As August draws to a close, it is a great time to reflect and enjoy memories made with friends and family. We hope that you all had a fun and fulfilling summer! We also hope that you are all recharged and re-energized for the exciting fall that ILO has lined up for our self-advocates, Community Group members, and participating families.
ILO Training
ILO training is a crucial first step in becoming a part of the ILO community. It is during these training sessions that families learn about ILO as an organization. Participants learn about our mission to build supported, integrated and inclusive communities in which self-advocates can live full, independent lives. Participants are introduced to key ILO concepts such as community pods, community partnerships, intentional communities, and discuss how to begin to build networks of support. For more information on ILO training, please contact us or check out this blog, where we provide a summary of the training process for new families.
Today, we are very excited to announce that we will soon be welcoming nine families from Montgomery County into the ILO community! As a result, we will be hosting another ILO training session, on September 13 and 14. If you are interested in joining this training as a potential participating family, please contact Maedi.
MARYLAND PARTICIPATING FAMILIES: Please note that from 1:00pm-3:00pm on September 13, guest speakers will be presenting to the trainees in regards to affordable housing in Montgomery County, i.e. Voucher System and MPDUs. If you are a participating family from Maryland and are interested in attending, please notify Maedi to RSVP.
ILO Pod Updates: We are growing!
For those of you that are reading our blog for the first time, you may be wondering what exactly a community pod is. Well, here at ILO we consider our Community Pods to be the building blocks of independent living. They are groups of self-advocates (along with their families and personal support networks) that live in close proximity to each other. The pods provide the infrastructure of assistance to those that have moved out, or are close to leaving the family home. ILO Community Pods provide a forum for self-advocates and their families to get to know each other through family meetings and social events coordinated by the pod leader and their designated community builder.
Each pod has a staff person called the community builder. The community builder helps create peer to peer relationships between the self-advocates within each pod. The community builders of ILO are a vital piece of ILO’s success. Enjoy this article written on the Crossings community builder in June 2018.
Currently, ILO has pods in DC, Bethesda, Upper Montgomery County, and the Crossings. We are very excited to announce that we are adding two more pods: Germantown and Rockville. If you are interested in learning more about Community pods in general, follow this link. For more information on how to join an ILO Community pod, contact us!
New Staff
As we grow and expand our communities, pods, and networks of support we will also need to ensure that self-advocates and participating families have the support that they need as they transition into independent living. As a result, ILO will be hiring additional people – we will be adding a Community Builder (for Upper Montgomery County), as well as Skills Tutors and Skills Inventory Administrators to our staff. If you are interested in learning more details about these positions, or would like to submit a resume, please contact us.
Important Meeting Dates for ILO Participating Families Only
September 4, 2019: Upper MC & Crossings Pod Meeting
September 10, 2019: Bethesda Pod Meeting
September 16, 2019: DC Pod
October 15, 2019 Maedi will be hosting a participating family meeting. All participating family members welcome!
