To Reserve your spot call Marie 708-209-1500. For materials in other
formats call Sam: 708-209-1500x34. For ASL services call Carol 3 days
prior to the event: 708-209-1826.
Please do not wear any scented products to this event.
The Progress Center newsletter is back! Check out the Newsletter page.
Medicare Information
The video below is in American Sign Language (ASL) and in spoken
English. It provides an overview of
Medicare, including Medicare Parts A, B, C & D. It also
discusses Medicare-covered preventive services and the difference
between the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Voting is Power! It is
important to vote for your state
representatives and state senators. They can pass laws that protect
your CIVIL RIGHTS and they will decide funding for disability and
independent living programs.
If you are not registered to vote, please make every effort to do so.
One of the ways is through visiting us at Progress Center for
Independent Living. Please bring two forms of identification and we can
register you.
What is Progress Center
for Independent Living?
Progress Center is a:
Community-based,
non-profit,
non residential,
service and advocacy
organization,
operated
for people with
disabilities
by people with
disabilities.
Independent Living...
... is a way of life that includes values, attitudes and behaviors.
... embraces a philosophy that the person, regardless of their
disability, has the potential to exercise individual self-determination.
... is having the right and the opportunity to pursue a course of
action. And, it is having the freedom to fail -and to learn from one's
failures, just as nondisabled people do.
... "means that we demand the same choices and control in our every-day
lives that non-disabled brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends
take for granted. We want to grow up in our families, go to the
neighborhood school, use the same bus as our neighbors, work in jobs
that are in line with our education and abilities, start families of
our own. Just as everybody else, we need to be in charge of our lives,
think and speak for ourselves." (A. Ratzka http://www.independentliving.org
)
Ten Principles of
Independent Living
Civil Rights - equal
rights and opportunities for all; no
segregation by disability type or stereotype.
Consumerism - a person
("consumer" or "customer") using or
buying a service or product decides what is best for him/herself.
De-institutionalization
- no person should be
institutionalized (formally by a building, program, or family) on the
basis of a disability.
De-medicalization -
individuals with disabilities are not
"sick", as prescribed by the assumptions of the medical model and do
not require help from certified medical professionals for daily living.
Self-help - people
learn and grow from discussing their
needs, concerns, and issues with people who have had similar
experiences; "professionals" are not the source of help provided.
Advocacy - systemic,
systematic, long-term, and
community-wide change activities are needed to ensure that people with
disabilities benefit from all that society has to offer.
Barrier-removal - in
order for civil rights, consumerism,
de-institutionalization, de-medicalization, and self-help to occur,
architectural, communication and attitudinal barriers must be removed.
Consumer control - the
organizations best suited to support
and assist individuals with disabilities are governed, managed, staffed
and operated by individuals with disabilities.
Peer role models -
leadership for independent living and
disability rights is vested in individuals with disabilities (not
parents, service providers or other representatives).
Cross-disability -
activities designed to achieve the first
five principles must be cross-disability in approach, meaning that the
work to be done must be carried out by people with different types of
disabilities for the benefit of all persons with disabilties. (Courtesy
of the Statewide
Independent
Living Council of Illinois)
Progress Center embraces
"Disability culture"
This term is used by people with disabilities to describe not only our
growing sense of a shared history of social oppression, but also our
strategies for coping and thriving, our emerging art and humor, our
sense of community, and an almost defiant celebration of our
differences. (adapted from C. Gill)
Progress Center is
a scent free zone. Please refrain from wearing any
scented products including perfume, deodorant, laundry products,
hairsprays, etc. Anyone wearing scentwill be asked to leave.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Progress Center es un ambiente libre de aromas, por favor abstengase de
usar cualquier producto aromatico incluyendo perfumes, desodorantes,
productos para lavar ropa, aerosoles para el cabello, etc.
Cualquier persona usando estos productos se le pedira avandonar el
lugar.
Last updated: April 19, 2012
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