Please check out the link below for updated COVID-19 accessible materials and videos for people with disabilities, from the Georgia Tech Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation. Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are the primary audience for the videos, but many other individuals, with and without disabilities, may benefit. Feel free to use and share!
In this episode, we reflect on the past year as we wrap up season 1 and look ahead at how we can continue to be the best version of ourselves so that we can better provide for those in need. Shera Curtis, Mark Brisbane, and Kevin Towles joins Tony in reflecting upon the things they’ve been doing, challenges and issues they’re seeing in the live of people they serve on a daily basis, success stories that give us hope, and share what drives each of them to being able to be of service to others.
Tony and all of us at CIL would like to extend a big thank you to our listeners, supporters, all our guests, and the producers behind the scene that have helped to make our Season 1 such a huge success. We can’t wait to see you back here on July 5th. Until then, onward and upward!
SPEAKERS: Kevin Tolls, Mark Brisbane, Shera Curtis, Tony Delisle
Continue readingAre you prepared for the upcoming hurricane season? On Wednesday, June 2nd from 4pm to 6pm, the CIL Deaf Services of Florida group will be conducting an online workshop all about Emergency Preparedness for individuals who are Deaf. Please check out the flyer below for more information!
Please read below about how your Amazing Give donations continue to make a difference in the lives of our consumers with disabilities!
Hallie is one of our consumers who is very hard working and dedicated. She studied Office Systems at Santa Fe College, and she was looking for office and receptionist type of work.
Our amazing employment services team worked extremely hard to help Hallie secure meaningful employment through the following hands-on and detailed approach:
Resume development – they made sure Hallie had an updated resume, and that it properly reflected her skills, education and work history.
Interview skills development – they worked extensively with Hallie to train and improve her interviewing skills. They reviewed her resume and highlighted all her positive and strong professional qualities, watched interview skills videos, conducted mock interviews and built Hallie’s confidence every time they practiced.
Job search and application – Hallie’s Employment Consultant executed daily job searches and applications, while Hallie also made the same efforts on her own.
Job placement – after going through many job interviews, they were able to help Hallie find work that related exactly to her degree.
Job retention – our team is continuing to check Hallie`s stability at work and her satisfaction with the job. Hallie is always appreciative and thankful for achieving her goal!
We are sending our sincere appreciation and gratitude to Venauto`s management (Mr. Luis) to give Hallie this opportunity and treat her with care and kindness. Thank you so much for giving back to the community!
Dr. Bea Awoniyi is the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs at Santa Fe College, overseeing the disability resource center, serves as Ombudsperson, and helps to oversee grant awards among many other different aspects of her role. Dr. Awoniyi has a long career in higher education, previously having worked in other universities at their disability resource centers and serving in vast leadership roles. She is a member of the Association on Higher Education And Disability and together with her colleagues, they work to better understand what they need to do, with the national organization so that they can bring individuals from the minority population to the table.
In this episode, Tony and Dr. Awoniyi talk through how to navigate our identities in a healthy way, that integrates our social and environment context, in the way we live our lives. They dive into an important discussion in reflecting about who we are, understanding our purpose, and if we have the means- how can we give back.
Contact Information:
bea.awoniyi@sfcollege.edu
352-395-5513
SPEAKERS: Bea Awoniyi, Tony Delisle
Continue readingPlease check out our May Calendar of CIL online activities below!
If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please contact Terri Poucher at 352-378-7474 or tpoucher@cilncf.org.
This week we bring you a very special episode from our Independent Life community of advocates who join us to share their personal stories in an effort to demonstrate the human and economic return on investing in the JPPAS program. This will be accomplished through meeting several of the recipients of the program and learning why JPPAS has been so instrumental in achieving their dreams and Independent Living goals. Whether you’ve been following along on our journey from day one or are just joining us today, we encourage you to contact key senate and representative decision makers to advocate for increase funding for the program for its sustainability and future growth to add more people onto it.
