pepper holding up her award with Coleen Agner, HSHT State Director to the right. They are all standing in a banquet room, in front of a table with a blue tablecloth and Able Trust banner, smiling at the camera. The CIL logo is to the bottom left.
We hope everyone is having a great day celebrating with their families. Please enjoy some of our staff’s favorite Mother’s Day memories below!
Debbie: My favorite Mother’s Day memories, if I had to choose, would be my first Mother’s Day as a mom to Alan. Memories of my mom was looking forward to a family dinner every year with siblings and grandkids. I really miss my mom the most. We lost her to breast cancer. Between my sister and my mom, I have learned to fight, not sit back and waste away.
Lauren: In 2017, my daughter brought home a small plant, “Mother of 1000 Daughters” that her 2nd grade teacher had the students put together for Mother’s Day. It is a very beautiful, unique and hearty plant that, just like its name, can produce 1000s of little baby plants in a short amount of time. We love plants at our house, so this was an amazing gift that I have to be careful with where I put it, as the babies will fall off the leaves and seed themselves ANYWHERE with the slightest movement of the plant. In the concrete, aluminum siding, porch cracks, and certainly all over the yard if I put it outside. Needless to say, I have several growing from the mother plant, and probably hundreds more that I’ve pulled up since then, but it’s the gift that’ll keep on giving, and I’m reminded of this every time I see a new one popping up somewhere random.
Drew: My favorite Mother’s Day memory is when I made a picture slideshow for my mom with family pictures, music, etc. and surprised her with it!
Image Description: Background includes a clear blue sky, a couple of thin, white clouds, with fuchsia and light pink flowers at the bottom growing out of green grass in a field. The CIL logo is to the bottom left, just above the flowers. The blue text at the top reads, “Happy Mother’s Day!! Moms deserve all the flowers in the world! With love from The CIL.”
