Center for Independent Living

On Saturday, January 23, 2021, at 6:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time), we will be honoring individuals who carry Ed Roberts's legacy in their work, activism, and contributions. The focus of this year's Ed Roberts Awards is the intersection of disability and parenting. We are looking forward to bringing everyone together virtually to cherish and celebrate Ed's memory and the work that continues to create a more inclusive, accessible, and just world. Register at edrobertsawards.org.

Here's what's happening at TheCIL this week: January 4th from 7:00 PM 9:00 PM. For more information: email [email protected]. January 5th from 10:30 AM 11:30 AM: COVID-19 Peer Support Groups for Seniors. Contact Grace Wright at (510) 841-4776 or email [email protected] for more information.... January 6th from 10:00 AM 12:00 PM: Work and Disability Benefits Meeting via Phone or Google Meet. Contact Robin Earth at (510) 841-4776 or rearth@thecilorg for more information. January 7th: Housing Consultations. To schedule an appointment, contact the receptionist at 510-841-4776 or email at [email protected]. January 7th from 5:15 PM 6:45 PM: Acquired Disability Support Group via Google Meet. Contact Roma with any questions or to pre-register at [email protected].

John Benson, our Residential Access Coordinator, has been called the "Angel of Berkeley" for his dedication to helping anyone at any time no matter the circumstance. We're thrilled to announce this mini-documentary featuring him and his work in the community. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/VdKiRNr7I80

How accessible is communicating on Zoom? How well are tech companies adhering to the ADA? Haben Girma, Lainey Feingold, and George Kerscher weigh in on this episode of this Mixtape podcast episode from TechCrunch.

"I believe that being your own normal mean to me that being myself is enough. It also mean show up in the world as I am cerebral palsy warrior, disabled activist, dancer, and actor. My "normal" has adapted over the years, as I have become older and as I grow as a person in my disabled experience. What I can tell other about being their own normal is to just own your confidence regardless of what people say. You are special, you are great and you deserve it all." Thank you to Jermaine Greaves for your thoughtful words! If you're interested in submitting tp us what #BeYourOwnNormal means to you, visit http://ow.ly/iUDX50CKkpq

Thank you to everyone who joined us on Tuesday for our Accessible Technology webinar! If you missed it, you can watch the recording here. Ted Drake and Sarah Margolis-Greenbaum from Intuit shared their insights on Accessible Technology with us. Moderator:... Kellen Sillanpaa, Executive Director’s Assistant and Development Associate at TheCIL Panelists: Ted Drake, Global Accessibility Leader at Intuit Sarah Margolis-Greenbaum, Project Manager on the Accessibility Team at Intuit Alexander Sing, Information and Referral Specialist at TheCIL Jeshua Aveno, Assistive Technology Specialist at TheCIL

This year's Joan Leon Award honoree is Martin Paley for his many decades of support for TheCIL. Martin Paley was the CEO of the San Francisco Foundation from 1974 to 1986, and provided essential funding for TheCIL and other Bay Area disability rights organizations in their most formative years. Visit edrobertsawards.org for more information and to register for this event.

Happy New Year! We’re excited to announce that the theme for this year’s 5th Annual Ed Roberts Awards is the intersection of disability and parenting. We’ll be honoring five individuals whose work has increased awareness, collaboration, and opportunity among parents with disabilities, parents of children with disabilities, and our community as a whole. Stay tuned for more details.

Need masks and live in Alameda County? Fill out the Google Form on our website before the 20th and we can send some to you by the new year.

