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CC Newsletter January 2022
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COMMUNITY CHOICES

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monthly newsletter  //  january 2022
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HIGHLIGHT: TARA'S LIVING IT UP! 

Less than a year after moving into her fabulous new apartment, Tara V. found employment with Macy’s at  Marketplace Mall after a long job hunt throughout the pandemic! Her new position as a fulfillment associate started on November 8th, 2021, and so far, she loves it.

She stays busy mostly working with new shipments of products that come into the store. She puts sensors on the products, prices them and gets them ready to go out on the sales floor. She also assists customers when needed, which she loves.

Tara is doing a fantastic job!  She is surrounded by a very supportive staff that have been welcoming and grateful to have her as an employee. Her boss, Lori, has said that Tara is one of her best workers and always has a positive attitude. Tara said, “I like the people I work with and helping customers. I love my new job!”

We're so excited to see Tara living it up with her fabulous life in the community! Well done! 

SPOTLIGHT: LUCAS P
A photograph of a young white man wearing a black uniform. He is turned toward the camera pulling down his mask and smiling. He's standing in a hallway in front of a pile of folded white towels. 

Lucas has been an active job seeker with Community Choices since 2019. In September of 2021, he was hired on the spot as a ‘Laundry Assistant’ at the I Hotel in Champaign. His responsibilities include gathering clean laundry, spotting damaged towels, and a lot of folding!

Lucas has been consistently praised by his coworkers and boss as a diligent, hardworking employee and they expressed how he has been a great addition to the team. When asked what Lucas enjoys the most about working at the I Hotel he said, “I like how it’s usually pretty busy but not too much where it can be chaotic. I also like that my supervisor allows me to have independence by leaving me to do my job on my own”. Lucas has successfully reached his 90 days of employment and looks forward to his future at the I Hotel.

CC UPDATES

WORKFORCE EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM - SPRING SESSION

The Workforce Empowerment is back for a new session in the spring of ‘22! If you are a member with a disability who doesn’t have any work experience but is interested in having a job in the future or has had a negative experience in the past, this is the program for you! 

The new session will begin the week of March 21st and go until the week of June 6th. The program consists of twelve weeks of classroom instruction focusing on soft skills, intensive job shadowing, and an end-of-the-week reflection session. If you are interested or have any further questions, please contact Jon at jon@communitychoicesinc.org or (217) 722-2980.
Have you been considering entering the job market? Or are you currently working but looking for a change? We’ve got you! Our Employment Specialists will soon have the capacity to work with new people. If you’re interested in learning more about our process, contact Ashley at ashleycchoices@gmail.com

JANUARY CO-OP MEETING

Join us on Thursday, January 13th from 7-8pm for our Quarterly Co-Op meeting!

This month, we’ll be hearing from Community Choices’ Human Rights and Advocacy Group. Here about some of the projects that they have been working on and what they have in the works.

We’ll also have Kaitland sharing the ins and outs of the Community Choices Members-Only website. She’ll be going through all the great resources and tools that are included with this member-only perk. 

All are welcome to attend!

Here’s the Details:
DATE: Thursday, Jan. 13th 
TIME: 7:00-8:00pm
LOCATION: Zoom
LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89942949307?pwd=b1B5YnZtcGpOdEtPRHpjbVZmTG5KZz09
Meeting ID: 899 4294 9307
Passcode: 174497
A photograph of four people standing around a lectern. They are all facing the camera and smiling. They are wearing ID badges. There is a large projection screen behind them. 

NEW STAFF EMAILS

Starting this month, all Community Choices staff have new email addresses! We’re really excited about this big step up to “.org”! We also realize that it could make communication a bit confusing during the transition, so please update your contacts and bear with us!  All our emails use the following pattern:

"FIRST NAME"@communitychoicesinc.org 

 For example, I will be becca@communitychoicesinc.org.

