JACIL Connections for June 2017
Article 1:
JACIL’s 20th Birthday highlights eleventh
annual fundraiser
Wheelathon Saturday, June 10
The big day is almost here and our 2017
JACIL Wheelathon is ready to go!
On Saturday, June 10, participants will
arrive at the Community Park starting at 9:00 a.m.
“Wheelers” are recruiting sponsors now and
should turn all monies collected in at the Wheelathon’s registration desk. Those with at least five sponsors will
receive a 2017 Wheelathon T-shirt.
The Wheelathon will be highlighted by
birthday party activities in the Community Park Center that will celebrate the
20th anniversary of JACIL’s founding.
The Wheelathon will conclude with a free
lunch for all participants and an awards ceremony.
This event is even more important this
year because of the continuing burdens caused by the ongoing state budget
impasse. Funds raised at the Wheelathon
are more vital than ever in helping us continue to serve our four-county
region.
We are looking forward to seeing you on
Saturday, June 10, in the Jacksonville Community Park as part of our eleventh
annual Wheelathon. For more information
or to pick up a wheeler sponsorship packet, call JACIL at (217) 245-8371.
Article 2:
As a reward for each Wheelathon
participant wWheelers with at least five sponsors earn free tee shirt
ho recruits at least five sponsors, to
support his or her participation in the event, JACIL will provide a beautiful
2017 Wheelathon tee shirt. This year the
shirts will be red.
The total amount of money collected does
not matter as long as he or she has secured donations from at least five
different people.
The shirt features the design provided by
Routt Catholic High School Graphic Arts Student Savanna Long as well as logos
from all of our major Wheelathon sponsors.
Article 3:
2017 WHEELATHON SCHEDULE
9:00 Registration
begins - turn in sponsor sheets and all money at the registration table
9:00 Disability Awareness
Birthday Party games begin.
9:50 Opening Ceremony
10:00 Wheeling
begins
10:30 Food
stand opens
(FREE
to sponsored wheelers)
11:15 Awards
ceremony & raffle
drawings
Article 4:
Barb Nicholson tapped to serve as Wheelathon “Spokes” Person
JACIL is excited to have long-time JACIL
supporter Barb Nicholson as our 2017 Wheelathon “Spokes” Person.
Barb served on the JACIL Board of
Directors from 2003 to 2006 and has continued to be a strong advocate for
herself and people with disabilities in genreal. She has assisted JACIL with community access
issues and is always up for a rally.
She
is active with the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville.
We are very pleased to have Barb as our
“Spokes” Person for the Wheelathon. Make
plans to come out and see her on June 10 at the Community Park.
Article 5:
50/50 Wheelathon raffle tickets on sale
with bonus prize basket
In conjunction with our Wheelathon, we
will be conducting our annual 50/50 raffle.
Tickets are available from any JACIL staff
or board member or at our Jacksonville office at 15 Permac Road. They will also be available for purchase at
the Wheelathon.
Tickets are $1.00 each or six for
$5.00. The winning ticket will be drawn
during our Awards Ceremony at the Wheelathon on June 10.
The recipient will receive half the
proceeds and doesn’t need to be present to win.
We will also be offering a special basket
with birthday party items as a second prize to be drawn after the 50/50
winner.
Tickets will be on sale now until just
before the drawing on June 10.
Article 6:
What do we want? A BUDGET!
When do we want it? NOW!
by Becky McGinnis
You could hear the frustration ringing
through the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday, May 17 as disability advocates from
Centers for Independent Living across the state gathered for an Independent
Living rally.
Although the group from Chicago was
stymied by a train derailment and couldn't make it, there were over 100 people
from around the state raising their voices at the rally.
The 17 people who signed up to make the
JACIL contingent included staff, Board members, consumers and other disability
advocates. A group of four left the
office in the morning and visited the offices of each of JACIL's four Illinois
legislators: Sen. Sam McCann and Rep. CD Davidsmeyer who represent Morgan and
Scott counties and Sen. Jil Tracy and Rep. Norine Hammond who represent Cass
and Mason counties.
Because of committee meetings and being on
the road, we were able to talk directly with only one representative; JACIL visitors talked with staff for the
other three legislators. Possibly by the time you get this newsletter we will
know whether there is an FY18 budget, but we did not hear a lot of hopefulness
that the end of May deadline would be met.