Share this post to spread the word with our fellow Bay Area residents! In conjunction with our Community Connections program, we welcome you to join us for the following virtual, public events in the coming days: Wheelchair Marking & Tether Strap Program on 1/13 at 11AM Travel Safety Workshop on 1/14 at 11AM Trip Planning Workshop on 1/21 at 11AM... Our Wheelchair Marking and Tether Strap Program is a bi-monthly free, online workshop with AC Transit where you will learn how to identify securement points on all types of mobility devices, what AC Transit mobility device securement procedures are, and receive their COVID-19 and accessibility updates. The Travel Safety Workshop provides you the knowledge to stay more safely from coronavirus on public transit. The Trip Planning Workshop prepares you to use Google Maps and the Transit App to plan your trips ahead of time and travel smoothly to where you need to go and back home. Interested in attending? Go to thecil.org/calendar for more information and to register.

It’s the last day of 2020! As we step out of this chapter and into the new year, we want to say thank you to our members, our followers, donors and our entire community for your ongoing support. We’re so grateful for all of you. We will be keeping our offices closed, until further notice, through April 1st. However, we’re still working remotely and hosting virtual events and 1-on-1 meetings. Please visit our website at thecil.org for more information. Happy new year!

Amped on the PS5? Same. Steve Saylor for IGN discusses new accessibility options in game presets, talk to text, and the integration of 3D Audio as well as where the console could be improved. What do you think?

It's #ThrowbackThursday! NorCal SCI created a video to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the #AmericansWithDisabilitiesAct (ADA) back in July. Our Executive Director, Stuart James, made an appearance to talk about how the ADA almost impacts all aspects of a person's life, especially during emergency situations. Watch the full video at https://youtu.be/ZJVfV1XhFrU.

One of the easiest ways to support our programs and the work we do for our community is by donating as low as $5 per month! Please consider becoming a recurring monthly donor your support helps us all-year-round, without the upfront commitment!

Don’t forget! Register for free and join us on Zoom tomorrow, December 15th at 10 AM as we talk to two individuals from Intuit who will share their insights on Accessible Technology. Register: https://us02web.zoom.us//1016067/WN_-o6KW-01TyirklMSRYG-TQ Moderator:... Kellen Sillanpaa, Executive Director’s Assistant and Development Associate at TheCIL Panelists: Ted Drake, Global Accessibility Leader at Intuit Sarah Margolis-Greenbaum, Project Manager on the Accessibility Team at Intuit Alexander Sing, Information and Referral Specialist at TheCIL Jeshua Aveno, Assistive Technology Specialist at TheCIL There will be Closed Captioning and American Sign Language interpreting.

In honor of Veterans Day, TheCIL office is closed today. Thank you to all of those who have served our country.

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! This week we're back with some of our usual programs. December 29th from 10:30 AM 11:30 AM: COVID-19 Peer Support Groups for Seniors. Contact Grace Wright at (510) 841-4776 or email [email protected] for more information. December 30th from 10:00 AM 12:00 PM: Work and Disability Benefits Clinic via Phone or Google Meet. Contact Robin Earth at (510) 841-4776 or [email protected] for more information.... January 1st: We're closed for New Year's Day.

Help support local businesses at this year's 5th Annual Ed Roberts Awards. When you register and donate, you'll receive gift cards to some of the following restaurants: Comal, Proyecto Diaz, TCHO Chocolate, and Oakland Honey Company. You'll also receive a gift basket. You can view donation tiers and register for this event at edrobertsawards.org. Thank you for supporting us your generosity impacts our entire community.

We hope you're having a restful weekend. Tomorrow starts a new week. Here's our virtual events for this week: January 12th at 10:30 AM: COVID-19 Peer Support Groups for Older Adults. January 13th from 10:00 AM 12:00 PMWork and Disability Benefits Clinic via Phone or Google Meet.... January 13th at 11:00 AM: Wheelchair Marking and Tether Strap Program Online Workshop. January 14th at 11:00AM, Travel Safety online workshop for advice on navigating essential errands on public transit in the Bay Area. For more information about these events and other ones in January, visit thecil.org/calendar.

