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CC Newsletter June 2020
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COMMUNITY CHOICES

monthly newsletter  //  june 2020
IN THIS ISSUE:
in solidarity
dispatches from isolation
thank you to businesses
fundraising ideas
quarentini play list
plan for reopening
step up to leadership
membership renewal
participant surveys
free online conference
webinars!
 
There's a lot to cover, so don't forget to view the entire message! (Sometimes you have to click "view clipped message") 
 
IN SOLIDARITY 

Above all else, at Community Choices we work to affirm the personhood of our community members with disabilities and fight to ensure that it is recognized in all the systems and institutions that exist in our country. The examples of violence and brutality toward people of color in the past weeks, and the countless others that have happened before, are a disgusting reminder of what happens when our systems and institutions fail to acknowledge, respect, and affirm the personhood of citizens. Their protest is a clear form of self-advocacy, of self-determination, and a fight for equity. These are our values.  We stand with them in solidarity.     
DISPATCHES FROM ISOLATION with GILLIAN
We’ve all been making it through this quarantine in different ways! We are excited to share Gillian Dabrowski’s most recent piece in our local online magazine, Smile Politely as part of their Dispatches from Isolation series. Give it a read and see what life has been like for Gillian at her group home! 
 
THANK YOU TO THE BUSINESSES THAT HAVE SUPPORTED US

The COVID-19 pandemic has been desperately challenging for many businesses and for the people who depend on them for their livelihood. Community Choices has often looked to our business community for partnership on events, to hire people we are working with, and to support our cooperative through donations. As we begin re-opening our business sector, we hope that you will remember to support the business who have supported us in the past years! Many of them are locally owned and operated! 
 

25 O’Clock Brewing 
Art Mart
Bunny’s Tavern
Casey's General Store
Central Illinois Produce 
CU Adventures in Time and Space
For the Love of Hair
Furniture Lounge
Home Depot
Jane Adams Books
JT Walkers
Kessler Optical 
Koerner Distributing
Orpheum Children’s Museum
The Red Herring Vegan Restaurant 
Riggs Brewery
Seven Saints
Siam Terrace
Sola Gratia Farm
Urbana Park District 
Walk Chiropractic
Weiskamp Screen Printing 
SUPPORT COMMUNITY CHOICES FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY!
We and many organizations depend on in-person events to meet our fundraising goals. COVID-19 has made that impossible for now, but we are looking for other ways that we can both engage our community and financially support our cooperative. One of the ways that you can help with this, even during a pandemic, is by starting a Birthday Fundraiser for Community Choices on Facebook. This allows you to share a bit of your own story with your family and friends, while helping bring needed income to Community Chocies. Deb Wood recently raised over $300 this way. Here’s what she had to say: 

My birthday was arriving and I wanted to do something special...something to give back. To give to something that meant a lot to me. And that’s when I decided to host a “Celebrate my Birthday Fundraiser” on Facebook!  It was so easy to do...I simply went under my Facebook page and selected the Fundraiser category.   The process took me to organization choice...and I chose Community Choices!  And guess what??  My friends and family donated an impressive $300 to Community Choices in honor of my birthday!!  All for an organization dear to me and my family!!
SHARE YOUR IDEAS AND YOUR EXPERTISE
If you have other ideas or expertise in how we can continue to meet our fundraising goals in this new landscape, please let me know! If you saw an interesting idea I’d love to hear it! If you have some special skills that could translate to fundraising support, let’s have a conversation! I love brainstorming with people, even if you don’t have the spoons for a long-term commitment. Don’t be shy! 
 
Reach Becca at becca.communitychoices@gmail.com or 217-840-4580
SUPPORT US TODAY
If you have the financial means, we can always use your support! Consider giving today!
GIVE NOW

Thank You!
ENJOY OUR QUARANTINI PLAY LIST
Last week our members again shared their favorite songs at our Quarantini Happy Hour Dance Party! You all have some good taste! - check out the playlist! 
Blank Space - Taylor Swift
Blown Away - Carrie Underwood
America - Neil Diamond
Treat You Better - Shawn Mendes
Dynamite - Taio Cruz
YMCA - The Village People
Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Watch Me (Whip/Nae-Nae) - Silento
Single Ladies - Beyonce
We Belong - Pat Benatar
Gaslighter - Dixie Chicks
Can't Hold Us - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Countdown - Beyonce
Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident) - John Michael Montgomery

Listen to the mix on Spotify - HERE
CO-OP NEWS
PLANS FOR A GRADUAL RE-OPENING
Now that we have entered Phase 3 of Illinois’ COVID-19 Response, we are excited to start working back toward normal. We also recognize that we can’t return to normal unless we call continue to work to keep each other safe for the long-haul. “Success is a Shared Responsibility” has never been truer as we move forward in this pandemic.

