Thursday, March 10th 2016
Good morning everyone, and welcome back to the blog today! Last week we had the pleasure of officially launching the Integrated Living Opportunities (ILO) website, www.ilonow.org. As a part of the launch, we provided visitors with a brief overview of the website, including a discussion of the different website design features, such as our Meet the Board page, our FAQ, and, (of course) our weekly blog.
Today, we would like to continue on in this theme by taking a closer look at one of the most important features of ILO’s website: our Resource section. As a non-profit, one of our most important goals is to educate and raise awareness about independent living options and the importance of community and integration for adults with disability. We have carefully chosen and cultivated a comprehensive resource list that we feel accomplishes this goal and, in fact, takes it further. Through tapping into our network of families, advocacy organizations, and contacts in the disability community, we have compiled a number of very useful resources covering virtually every milestone in the life of an individual with a disability.
Please read on for a comprehensive look at this resource section, as well as a brief look at one of our most important resources – as well as ILO community partner – Quality Trust.
Resource Page
Our resource section begins with a list of ILO definitions. We recognize that new visitors to ILO’s website may need a brief orientation to the terminology that we use, so we have provided it by listing and defining our most important terms, such as self-advocate and participating family. Once visitors have become familiar with ILO and our terminology, we direct readers to a number of different categories of resources, including advocacy, employment, housing, organizations, sports and rec, and transitioning:
Advocacy: Our advocacy page includes resources such as SABE (Self Advocates Becoming Empowered), PHP (Parents Helping Parents), PLAN (Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network), and many, many more. All of our resources in this section link to incredible organizations dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities and their families receive the services, benefits, and supports they need to live their lives to the fullest.
Employment: We all know the importance of employment to an individual’s financial, emotional, and psychological health. ILO has made a point of including information about Vocational Rehabilitation, as well as other valuable resources such as The Arc Employment and Autism Speaks Family Services Employment Kit to help ensure that all individuals have access to the support needed to find and maintain employment.
Housing: One of the first steps to helping an individual with disability lead an independent life is to first establish where he or she will live, and what their preferred housing option will look like. ILO has compiled a number of resources to help families with this process, including links to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Fair Housing Online, and MyArchway.
Sports and Rec: Opportunities for socialization, recreation and physical activity are essential to a happy, healthy, well rounded life. ILO has compiled a number of different resources for programs, organizations, and recreational opportunities for individuals in the Washington, D.C. and Maryland areas. With links to resources such as the Special Olympics in Montgomery County and D.C., and organizations such as ArtStream, Zam Dance, and Jubilee there truly is something for everyone.
Transitioning: For individuals with disabilities and their families, transitioning can be a very overwhelming and stressful time. In recognition of this, ILO has put together a number of different resources such as the Autism Speaks Transition Toolkit, the Maryland Transitioning Youth website, and the D.C. Transitioning website, all aimed to help families understand and manage the transitioning process.
As you can see, we do have quite a comprehensive list of resources to help individuals with disabilities and their families manage any challenge or milestone that comes their way. Having said that, we are always looking to improve! If you have a suggestion for a resource, or an idea please email it in info@ilonow.com and we will be sure to update our page.
Quality Trust
Founded in 2001, Quality Trust is the result of a class action lawsuit that closed Forest Haven, an institution for individuals with disabilities in the Washington, D.C. area. Since its inception, Quality Trust has operated as an incorporated, independent, non-profit organization that works to ensure that children and adults with developmental disabilities get individualized and meaningful support throughout their lifespan in order to live life to the fullest. This organization is dedicated to ensuring effective advocacy, monitoring, and legal representation for all people with disabilities.
Quality Trust provides services such as family support, legal tools, monitoring, personal support, and training and expert assistance to individuals and families with special needs; the organization operates according to a set of values that include the presumption of capacity, personal control (people should control all aspects of their own life), supports as reflecting a lifespan approach, and families as a critical advocacy partner.
Individuals wishing to learn more about Quality Trust are encouraged to visit their website, www.dcqualitytrust.org.
Support ILO – Donate Now!
If you would like to learn more about ILO, or join our rapidly growing network of participating families, please let us know! We are currently 19 families strong, and would welcome the opportunity to continue to meet new families, and learn about the hopes and dreams of self-advocates from across the country.
If you would like to support the community building work that ILO is doing in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, then please take a moment to contribute to our efforts. This can be done by making a donation via our Donate page – (no amount is too small) or by emailing ILO. If you would like to learn more about how to help ILO, perhaps by volunteering or helping with our fundraising efforts, please contact us – we welcome both your suggestions and your help.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to visit our blog today – we take pride in providing our visitors with a quality source of reliable, relevant and current information. We hope that you have found our resource page to be useful, and will consider ILO’s website to be a valuable research tool in the future.
See you next week.
