SUCCESS STORIES

A Proud Parent

Dear Center for Independent Living,

We want to thank you so very much for the Theratogs for our daughter, Danielle. Danielle is five years old and was born with Spina Bifida. She is partially paralyzed from the waist down. The Theratogs that the Center provided are a compression garmet. The pressure from the garment allows Danielle to feel more in her hips and her core for better stability. Danielle currently walks with crutches and is working very hard at walking independently. Our family can not thank you enough for the assistance that you have provided. We could not afford the Theratogs on our own and are so happy that the Center for Independent Living was there to help our daughter with her goal of a more independent life.

Most Sincerely,

Cindy

A Computer Lab Consumer

The Will-Grundy Center for Independent Living is a wonderful place to be! The staff and volunteers are great people. When I go to the Center, I do not want to leave. Sometimes I have complained about doing something on my own. My favorite words were “I Can’t”. Since I became a consumer, the staff has encouraged me to accomplish things independently. I have learned that I do have many positive skills. I want to thank everyone for the Peer Support I receive at the Center, including the volunteers, for their genuine commitment.

A Proud Parent

USED ON FACEBOOK 3/14/12
I want to thank you for working with my son in Youth Leadership. He seems able to initiate tasks and complete them independently. In the past, I have reminded him constantly to complete something. Now he seems more eager to utilize his strengths instead of complaining. I can tell that you focus on the philosophy of independent living. Keep on doing what you do to encourage the students to empower themselves.

A Special Education Teacher

The students are really getting involved and sharing their ideas openly in Youth Leadership. The activities you provide are hands-on and interesting. You encourage their input and accept their responses. The activity provided today was very educational and created a lot of interesting student/ student and teacher/student dialogue.

To the staff at WGCIL

Thank you so very much for the iPad for my son, Donnie. He is working on reading, math, speech and appropriate social interaction through the use of several great applications geared toward kids with autism and other special needs. With autistic children, it can be a way to connect them with the world and visually stimulate them to learn and communicate. Our family is so grateful to all of you for choosing Donnie to receive this grant. We cannot thank you enough for the gift of assistive technology to help our son become engaged in functional and educational activities that he will continually benefit from each and every day.

Sincerely,
Erin L

From New Consumer to Full-Fledged Advocate

Rhonda is a middle aged adult who came to the Center after learning about it from staff at Cornerstone. She’d visited the Center for workshops and liked the friendly staff. She watched and was impressed with the way that other people with disabilities were working and helping consumers get information to help them in so many ways.

So it was a natural step for Rhonda to become a consumer herself and become active in the Center’s programs. She participated in the two-month Legislative Internship Series, coordinated by CIL Independent Living Advocate Mary Tisdale, who has become her mentor and friend. Read more...

Helping Others Help Themselves, Teaching By Example

Few know that Charles enjoyed a career as an engineer before his health took a turn for the worse. He loved his work and enjoyed living with his mother, as they supported each other through good times and tough times too. When his mother had to move into a nursing home after a long illness, Charles managed on his own best he could. When he suffered a stroke years back, with no one at home to help him recover, he was moved into a nursing home. While his mobility was limited and respiratory ailments worsened, he felt he was too intelligent and too independent to remain there for good. So after several health setbacks and less than stellar treatment, Charles got word that a local organization could help adults with disabilities get into their own apartments, and he knew that was something he wanted to pursue. Read more...

Travels Miles to Help Out and Help Others

Anyone who has called or come into the Center over the past two years has very likely been greeted by Mike, a friendly and helpful volunteer who is happy to be helping others. Whether it’s supporting the staff with clerical duties, providing a visiting consumer information on programs and services, answering phones or stuffing envelopes, Mike is always willing to offer his time and assistance.

For him, it’s his way of paying back the staff he has come to be friends with and admire for the support they provided him years back. Read more...

Uses Amplified Phones to Live Independently

Unless or until you’ve been on either end of the phone, you cannot appreciate how valuable assistive technology – like an amplified phone – can be. For the nearly 400 hearing impaired individuals the Center helps every year, there are typically a handful of people for each user who can attest to the value of such a device. Whether it is the daughter or son, long-distance relative, doctor or service provider, people trying to communicate with a hearing impaired individual over the phone can be a challenge, to say the least.

Happy days are here again for those seeking help. And the help is free! Read more...