Community Choices will, along with the rest of the state be gradually shifting our services back towards our previous types of opportunities. We won’t be fully back to normal until there is a vaccine or a highly effective treatment for the virus. But, we will continue to do everything we can to stay connected and support our members safely!

WHAT IS RESTARTING:
  • One on One Meetings – If you had been working with a CC staff person in our Community Living or Employment Departments regularly, we will be able to restart in-person meetings with you in the coming weeks. These meetings will obviously be personalized, but we are hoping to discuss opportunities for better access to virtual communication with everyone who needs it.
  • Job Development and Job Coaching – We will begin some job development with individuals who had been actively looking for work prior to the pandemic. We do want to acknowledge, however, that the economic situation is still very tenuous and jobs may be difficult to find. Because of this, we are hoping to prioritize meetings and job seeking for people who are in danger of losing their housing or who are food insecure. For others we hope to work with you to deepen your job exploration and hone your employment-related skills.
WHAT IS STILL ON HIATUS:
  • CC’s Office – Our office will remain closed and staff will continue to primarily work from home. We continue to be available by phone, email, and 1:1 Zoom video meetings.
  • Group Meetings – We are not able to hold group meetings in person. We will reconsider this in Phase 4.
  • Social Opportunities – We are not able to hold in person social opportunities until at least Phase 4.
WHAT WILL BE CHANGING:
  • Zoom Connections – These connections have been an absolute delight to put together and offer during the past few months. We have learned so much and have been so impressed an appreciative of how engaged our members are. We are planning on continuing these going forward, but because we will be moving back into some of our more standard supports, we will be reducing the number of Zoom Connections to 2 per day starting the week of 6/8/20. We are very open to feedback on what sessions you’d most like us to continue each week!
  • Classes: Through the summer and likely into the fall, we will be holding our classes over Zoom. Our next offering will be Step Up to Leadership! We have been working to re-vamp this course, so if you’ve taken it previously, we encourage you to sign up again. There will be no cost. Classes start the last week of June.
HOW WILL WE BE KEEPING EACH OTHER SAFE:
As we slowly re-open, everyone will need to work to keep each other safe. We’ve developed these steps by reviewing guidelines from the CDC and our Local Public Health Department.

Meeting Precautions:
  • Both CC Staff and Participants will be asked to verify to each other that we have not experienced any COVID-19 symptoms or been exposed to someone with symptoms.
  • Both CC staff and Participants will be asked to wear masks during any in-person meetings. We have a supply of both cloth and paper masks if you don’t have one of your own to wear.
  • When possible, meetings will be arranged for outside locations such as a porch, park, or patio.
  • Everyone will be asked to wash their hands or use sanitizer before and after a meeting
  • Everyone will need to respect at least a 6 foot distance from each other.
  • CC staff will not be able to give any car rides 
Though we will be mostly working from home, staff will be sanitizing surfaces in the office should we be present there or host a one on one meeting. 
YOU CAN BE A LEADER!
Ever thought about becoming more involved in the community? Maybe you’ve thought about being a more active participant in the decisions you make in life. Either way, Community Choices’ Leadership course is a great way to take a first step in that direction!

Leadership is a course designed to help individuals gain important insight into they’re own thoughts and behaviors and start to place the building blocks that can help individuals become a skilled self advocate who can make a difference in their community. There will be a different topic of discussion each week. Topics included are:
  • Self knowledge
  • Goal setting
  • Reflection
  • Empathy
  • Openness
  • Integrity
The class itself will be an 8 week commitment, held on Zoom free of charge. 

We are looking to start the class towards the end of June, so keep an eye out for sign up information with a specific date and time.
 
If you have any questions, please contact
Jon at jon.communitychoices@gmail.com or
Tanja at tanja.communitychoices@gmail.com.
TIME FOR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL!
Membership renewal time is here! All members should be on the lookout for their online membership renewal information in your inboxes. It will come every Friday along with our weekly CC Virtual Connecting Calendar from Kaitland. 