But here’s everyone’s info just in case:

  • Becca Obuchowski - Executive Director: 
    • becca@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-840-4580
  • Hannah Sheets - Associate Director: 
    • hannah@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-418-8359
  • Kaitland Walworth (previously Postley) - Membership Coordinator: 
    • kaitland@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-419-6222
  • Jon Rutter - Connect Coordinator/Employment Specialist: 
    • jon@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-722-2980
  • Gabe Stanton - Connect Coordinator: 
    • gabe@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-979-8709
  • Ashley Withers - Lead Employment Specialist: 
    • ashley@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-417-6997
  • Jenny Steele - Employment Specialist: 
    • jenny@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-418-8765
  • Tanja Hodges - Employment Specialist: 
    • tanja@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-649-8628
  • Marissa Terronez - Employment Specialist: 
    • marissa@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-417-9019
  • John Cahill - Lead Community Support Specialist: 
    • john@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-418-8333
  • Karli Oxford-Jordan - Community Support Specialist: 
    • karli@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-722-4535
  • Ryan Thomson - Community Life Coordinator: 
    • ryan@communitychoicesinc.org
    • 217-417-6205

Also! Just a heads up - Kaitland Postley, our Membership Coordinator, is now Kaitland Walworth! If you’re not seeing an email from her that you expect, make sure to look for the new name!

THANK YOU DONORS!

We are so grateful to the many community members who supported us during this holiday season! Your contributions make our work possible and help to make a more inclusive culture for people with I/DD. 

If you haven’t been able to already, take a look at our Annual Report which highlights the many amazing accomplishments our members made during FY21! 

READ OUR ANNUAL REPORT HERE
 

If you’d still like to make a gift, we can always use your support! You can easily donate online here:

GIVE NOW

RESOURCES AND EVENTS!

BECOME A LEND FELLOW

ATTENTION self-advocates, family members and graduate/doctoral students! Illinois LEND is now recruiting for our 2022-2023 cohort of trainees!

For more information and to apply online please check out our website here.


You can reach out to the program coordinator, Janine at jsalam2@uic.edu with any questions/clarifications.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until full.
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Community Choices Member, Sarah Demissie was a LEND fellow a couple of years ago and had the following to share about the program: 

"I learned a lot of information about leadership and advocacy like how to work with people with disabilities and their families, including other support workers. I also learned more about how people with disabilities function in general and specifically people with Autism. As a self-advocate, I felt very empowered to be able to participate and to share my ideas, perceptions, and my experiences as a person with Autism while learning about other people's perceptions during my experience with LEND. The LEND staff and other LEND trainees have been very supportive of me and of my ideas that I have shared with them during class discussions, group work, and presentations. There has been so much information that was presented during this training that really helped me become a better self-advocate through my leadership and advocacy skills and to pass on to others. Therefore, I would certainly recommend the LEND program to anyone who would be interested in applying and if selected to be able to have this opportunity to learn and apply their leadership and advocacy skills in their communities and in their everyday lives."

HCBS SETTINGS RULES - WEBINARS

If you are looking for online activities that people with disability can use to keep busy as the weather cools down, check out The Arc's Virtual Program Library!

It is a free hub of on-demand activities that can be done from home by people with disabilities, their families, and service providers. Topics include arts, community and life skills, health and wellness, virtual clubs, and more.

CHECK OUT THE VIRTUAL LIBRARY HERE

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY DEVELOPMENTAL DISABLITY BOARD MEETING

The Champaign County Developmental Disability Board and Mental Health Board are funders of many extremely important human services in Champaign County. Their meetings are all open to the public. If you're interested in learning more consider attending their monthly meetings.

Then Next REGULAR CCDDB Meeting: 
January 19th:

See the full CCDDB CALENDAR HERE
See the full CCMHB CALENDAR HERE 
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COMMUNITY CHOICES     44 E MAIN, SUITE 210    CHAMPAIGN, IL     61820