Starting October 11th, 2019, the Center will be offering iCivics Youth Interactive Games every other Friday, to engage young people aged 14-30ish in meaningful civic learning. Check out the flyer below to learn more!
The Disability Community Planning Group Webinar will take place on September 23, 2019, 2:00 PM EDT. It’s a very timely topic, as Hurricane season is upon us. Please register by clicking on the following link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6339487578436089868
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar
**CART or Live captioning will be available. For the CART link, please go to: https://providingcart.1capapp.com/event/FDHP at the time of the webinar. Also, attached is information about CART for those of you who may not be familiar with it. CART is live captioning provided by a certified CART captioner- to access, click on the streamtext link above, 5-10 min before the event and have this window opened alongside the GoToWebinar window. The size, font and background of the CART live text can be adjusted- please see attached instructions.
The DCPG is a statewide advisory group that provides feedback and direction to the Florida Disability and Health Program. Membership in the Planning Group ranges from public health leaders, policy makers and disability advocates to persons with disabilities and leaders in healthcare.
**Details about the webinar
Title: Disability & Natural Disasters: Preparing for the worst and not just hoping for the best.
Description: The health, safety, and independence of people with disabilities are at a greater risk during and after natural disasters. This webinar will discuss actions being taken to address these issues and will:
1) Describe factors that compromise the health, safety, and independence of people with disabilities.
2) Outline common access and functional needs for people with disabilities.
3) Detail current strategies to improve access and functional needs of people with disabilities during and after disasters.
Presenter: Dr. Tony Delisle is the Executive Director for the Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida (CILNCF). Dr. Delisle has a strong track record in leveraging collaborations between the community of people with disabilities and emergency management professionals, local and state agencies, and community based organizations to improve preparedness, response, and recovery from natural disasters.
The CIL Summer Youth Program was held from June 3rd to August 8th and it was a HUGE success! Youth with disabilities aged 14-24 years had the opportunity to participate in various fun, hands-on, educational and work-related activities, as well as develop their social skills.
Activities over the summer included fieldtrips to the SFC Teaching Zoo and Planetarium, guest speakers from NAMI, Fit for All Human Foosball at GHF, computer skills classes, youth peer mentor groups, ILS classes, Afro-Brazilian music classes, bingo, cards, arts and crafts and a scavenger hunt.
The social parties were awesome as well! They included a Brazilian June Festival, Karaoke Party, Mexican Party, and to close the program, youth participated in a Talent Show where they were able to show off their unique and individual talents, such as singing, dancing, drawing and reciting poetry!
Our High School High Tech (HSHT) Program had a great summer too! During the summer, our HSHT students participated in 52 career experiences that included paid summer internships, part-time employment, job shadowing and volunteering! Students gained invaluable job-related skills, including those soft skills so many employers seek in their employees and applicants.
HSHT had a very successful 2018-2019 school year as well. 100% of all participating seniors graduated from high school and 85% of our graduates transitioned into post-secondary education and/or employment!
Congratulations to all of our CIL and HSHT youth and all you have accomplished so far!
The Florida Department of Health has issued a Declaration of Public Health Emergency for Hepatitis A. Please see the attached Declaration for more information.
Declaration-of-Public-Health-Emergency
Come on out to the Senior Recreation Center on Thursday, July 25th to help us celebrate the ADA! Click on the link below for more information.
http://ADA-Celebration-Flyer
CIL’s are huge advocates of emergency management and preparedness, but why do we prepare our communities for emergencies to the extent that we do? Often times, people with disabilities get lost in all the commotion during disasters and they end up placed in an environment that may appear to meet their needs, but actually doesn’t, such as a nursing home or psychiatric institution. This is why it’s extremely important that everyone is prepared beforehand and aware of all their resources. The CIL does our best to make sure these resources are accessible to everyone!
If you’d like to learn more about why it’s important to prepare for disasters, and why CIL’s will always be heavily involved with disaster readiness, this article is an informative read. The Emergency Management sector of Government Technology goes into depth on this issue and explains why this happens and how best to avoid it.
For more on emergency preparedness visit the Administration for Community Living’s Emergency Preparedness blog, and stay updated with us — the CIL will always be here for you!
Come out on Monday, June 10th and give your input on the Florida State Plan for Independent Living. All interested members of the public are welcome!
See the flyer below for more information.
On May 20th, the Center for Independent Living and The Villages Public Safety hosted an Emergency Preparedness Conference for people with disabilities, senior adults, and the community. This conference was aimed to update people on how to best prepare for emergencies and to ensure they’re exposed to all of the resources that are available to them.
We would like to thank all of the companies, vendors, and speakers for helping out with this conference. Without the support and contributions from these following organizations, we would not be able to put on conferences that address these crucial topics!
Thank you again to all of these organizations for your unwavering support and contribution!
Womber Hill, of Brooker, Florida, lived in a house with a crumbling back porch and a dangerously uneven back door frame. Womber has poor balance and lives by herself, and as a result she often fell while exiting her dangerous back door and accumulated many scrapes and scratches.
The Center for Independent Living coordinated with Amwake Home Improvement to provide Womber with accessible home modifications which were completed on March 23, 2019.
Benjamin Amwake and a student volunteer from Santa Fe College revamped Womber’s porch, cleaned her yard and built her an accessible ramp. Womber is now able to safely navigate in and out of her home, and the freezer, refrigerator and hot water heater that she kept outside are now safely braced thanks to the new porch.
“Blood, sweat and tears [put into these projects] are more valuable to us than money,” said Mark Brisbane, coordinator of the ramp program at CILNCF. “That’s just rewarding.”
Cynthia Khalsa, of Live Oak, Florida, had “no way in or out of her house” as a result of Stage 4 Bone cancer in her left hip- that is, until the Center for Independent Living got involved.
Before the Center built her a ramp, Cynthia relied on Alachua County Fire Rescue to physically lift her in and out of her home. She would call 911, request lift assist, and wait, she said. Fire rescue would lift her and her wheelchair out of her house, sometimes unavoidably bumping her body against the steps and causing her immense pain. She would go to a medical appointment (the only time she could use this assistance from Fire Rescue), and then have to endure the entire cumbersome process again when she came home.
On March 16, 2019 the Center for Independent Living coordinated with Custom Design Renovations to build Cynthia a ramp out of her house, empowering her to come and go as she pleased. The construction of the ramp has enabled Cynthia to live more independently and to take control over her everyday life.
“I cannot begin to tell what a blessing your organization has been to me,” she said. “This ramp will give me the freedom to even just get out in the sun for a bit.”