It’s that time of year again – mark your calendars for Integrated Living Opportunities’ (ILO) 3rd annual Bike, Hike and BBQ along the C&O Canal. We are looking forward to a fun-filled day of supporting ILO. Participants can bike or walk along the canal, or just hang out in the BBQ area mingling with supporters, self-advocates, and participating families.
Support ILO
ILO is a non-profit organization devoted to helping families build supported communities that enable safe, productive, independent living options for young adults with developmental disabilities. ILO helps these individuals (whom we call self-advocates) become more self-sufficient and helps prepare them to live within the wider community.
Executive director Maedi Tanham Carney founded ILO in 2015. Since that time, our organization has grown by leaps and bounds. The ILO Community is 29 families strong, and has participating families from across the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area as well as Northern Virginia. ILO community builders are on site to help self-advocates build relationships with each other, and to help peers take part in activities together. Our latest community building venture, ILO Community Group, now has 58 members that get together regularly for Social Sundays and parent presentations (past topics have included ABLE Act, Fannie Mae Mortgages, & State Waiver systems).
In order for ILO to continue to grow and thrive, we need the support of participating families, friends, peers, and self-advocates. We also need the support of community members. Joining us at this event is an opportunity to learn more about our organization and to experience first hand the impact that community can have.
Event Details
Participants meet Sunday, May 19th at 9:00 am at the Carderock picnic area. Once all of the participants are gathered (about 9:30 am), we will set off along the canal trail for the bike/hike portion of our event. The trail is 8 miles round-trip, and participants can do the entire trail, or turn back whenever they choose. From 11:00 to 1:00, participants and supporters will all gather again at the picnic area for a celebratory BBQ and social.
Registration Info
If you are interested in attending this event, please register as soon as possible. The fee for each participant is $35, which includes a t-shirt as well as food and drink. Questions/comments etc. can be directed to event coordinator Chris Snowber (chris@hamiltonsnoweber.com). If you are unable to attend this event but would still like to support ILO self-advocates, please consider donating to our organization – donations are tax deductible. Online donations can be made via ILO’s website, using this link.
More information?
Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog today – we hope that you were able to learn a little about our organization and were inspired enough to head down to Carderock and join our fun-raising event. As mentioned above, any questions related to this event can be directed to Chris Snowber at chris@hamiltonsnoweber.com. If you are curious about ILO in general and would like to learn more about our community building work, please contact us at info@ilonow.org.
