September 01, 2010 

Annual Meeting

Annual Meeting of the Center For

Independent Living Options will be held in the
Tower Room on the 3rd Floor at the Main Library, 801 Vine Street.
Please join us on September 15, 2010 at 6:00 pm.
 Light refreshments will be served

ADA Celebration

CILO would like to thank all the organizations and individuals who participated in the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which took place on Fountain Square on July 26th.  

Special thanks to the sponsors of the event: Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio, DeafChoice, Inc., Downtown and Western Hills Lions Clubs, Fifth Third Bank, Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services Metro, Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council, Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission.

Congratulations to the winners of the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission awards for “Excellence in Advancing Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities.”  These are the organizations and businesses which excel in providing employment to people with disabilities: D&W Fire Safety,LLC, Venice on Vine Pizza, StreetVibes, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Fidelity Investments, Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries, Jewish Vocational Service, Easter Seals/WRC, Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Service, Kroger, Netherland Hilton, Fifth Third Bank, Joseph Beth Books, Cincinnati Reds, Procter & Gamble, Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Home Choice Transition

CILO is happy to announce that, in the 22 months since the program began, we have transitioned 66 people with disabilities from long-term care facilities to home and community-based settings. Not only are these people now living in their preferred settings, but it also is a cost savings to the taxpayers. The Ohio HOME Choice project is funded by a federal grant from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services which provides matching funds to help Ohio begin balancing its long-term services and supports systems by allowing greater choice, flexibility and transparency. HOME Choice relocates Medicaid consumers who have lived for at least three months in nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities for people with developmental disabilities, hospitals or residential treatment facilities for children. In addition to Transition Coordination, CILO provides Independent Living Skills Instruction and Community Support Coaching to program participants.  More information about HOME Choice, as well as success stories, can be found at http://jfs.ohio.gov/OHP/consumers/homechoice.stm. Questions? call: 1-888-221-1560

A very important mid-term election will occur November 2. 

Ohio: The deadline to register to vote in the November 2, 2010 General Election is October 4th, 2010, so any registration form must be returned to your Board of Elections, Secretary of State’s office, office of the registrar or any deputy registrar of motor vehicles, a public high school or vocational school, a public library, the office of a county treasurer, or a state or local office of a designated agency or postmarked no later than October 4, 2010.

If you are already registered to vote but have moved within Ohio and/or changed your name, you must update your voter registration by submitting a new voter registration form or change of address form for your new residence. Ohio’s voter registration application also serves as a change of address and change of name form. A form may be obtained online at http://www.sos.state.oh.us.

In Ohio, anyone who wishes may vote an absentee ballot, but a request must be made before each election.  Forms are available at all the locations listed above, or you may call your board of elections to request the form.

Kentucky: You can register at one of the following locations: 

· County clerk's office
· Driver's license office, if you are applying for or renewing your driver's license
· K-TAP
· Food Stamp
· Medicaid
· WIC, and state-funded offices serving those with disabilities, if you are a client of these offices
· Armed forces recruitment offices, if you are a prospective member of the armed forces
· High schools, if you are a student or staff member

Kentucky mail - in Voter Registration Card:
http://www.elect.ky.gov/register.htm

You may request an absentee ballot application from your county clerk's office in person, by mail, by phone, or by fax. The deadline for applying for a mailed absentee ballot is seven days before an election. You must fulfill one of these qualifications in order to request a mailed absentee ballot:

· Due to advanced age, disability, illness or medical emergency
· You are a member of the armed forces or the dependent of a member of the armed forces
· You are military personnel confined to a military base on election day
· You temporarily reside overseas but are still eligible to vote in Kentucky
· You are a student attending school outside the county of your voter registration
· You temporarily live outside the state but are still eligible to vote in Kentucky
· You are incarcerated in jail and have been charged but not convicted of a felony

You work outside the county and are unable to either vote on the absentee voting machine in the county clerk's office or in your polling place on election day.  

CILO has an exciting agenda for the month of September,

please come and join us for the following events

Becoming Computer Savvy...

The Center for Independent Living Options is offering a 6 week beginners computer class.
These classes will include the basics: from starting a computer, to using MS Word, the Internet and creating your own Email address.
They will be held at the Center for Independent Living Options, 2031 Auburn Ave, Cincinnati Ohio 45219.
The 1st class session begins on Wednesday October 6th
at 2:00 pm until 3:00pm.
The 2nd class session begins on Thursday October 21st
at 2:00 pm until 3:00pm.
Please contact Jeremy Watson at (513) 241-2600 ext 15 or email at jwatson@cilo.net to reserve your seat. Remember space is limited! 

Internet Safety – St. Paul’s Village

This training will be provided to residents of St. Paul’s Village on Thursday September 30^th. The internet safety workshop will cover everything one will need to know about using the internet. This includes how to use the internet, how to search the web, how to access an email address, how to shop for goods and research items, and how to be safe while using the internet. This last topic will include what information to keep confidential, what information is okay to give out, and what to look for when using a site that requests personal information. For more information or questions please contact
Jeremy Watson at (513) 241-2600 ext. 15, or email jwatson@cilo.net

Citizenship In Action

The Citizenship In Action group is reconvening on Tuesday, September 28^th
at from 2-3 pm in the Conference Room at the Center for Independent Living Options.  This meeting will focus on planning Get Out the Vote activities in preparation for the November 2 election.  We will also watch a short video on Project Vote Smart. 

Citizenship In Action is a group of people, with and without disabilities, which meets the second Tuesday of each month from 2-3:30 pm to work on projects and goals set by the group members to improve the lives of people with disabilities through thoughtful planning, positive action, and hard work, while enjoying the fun of cooperation and mutual support. If you are interested in participating, or would like more information, please call Kat Lyons at 513-241-2600 ext.13, or email klyons@cilo.net .

Art Beyond Boundaries Gallery

Visit our fine arts exhibition gallery which provides artist with disabilities a venue to display & market artwork. The last exhibit of the summer is themed : Summer Love and is showing through September 14th. The Gallery is located at 1410 Main Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202, 513-421-8726