Please complete your membership renewal before the deadline of August 16, 2020! Your renewal includes continued access to member-exclusive information such as zoom sessions, social opportunity reminders, event calendars, access to CC classes, the password to our members-only webpage, etc. 
 
We are also sharing the link to our online membership renewal form: 
**We are using the Honor System - this online form is ONLY for people who are Current Members Renewing their membership. If you’re brand new Community Choices and would like to get involved, please contact Kaitland at kaitland.communitychoices@gmail or 217-419-6222 to schedule a new member intake meeting! We're excited to meet you!” 
COMMUNITY CHOICES PARTICIPANT SURVEY
It is extremely important to everyone at Community Choices that we continually learn and adjust our supports to be the most effective and beneficial to those we work with. 

One way that we do this is to conduct an annual participant and member survey. This evaluation asks questions about your experiences with the core aspects of each of our programs and gives participants and opportunity to share both what's working and not working. 

We learn a lot from this survey every year, but the more feedback we get, the more helpful it is! We hope that everyone we've worked with will participate! 

We’re again using the Honor System and ask that you only respond if you have used any of our supports in the past year. 

There are 2 versions of the survey - one for Members and one for Participants. Please choose the correct one for you!

MEMBERS - This means you joined the CC Cooperative. If you receive daily emails with our Zoom Sessions or received our monthly Social Opportunities Calendar, then you are a MEMBER! - PLEASE USE THE MEMBER SURVEY

PARTICIPANTS - If you haven’t been receiving daily emails about zoom sessions, but have used our Employment or Community Living Supports (such as Move-out support or SDA services for your Home Based Support), then you’re a PARTICIPANT -  PLEASE USE THE PARTICIPANT SURVEY 

Confused, but want to give feedback? Please just email Becca and we’ll sort it out! -- becca.communitychoices@gmail.com
 
JUNE SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES - CANCELLED
Because of the Governor's Stay at Home Order, we will not be scheduling any in-person Social Opportunities in June, but we'd love to have members join us at our virtual meet-ups. 

Kaitland will be sending out the calendar on Fridays for the for the following week. 

Be thinking about all the things you want to get out and do when we're able! We can't wait to hear your ideas! Please feel free to share your ideas for future in-person and virtual opportunities with Kaitland at kaitland.communitychoices@gmail.com or 217-419-6222
INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
FREE ONLINE CONFERENCE 
The Arc of Illinois, Family Support Network and The Ligas Family Advocate Program are offering their 8th annual Informational Seminar FREE ONLINE FOR FAMILIES and SELF-ADVOCATES. 
  This online conference will offer information from the state's experts on: 

Government Benefits (Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and others)
Financial Planning for someone with a Disability
Updates directly from DHS
Updates directly from Aces$ (for people with HBS) 

HOW TO SIGN UP: 
Date: June 18th
Time: 9:00-3:30pm 
Location: Online (Zoom)
Cost: FREE - But you do have to register!
 
WEBINARS
Sign up for this Webinar HERE
INFORMATIONAL SERIES
The Ligas Family Advocate Program has put together a series of webinars over the next few months! Take a look!
June 10th -12:00 -1:00: Self-Direction Assistance (SDA) through the Home-Based Services Program
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/511790084156412175
Webinar ID
198-188-419
 
July 9th -12:00 -1:00: Behavioral and Mental Health Services available with the Medicaid waiver for adults with I/DD
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8272935900883140623
Webinar ID
118-142-035
 
August 13th -12:00 -1:00: Community Day Service Programs for adults with I/DD
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4084174831056577295
Webinar ID
799-365-299
 
September 10th –12:00 -1:00: DRS vs. DDD Medicaid Home and Community Based Waiver –How to choose
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2432269660997576463
Webinar ID
348-421-219
 
October 8th -12:00 -1:00: Host Family CILA
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8313595840878406671
Webinar ID
963-302-771
 
November 12th -12:00 -1:00: Transportation, Non-Medical –navigating public transportation, registration as a DDD Impact Provider
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8981928486263960847
Webinar ID
374-398-131
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COMMUNITY CHOICES     44 E MAIN, SUITE 419    CHAMPAIGN, IL     61820