Ability Now Bay Area

Since August, the Ability Now team has been building out an amazing lineup of 35 interactive weekly classes for our participants, all live and online. We're pleased to now open them to the public for just $60/month! With topics ranging from astronomy to communication skills, they're a great gift for anyone looking for educational support and community. . Now, through the end of December, you can purchase a year's subscription for just $600, a savings of $120 over the monthly ...subscription price! . Our amazing participant, Sarah, has attended almost every one of our classes and has loved keeping up with her education in the safety of her home. . Interested? Visit our website for more info on how to sign-up! See more

Congratulations to our talented entrepreneur Monique Harris for having her art piece, "Blue Lady in the Garden" accepted by Aji Magazine! The piece will be included in their Spring issue. A print of this work hangs in our lobby for visitors to enjoy. #DisabledArtist #abilitynotdisability #entrepreneur

#changingtheperceptionofdisability . Meet Stella Kaval, a high school senior and Board Member of Girl Scouts of Northern California. For her Girl Scout Gold Award project Stella focused on the disability community, specifically people with #cerebralpalsy, and developed an activity pack as well as an app, called Ability for All. As part of her research and development, Stella interviewed participants at our Center, as well as our staff and Executive Director. The final produc...t won 3rd place in the Congressional App Challenge and is available for download on the app store. Learn more at her website: https://www.changingtheperceptionofdisability.org/ . We're so proud of the next generation of disability advocates for continuing to fight for equality and accessibility for all. #disabilityawareness #disabilityadvocate #abilitynow

#flashbackfriday to Halloween 2018 and staff member Sherry accidentally making the piñata game much easier for everyone

Spirit Week starts today! Here's a #flashback to the creative costumes worn by staff and participants last year!

This #givingtuesday, we are excited to celebrate this day with our community. Since our founding over 80 years ago, Ability Now Bay Area has been at the forefront of providing specialized services to adults with disabilities and increasing public awareness of the challenges our community faces. Did you know, that nearly 90% of our funding goes directly into our program? Making sure our community continues to receive the most comprehensive and innovative services available is ...our top priority. . We have exciting plans in the works for 2021, thanks in part to your donations: . A new writer's workshop program, Ability Write Now Continuation and expansion of our virtual classroom Funding for our newly-launched Laptop Loan Program . Like most nonprofits, this year has been challenging and will continue to be so in 2021. Please support our work by donating through our website (https://abilitynowbayarea.org/)! Your gifts keep us going! See more

It's finally Friday! May your weekend be filled with music, light, and love <3

We hope everyone's week is going well! Here's a #flashbackphoto to bring a smile to your face <3

It’s World Cerebral Palsy Day! Ability Now Bay Area started out as the Cerebral Palsy Center of the Bay Area back in 1949, and we continue to serve a large number of participants with the condition. Here are some facts about Cerebral Palsy to raise awareness and assist others to look beyond the disability: 1. Cerebral Palsy is a complex, lifelong condition. It primarily affects movement, but people with CP may also have visual, learning, hearing, speech, epilepsy, and intelle...ctual impairments. It can be mild a weakness in one hand to severe where people have little control over movements or speech and may need 24-hour assistance. 2. Most people are born with CP, but it can also happen later due to infections such as meningitis, encephalitis, or due to any other reason, which can cause damage to the brain during the early months or years of life. 3. CP is the most common childhood disability, yet around the globe, there’s a broad lack of knowledge of what it is and how it’s caused, even in the medical field. 4. Around 17 million people in the world have CP, and there are about 350 million family members who are closely related or caregivers of people with Cerebral Palsy. #cerebralpalsy #cerebralpalsyawareness #worldcerebralpalsyday #worldcpday #cpstrong #cpmakeyourmark #cerebralpalsywarrior #abilitynow #abilitynowbayarea

ICYMI: A great article from The New York Times about voting with a disability during a pandemic. https://www.nytimes.com//poli/voting-disability-virus.html

We are proud to have our Center serve as a polling place this November for our local community and those with disabilities. Key dates: Election day is Nov. 3 Registration deadlines... Online: Oct. 19 By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 19 In-person: Nov. 3 Absentee ballot deadlines Request: Oct. 27 Return by mail: Postmarked by Nov. 3 Return in person: Nov. 3 by 8:00 p.m. Early voting Oct. 5 - Nov. 2, but dates and hours may vary based on where you live Additional information You can also register and vote on Election Day. #vote #yourvoicematters

Happy Monday, everyone! The air has cleared up and the sun is out. We hope you all had a wonderful weekend! #mondaymotivation

California's fire season has been especially brutal this year. Let's hope the worst is behind us. In the meantime, we recommend this article from the Sierra Magazine on navigating natural disasters when you have a disability. https://www.sierraclub.org//how-people-disabilities-weathe

TGIF everyone! #maskson

The weather around the Bay Area has been pretty weird these last couple days. Stay safe everyone and don’t forget your mask!

You may know Andre Le Mont Wilson as our Small Business Development Manager, where he mentors aspiring entrepreneurs to achieve their goals. But did you know he is also a Master Storyteller? Andre has performed spoken word and poetry at many Bay Area festivals and open mics, and he's a master at capturing your attention & pulling you into his world. Our pivot to online classes has given Andre the opportunity to teach the fundamentals of storytelling to our participants every Wednesday afternoon. . Each week, participants examine and discuss issues and examples of storytellers with disabilities. The first six-week course concludes this week with a storytelling festival where our participants will virtually perform what they have learned through their own short stories. #storyteller #staffshoutout

It's going to be a hot one this weekend so stay cool, everyone! #sopunny