What I’m doing now is creating the content that I want to see at the intersection of fashion and disability. That intersection doesn't exist in the way that I want it to all of these ideas that I've had over the years that I've been waiting for other people to partner with me to bring to pass, I'm just going to do them myself," says Stephanie Thomas, the founder of Disability Fashion Styling platform Cur8able and one of our Ed Roberts Award's recipients this past January. Read about Stephanie's mission to successfully provide the 1 in 4 Americans with a disability with personalized, accessible clothing. #AccessibleFashion #Cur8able #DisabilityFashion #Fashion #FashionStylist #PersonalStylist #Disability #accessibility

TheCIL is hiring a full-time Commnity Advocate & Outreach Coordinator! The ideal candidate would have a personal experience with a disability; a passion for working with the disabled clients and empowering their success; an interest and curiosity in using data for learning and improvement; the ability to interact comfortably, respectfully, and skillfully to encourage and support direct program staff; and a high level of professionalism and emotional maturity. Apply now at thecil.org/opportunities.

Are you planning on traveling for the holidays, or want to learn how to take public transportation during the pandemic? TheCIL's Community Connections is offering a free online travel workshops series! Listed below are the following workshops: 1) Travel Safety Workshop on Thursday, November 19th from 1:00 to 2:00 PM 2) Trip Planning Workshop on Tuesday, December 8th from 1:00 to 2:00 PM... CoCo's Travel Safety Workshop will provide you the knowledge to stay more safe from coronavirus on public transit, while our Trip Planning Workshop preps you to use Google Maps and the Transit App to plan your trips ahead of time and travel smoothly to where you need to go and back home. If you are interested in these workshops, please RSVP through thecil.org/coco-travel-workshops-package and someone will follow-up with instructions on where to attend these virtual workshops. Lastly, if you become a member of TheCIL and attend any of these workshops, you will receive a $5 BART ticket and many other 1-on-1 consultation services and resources!

It's time for Sunday Roundup! Here's what's happening this week at TheCIL: November 10th: COVID-19 Peer Support Groups for Seniors from 10:30AM 11:30AM. Please contact Grace Wright at (510) 841-4776 or email [email protected] for more information. November 11th: TheCIL is CLOSED for Veterans Day. We will not be holding our usual events on this day.... To see all of our events for the month, visit our events calendar at thecil.org/calendar.

We recently hosted a webinar, "Shifting Gears: How Public Transit is Adapting to COVID-19 With Accessibility in Mind" featuring representatives from Bay Area Rapid Transit, AC Transit, SFMTA | San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Capitol Corridor, and Seamless Bay Area. Missed it? Watch the full recoding on TheCIL's YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/AVk1H0eQX0k.

Jeshua Aveno, our Assistive Technology Specialist, shared a video with partner Mads on their YouTube channel titled, "Being Blind and Getting a Job: Our Experiences with the Job Hunt" to share their experiences and words of advice. Watch it here at https://youtu.be/RIHlnV44BfM.

Today is our free mask and PPE giveaway outside of the Ed Roberts Campus! Join us from 4:00pm-4:45pm at 3075 Adeline St, Berkeley, CA 94703. We're giving away cloth masks only at this time. One per person, please! Can't make the mask giveaway? If you're an Alameda County resident, you can apply to have a mask mailed to you at no cost. Follow the link to learn more at thecil.org/ppegiveaway.

Are you looking to travel this holiday season? We're offering 1-on-1 travel training sessions to help you and your family travel more safely this year. Please email [email protected] to get started.

November is COPD Awareness Month in the United States. We put together some informative slides about COPD and how important it is to stay mindful of those who have reduced lung health during the coronavirus pandemic.

It's Election Day! We recently shared from Berkeleyside a 2020 election guide to voting in Berkeley. Today, we'd like to feature an Oaklandside article explaining what Oaklanders need to know about voting in-person. You can read it at http://ow.ly/DW7N50C8eaP. To find your polling place and ballot drop off box location in California, visit http://ow.ly/Xm2150C8e9C. If you are having difficulty voting because of a disability, call Disability Rights California's Voting Hotline at 1-888-569-7955.