The rest of us from JACIL joined the
afternoon rally. It was rousing and included brief remarks from two legislators
who support us as well as statements from several people with disabilities
urging a budget with full funding for CILs.
Several times the crowd was encouraged to let their rally cries be heard
all the way up to the legislative chambers on the 3rd floor; I think the group
may have accomplished it!
Although one of the rallying cries dealt
with needing a budget, NOW, it is more notable to me that those 100+ people
came together in the Rotunda of the Illinois State Capitol, with another
cry: “What do we want? DIGNITY!
When do we want it? NOW!”
People with disabilities are not looking
for charity, we are seeking equal access to our communities and to the services
available to the public. We want to be
treated with dignity and we want our needs to be treated with dignity. And that requires being heard by our
government as well as equal consideration in budget talks, and in the services
made available to us.
Illinois has a problem and Centers for
Independent Living went to Springfield to remind them that it is time to fix
it. Way to go, guys!
Article 7:
JACIL honors its 2016-17 volunteers “For
Being Indispensable”
JACIL recently hosted its annual Volunteer
Recognition Reception to thank the many people who have served as a JACIL
volunteer over the past year.
A total of 40 people volunteered over 1,400
hours of service this year. Attendees at
our event included Kitty Aubry, Tyler Charlesworth, Ralph Hastie, Andy
Holtschlag, Jody Rees, Rick McGinnis, Mark Peters, Crystal Roman, Bonnie Watson
and Judy Whewell.
Our volunteers contributing the most hours
were Daryl Darnell (443), Dan Thompson (421) and Stephany Dirksmeyer (177).
Our volunteers assist us in so many ways,
such as answering phones, preparing mailings, folding brochures, helping with
disability awareness activities and marching in parades to promote JACIL.
Article 8:
People First Aktion Club speaks!
by Cyndy Benton
The Alliance of Self Advocates in
Pittsfield asked the People First Aktion Club to provide information on how to
start and run an action club.
Four members from our club and its advisor
did a presentation for the group. The presentation covered information about
organizing a club, running meetings and documenting club business.
Past and present Club Officers Ralph
Hastie, Judy Whewell, Jody Rees and Kendra Rohn spoke about their club's
mission, its goals and the five core activities it is involved with:self and
system advocacy, community service projects, peer support, education and
training and fun days.
People First members also shared printed
resources including club meeting notices, agendas and minutes, fiscal reports,
outline of the procedures used to run a meeting and JACIL's Action Club
brochures.
The People First Aktion Club members did a
great job representing the club and providing the group with information on the
methods and procedures that have served it well over the years.
Article 9:
Former Jacillian authors feature for
InMotion magazine
Our former staffer in Havana Tammie
Higginbotham recently penned an article printed in the May/Jun 2017 issue of
InMotion magazine which promotes living well with limb loss.
Entitled Changing Roles: From Caregiver to Receiver, the article tells
her story as she went from caring for her husband and stepson to having to
learn how to receive care following an accident that made her an amputee.
Tammie was with JACIL from 2012 to 2016.
Article 10:
One of JACIL’s longest-standing peer
mentoring efforts has been through our Action Clubs which serve people with
intellectual disabilities.
The People First group began meeting in
2002 and is currently supervised by
JACIL’s Legislative & Voter Advocate Cyndy Benton. It has been a powerful force in support of
both our agency and this community.
In 2009 the club joined forces with the
Kiwanis Club of Jacksonville and became the People First Aktion Club (Aktion
with a “k” for Kiwanis). Club members
provide community service including assisting at the annual Kiwanis Pancake & Sausage
Day.
In 2009 the Friends Helping Friends Action
Club was inaugurated in Beardstown to serve Cass County. Its members also work very hard to make their
area a better place to live.
Both groups are invaluable to JACIL with
special projects and especially as enthusiastic and hard-working “wheelers” at
our annual Wheelathon fundraisers.
JACIL is proud of our Action Club members
and we are so appreciative of all they do in the community and to assist us in
achieving our mission of helping people to live with dignity and self-reliance
in our communities.
