The whole month of July is dedicated to honoring diversity, promoting visibility, and celebrating uniqueness among all those with disabilities. Disability Pride Month is used to promote awareness of disability as an identity, community, a culture, and the positive pride felt by anyone with disabilities. Image Description: Dark navy background with eight blue sparkles at the top and a blue wavy shape at the bottom of the graphic. There is yellow text with a blue border stating “Happy Disability Pride Month!” in the middle of the graphic. Below the text is an image of ten individuals with different disabilities.

“Lovisa has been overcoming struggles in her life all through school. When she first came to Lake Weir High she hated it because like other schools she was picked on and bullied. But after time passed she began to make a small circle of friends, and one of them told her about HSHT, how fun it was and that she needed to join. She came home and told me about it and I told her she could attend. Now, almost 3 years later, she is in her final year of the program. She loves everything about it, the confidence it gives her and all she has learned. My child has gone from a girl who hated school and didn’t want to go back to graduating with a 3.5 GPA and has been accepted to the College of Central Florida and will be working towards her associate’s degree in education, to be a teacher’s assistant and work with children. I am so proud of her and this program. They offer so much to the kids teaching them the skills they need to help them transition to the next step.” – Elizabeth Palmer (mother of Lovisa Palmer)

Happy Friday! July 26^th marks the 31^st Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Come join and celebrate with us through the ADA Webinar on July 22^nd at 10 AM-12 PM. Click the link below to register for the webinar!

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TZoKB9b7Rt2OdvJOI-Ellg?fbclid=IwAR0PDgQvsEU6bjuxRMrgIsElyMlFWWhA-xoSYwZk7CQdXlExRLc0_FSac5o

In mid-June, we conducted our first food and resource distribution at Tri-County Community Center in Chiefland. We are proud to announce that the distribution was a major success and we cannot wait to return! A total of 39 new consumers were signed up for our food distribution program, many of whom also requested additional services, including ramp building and employment services. Tri-County Community Center serves Levy, Gilchrist, and Dixie counties, meaning that this is a perfect partnership as we expand our outreach efforts in our rural communities. We look forward to building this relationship and working together to make achieving independence possible for even more people.

Happy Monday! Our Wheelchair Ramp Building Program continues to make a difference in local lives!  Unfortunately, the CIL was faced with the inevitable decision to pause the program this past year, due to the many challenges of COVID, and was unable to build any wheelchair ramps for our consumers in need.  However, we are now happy to report that our ramp program is up and running again!

We recently completed three ramp builds in Live Oak, Jasper and Gainesville for Ms. Sylvia, Ms. Anissa and Mr. Edwin, who were all unable to leave their homes by themselves due to living with various health and physical disabilities.  Now that the ramp builds are complete, they feel so very blessed and thankful they can access their own homes and communities, attend important doctor’s appointments, and feel less isolated and more independent! 

Special thanks to Ben Amwake Home Solutions, Custom Design Renovations, and our team here at the CIL for doing an amazing job and working together to provide this much needed service for our consumers with disabilities! 

Happy 4th of July! We hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday with their loved ones.

Image description: Light gray background with red, white, and blue stars around the perimeter of the image. There is text in the middle that reads “Happy Fourth of July!! From all of us here at the CIL!” A moving graphic of white fireworks going off is behind the text. The CIL logo is in the bottom left.

This summer the CIL is presenting Youth Social Group all season on Tuesdays from 3:30PM-5:00PM for students with disabilities, for ages around 14-25. Everything can be reached on Zoom through the meeting ID: 352 378 7474 and password: cilclass
If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Terri Poucher at 352-378-7474 or tpoucher@cilncf.org.

Please check out our July online calendar! On Tuesday, Life and Society Hacks runs from 1:00PM-2:00PM and Youth Social Group runs from 3:30PM-5:00PM. On Wednesday, Independent Hacks (ILS) runs from 10:30AM-12:00PM. On Thursday, Job Hacks runs from 1:00PM-2:00PM. Everything can be reached on Zoom through the meeting ID: 352 378 7474 and password: cilclass
If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please contact Terri Poucher at 352-378-7474 or tpoucher@cilncf.org. For Empowering Life Hacks workshops, please contact Linda Butler at 352-378-7474 or lbutler@cilncf.org.

We hope all the fathers out there are enjoying a wonderful day with their families!

Image Description: Navy blue background on left with royal blue background on the right. There is text on the left side that reads, “The CIL would like to wish a Happy Father’s Day to every father out there!” The CIL logo is at the bottom left and there is an image of an adult and child walking together, holding hands and looking at each other.