The James Patrick Memorial Work Incentive Personal Assistant Services program provides financial assistance to persons who are gainfully employed and have severe or chronic disabilities that require assistance from a personal care attendant (PCA) for at least 2 activities of daily living such as self-care, including ambulation, bathing, dressing, eating, grooming, and toileting, and other similar tasks. The program is primarily funded by the Tax Collection Enforcement Diversion program which provides the deliquent tax owner an opportunity to pay back the taxes instead of being prosecuted and serving time in jail.
Do you qualify for the program?
Guests:
SPEAKERS: Jane Johnson, Tony Delisle, Carey Larabee, Dug Jones, Mark Brisbane, Christina Martin, Salim Nasser
Continue readingThanks to your tremendous support, the Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida has raised over $6,000! Given the hardships faced by our community during the COVID-19 pandemic, our housing, employment, and youth programs are needed now more than ever. This incredible gift will make such a difference to our organization and the consumers we serve.
If you missed The Amazing Give Workday Edition and didn’t get a chance to donate, don’t fret! Our Amazing Give page will be LIVE and accepting donations until Sunday, April 25th, closing at midnight.
For a glimpse into what your donation dollars help make possible, here is a story from our Employment Program:
Kenneth Warren is one of CIL’s outstanding consumers! He has undergone the process of solidifying a job for a secured income, and CIL has taken the honor to guide Mr. Warren within this process of employment. Kenneth is an individual who is Deaf and received interpreting services through Vocational Rehabilitation, while CIL has assisted in developing employment through their employment services program. Moreover, Mr. Warren recently needed support in purchasing work attire for his new job, so CIL made the effort to provide these needs for Mr. Warren. CIL is proud and inspired by Mr. Warren’s astounding dedication and work-ethic! Mr. Warren is one of many consumers our Employment Program serves on a daily basis!
From the bottom of our hearts, the CILNCF thanks you for another successful Amazing Give and we look forward to your support next year!
Ciawanda McDonald is the Executive Director of Disability Solutions for Independent Living, covering Volusia and Flagler County. She is a voice for the independent living movement, in terms of equity, diversity, and intersectionality, spearheading a group comprised of folks throughout the state to advance the conversations related to equity for all groups of people with disabilities. She unpacks the important things that are needed to be know in having these conversations, what are the terms, what’s the context, and what’s the conversations being had, how does it conceptualized, and why its important to really understand who we are, our awareness of ourselves, our implicit biases. Ciawanda discusses addressing the fears we have when entering into these conversations, how to overcome them, how does it all tied back to the independent living movement, and how we can do better to serve better for the people that we’re charged with serving and providing.
Some of the work they done at the centers is creating brave spaces that encourages a dialogue that recognizes differences and holds a person accountable for what it is that they do or say and sharing experiences. Within these work groups, participants share their own experiences, have conversations, and work on how to make the centers for independent living more diverse and more equitable for others.
Disability Solutions for Independent Living, Inc.
119 South Palmetto Avenue, Suite 180
Daytona Beach, Florida 32114
386-255-1812 Fax: 386-255-1814
TTY: 386-252-6222
www.dsil.org
info@dsil.org
SPEAKERS: Ciawanda McDonald, Tony Delisle
Continue readingThe Amazing Give Workday Edition has officially begun!
We have from 7am to 7pm to raise funds to support our housing, employment, and youth programs! We are confident that we are capable of our best fundraising year yet–but we can’t do it without your incredible support! Please continue to spread the word and share our Amazing Give page. You can still make your own shareable fundraising page too! You can do so by clicking on the Fundraising button next to Donate on our page. Each action you take and donation you make gets us one step closer to meeting our goal. We truly appreciate all that you do!
Stay tuned for updates as The Amazing Give Workday Edition unfolds!
Together, we will do something amazing!
#TheAmazingGive #DoSomethingAmazing #WhyIGiveGNV