Article 11:
Tips for decision making
We all know that sometimes making a
decision can be overwhelming -- even if we think the decision should be an
unimportant one, it can sometimes feel like a huge weight on our shoulders.
Here are some tips to help you get past
the decision-making mental block.
Anytime we are overwhelmed or feeling
panicked, it does us good to stop, take a deep breath and let it out. You think better when you can relax a bit.
Sometimes putting off a decision for a little bit while we "calm
down" about it, or relax is a good thing, but be sure you don't delay the
decision too long -- that will just make you feel overwhelmed again.
And waiting too long can mean people who can help you figure things out
might not be available.
Give yourself a pep talk if you need
to! Tell yourself you can deal with
this, that you can do it. Remind yourself that making decisions is important
for your independence.
Analyze the situation -- make sure you are
clear about what the problem is. Then
think of all the possible solutions. Maybe
it will help to write them down.
Make a list of "pros" and
"cons" about each of the solutions.
What would be the consequences of each choice you could make? Take some
time to think about who and what is important to you (your values).
This is a good time to talk to someone you
trust to help you come up with the positives and negatives of each
solution. You aren't asking them to make
your decision for you, but you are asking them to help you think it through.
Then, after thinking about the things
above, make your decision.
Decisions are an important part of being
independent, and if later we wish we had made a different decision (and it
happens to everybody!), we learn: about
ourselves and about how to make decisions!
Article 12:
APP-HAPPY Smart Phone Services
by Roger Deem
Barcode Scanner
Sometimes the print on product packaging
is so tiny it can’t be read and there is no store employee to be found. This app from ZXing Team will scan a bar code
on most products and produce a report that will give a description of the item,
a list of stores where one can buy it, customer reviews and a listing of
similar products.
The app uses a phone or tablet’s camera to
“take a picture” and then searches for the information on the internet.
This app is available through the Google
Play Store.
Article 13:
Did You Know?
Did you know the World Bank estimates that
20% of the world's population living in the deepest poverty are people with
disabilities?
Article 14:
JACIL is in the planning stages for
restarting our Moving On Support Group for people with mobility
disabilities. JACIL staffer Roger Deem
will facilitate the group.
We are currently seeking input from people
who want to be involved in selecting a day and time for monthly meetings as
well as activities and speakers you might like to hear.
Call Roger at (217) 245-8371 for more
information.
June Calendar of Events
Tue 6 Knollwood
20/20 Support Group - 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Program: Yes Eye Can Series - New Ways to Manage Your Day
& Safety in the Home
Thu 8 VisAbility
Support Group - 10:30 a.m. to Noon
Program: Yes Eye Can Series - New Ways to Manage Your
Day
Sat 10 JACIL’s 11th ANNUAL WHEELATHON!
Tue 20 Cass County Vision Support Group - 10:00 to
11:00 a.m.
Golden
Age Senior Center, 111 West 3rd, Beardstown
Program: Yes Eye Can Series - New Ways to Manage Your
Day
Wed 21 Visions Support Group in Havana - 2:00 to
3:00 p.m.
Program: Yes Eye Can Series - New Ways to Manage Your
Day
“JACIL Connections” is published by the Jacksonville Area
Center for Independent Living. JACIL is
organized to serve people with disabilities in Morgan, Scott, Cass and Mason
Counties. JACIL is committed to serving
persons with disabilities to gain control and direction of their lives in the
home, workplace and community. JACIL’s
goal is to stimulate and promote a growing sense of personal dignity through
individualized services designed to provide the tools necessary for maximum
independence and community participation.
We invite your comments and suggestions.
JACIL is a Prairieland United Way Agency
and a proud member of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Jacksonville Area Center for Independent
Living
15 Permac Road, Jacksonville, IL 62650
Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
217-245-8371 Voice/TTY l
217-245-1872 Fax l 888-317-3287 Toll Free
217-408-0567 Deaf Advocate’s Toll Free
Videophone Line
E-mail:
info@jacil.org l Website:
www.jacil.org
JACIL - Mason County Office
220 West Main Street, Havana, IL 62644
Office Hours: Tuesdays 12:30 to 4:30 & Thursdays 8:00
a.m. to noon
309-543-6680 Voice/TTY, 309-543-6711 Fax,
877-759-2187 Toll Free
E-mail:
jacil@casscomm.com