Cambiando Vidas
2023-03-28 15:00 - 17:00, 2023-03-21 13:00 - 15:00, 2023-03-14 15:00 - 17:00, 2023-02-28 15:00 - 17:00, 2023-02-21 13:00 - 15:00, 2023-02-14 15:00 - 17:00, 2023-01-24 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Access Living, 115 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 60654, United States
Cambiando Vidas meets on the second, third,and fourth Tuesdays of every month, and provides a critical space for immigrants with disabilities to come together, organize, and effect change. Learn more about Cambiando Vidas.

This is a virtual meeting that takes place over Zoom. Please contact Alma Olavarría Gallegos to get the Zoom link.

Cambiando Vidas meetings are conducted in Spanish. Interpreters are provided. Contact Alma Olavarría Gallegos with questions, accommodation requests, or to get more information.

Monthly Meeting Schedule:

Second Tuesdays: 3-5pmThird Tuesdays: 1-3pmFourth Tuesdays: 3-5pm

Alma Olavarría Gallegos
Community Organizer – Immigration & Latinx
aogallegos@accessliving.org
(312) 640-2146

View bio

PA Training @Access Living
2023-03-28 12:00 - 14:30, 2023-03-14 12:00 - 14:30, 2023-03-07 12:30 - 15:00, 2023-03-01 10:30 - 13:00, 2023-02-28 12:00 - 14:30, 2023-02-22 10:00 - 12:30, 2023-02-14 12:00 - 14:30, 2023-02-07 08:00 - 17:00 and 4 more dates
Become a Paid Personal Assistant for People with Disabilities

Access Living provides training for people interested in becoming a paid Personal Assistant for people with disabilities. These trainings are open to members of the public as well as the family members of people with disabilities. If you provide care for a loved one with a disability you may qualify for wages by becoming a registered PA!

Schedule training:

If you would like to be scheduled for a training, contact a Personal Assistant Training Coordinator. Due to COVID-19 safety measures, there are a limited number of seats per training. Contact a Personal Assistant Training Coordinator to reserve your spot.

Please bring the following items to your training session:

Photo ID (Driver’s License or State ID)Social Security CardResume and three professional referencesCertified Nursing Assistant Certificate (if applicable)Face mask that covers both your nose and mouth(Optional) Proof of COVID-19 vaccination

About the Program

PAs are hired directly by a person with disabilities, not by Access Living. This means you will be employed directly by the person you’re hired to support. In many cases, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS/IDRS) serves as the fiscal agent, which means that they will pay you. Access Living is not responsible for payment or regulation of payment.

Our program is for training only. We are not a personal assistant hiring agency.

Town Hall: Home and Community-Based Services in Illinois
2023-03-22 13:00 - 15:00
Uplift your stories to build a better future! On March 22, Join Access Living, the Department of Rehabilitation Services, consumers, homemakers, and personal care attendants to discuss home and community-based services in Illinois.

This is a hybrid event. Please register ahead of time to attend virtually OR in person.

Spanish and ASL interpretation and CART captioning available.

Accommodation requests? Please submit to Ryan McGraw by March 10, 2023.

Advance Your Leadership Power
2023-03-21 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-03-07 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-02-21 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-02-07 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-01-31 16:00 - 17:30
Advance Your Leadership Power meets on the first, third, and fifth (when applicable) Tuesdays of every month. All are welcome to join; AYLP members are people with disabilities, social justice advocates, and allies.

At present, AYLP meetings take place on Zoom. Please contact Candace Coleman to get the link to the meeting.

Candace Coleman
Community Strategy Specialist
ccoleman@accessliving.org
(312) 640-2128

PA Training @Sulzer Library
2023-03-09 09:30 - 12:00

Step Ahead
2023-03-01 13:00 - 15:00, 2023-02-01 13:00 - 15:00
Step Ahead is an Access Living group for people with disabilities who previously lived in a nursing facility and are now living independently in the community. The group aims to provide knowledge, information, and community resources for people with disabilities who want to further develop their independence. This group also welcomes individuals who are currently in the process of transitioning out of a nursing facility

**Please contact the Independent Living Skills Trainer in advance to meeting dates, as some meetings take place at various locations in the community.**

Self- & Community Care Night (Hybrid Event)
2023-02-27 17:00 - 19:00
Join us for an evening of peer-led wellness opportunities! This event is hybrid and can be attended in person or virtually.

Agenda

5:00-6:00PM: Meditation and Adaptive Yoga

A brief conversation about self and community care will introduce the evening. Following this, Access Living’s own Ryan McGraw will be leading us in an adaptive yoga and meditation session.

6:00-7:00PM: Community Coloring

Let’s color together using the recently released “Disability Justice from A to Z” coloring book.

Joining us virtually? Download and print the first three pages of the coloring book so you can participate from home.

(Access Living has purchased 25 copies of “Disability Justice from A to Z” and will be handing them out to in-person participants on a first-come first-served basis!)

Attend Virtually

Access Information

ASL interpretation and live auto captioning (in Zoom) will be provided.

Access Living is a scent-free building. Please refrain from wearing scented products, such as scented lotion, perfume and cologne.

All areas of the building are wheelchair accessible.

Please note that masks are required for entry into the Access Living building and must be worn at all times. You will also be asked to show proof of vaccination (if vaccinated) and to complete a health screener upon entry into the building.

Contact bbeck@accessliving.org with questions and and access requests.

Sponsor Information

This event is brought to you by the Arts and Culture Project at Access Living, an independent living center for people with disabilities, Bodies of Work: Network of Disability Art and Culture, Shirley Ryan Abilities Lab, and the Disability Culture Activism Lab (DCAL), a teaching lab housed under the department of art therapy and counseling at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

As a platform for creative disability art and advocacy projects, DCAL uses a peer support and collective care model in which disability community members from Access Living and art therapy graduate students collaborate as disability culture makers for social change. Bodies of Work is a part of the Department of Disability and Human Development within the College of Applied Health Sciences at University of Illinois-Chicago.

“The contents of this event were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90RTCP0005). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this event do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.”

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

(Hybrid Event) #PlowTheSidewalks Town Hall
2023-01-30 17:00 - 18:30
Please join Access Living, Better Streets Chicago, and Alderman Gilbert Villegas on Monday, January 30, 2023, at 5-6:30 PM CT for a Town Hall discussion on the City of Chicago #PlowTheSidewalks Pilot Program (#PTS) as a municipal service alongside community members, stakeholders, and government leaders.

Please complete this form to register for the Town Hall. Attendees will have the opportunity to join both in-person and virtually; details will be provided upon registration.

For registration assistance, please call (312) 744-4324. Thank you and we look forward to having you!

Register for the Town Hall
