Personal Assistant Job Opportunities from Progress Center
Train to become a Personal Assistant. Choose from several November training dates throughout suburban Cook County including at our offices in Forest Park and Blue Island.
Action Alert: Transportation Funding
Progress Center urges the Illinois State legislature to fully fund public transportation and restore Paratransit services. Contact your State Senator and State Representative and tell them funding is needed to keep people with disabilities engaged in the community and work.
Lack of reliable and affordable transportation is often a barrier to employment for all Illinois residents, but especially for those with disabilities. We have been dealing with route reductions of mainline transportation services, lack of Paratransit bus availability at times needed and often long and unpredictable routes to our destinations, and more recently, drastic cuts to the PACE RAP (Rideshare Access Program) and TAP (Taxi Access Program) from 240 trips a month down to just 30.
Thousands of Illinois residents rely on the RAP and TAP programs as a more reliable alternative to other Paratransit services wrought with issues. Thirty one-way rides a month are not enough even to go to work and back home, let alone other essential trips to medial buildings, merchants, relatives’ dwellings, and community venues to keep people with disabilities healthy and active in the economy, family, social and community networks, and work.
This month we mark National Disability Employment Awareness Month. In honor of all who have in history and today advocate for disability and independent living rights, call and email your State legislators before the October 28 veto session and tell them to fund Paratransit, restore reductions in services, and stop fare increases. Contact Progress Center at 708-209-1500 or dkaras@progresscil.org for your State Senator’s and State Representative’s contact information.
Progress Center for Independent Living
Learn ASL at Progress Center
Learn Basic American Sign Language (ASL) for Medical Settings!
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6-Week Beginner American Sign Language (ASL) Course
When: November 4 – December 16, 2025 or November 6 -December 18, 2025
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Time: Tuesdays, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
or
Time: Thursdays, 5:30 pm- 7:30 pm
Where: Progress Center for Independent Living
12940 S. Western Ave, Blue Island, IL 60406
(3rd Floor, Back Entrance)
Cost: Free
Join Progress Center for Independent Living for a 6-week ASL course and start communicating with confidence!
You will learn:
- Everyday signs and facial expressions using ASL grammar
- Fingerspelling and numbers
- Basic conversation skills
- Deaf culture and etiquette
Medical ASL to communicate with Deaf and Hard of Hearing patients
Instructor: Rhychell Barnes
No experience needed — perfect for beginners!
Contact Information:Rhychell Barnes Phone: 464-733-4729 Email: rbarnes@progresscil.org ✨ Limited spots are available — registration deadline is October 28th! |
ART FORGING AUTONOMY WELCOMES YOU !
Do you feel called to express your ideas and interests ?
Join us every Friday from 2:OO to 4:OOpm .
We are a group with disabilities who enjoy the process of finding new ways to communicate our experiences . We would like you to attend our group at 7521 Madison Street in Forest Park at Progress Center for Independent Living.
Our goal is to be a place which supports people with disabilities, where you can share with others and be empowered, inspired, and FREE through countless fun ways of forging autonomy with art .
CALL (7O8) 2O9 – 15OO TO LEARN MORE TODAY !!!
Live Captioner opportunity at UIC
UIC’s Disability Resource Center is seeking a Live Captioner.
The CART Live Captioner provides captioning services for students, staff, faculty, and the community. The CART Live Captioner provides real-time (live), word-for-word captions for live events, classes, discussions, and seminars. They provide access to live captioning services for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, those with auditory or language processing disorders, English language learners, and those who need captions to access audio content.
Here is the job announcement:
https://uic.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/17010?c=uic&sq=1037073
CART Captioner
University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)
The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is one of the top five most diverse campuses in the nation and a national leader among urban, public higher education institutions in providing access to underrepresented students. UIC believes diversity is a strength that contributes to the success of our students, staff, faculty, and institutional research. As a Research 1 institution, UIC is focused on eliminating disparities in health, education, and economic opportunity. UIC remains committed to increasing access to education, employment, programs, and services for all, including maintaining an environment free from discrimination and harassment and a commitment to promoting an organizational culture and structure that honors diversity through the integration of the principles of access, equity, and inclusion.
The Disability Resource Center (DRC) is seeking a staff CART Captioner. This position will be responsible for facilitating access and equity by providing accurate real-time captioning services in a variety of university settings, including classrooms across the curriculum, meetings related to co-curricular experiences like internships, and university-sponsored events. UIC’s staff CART Captioner will provide services on-site or remotely; troubleshooting and facilitating set-up for open access (projected) captions or specific online applications, as needed.
At a minimum, the qualified candidate must have three (3) years (36 months) of professional experience performing live captioning or live transcription or current live captioning certification such as Registered Professional Reporter (RPR), Certified Real-Time Reporter (CRR), Certified CART Provider (CCP), Certified Broadcast Captioner (CBC), Registered Merit Reporter (RMR), or Registered Diplomate Reporter (RDR), or Certified Verbatim Reporter (CVR). Qualified candidates are also required to transport equipment in a timely manner to meet the captioning assignment schedule while traveling on a large campus with varied terrain and weather conditions.
The preferred candidate will have cultural sensitivity in working with people who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, as well as working knowledge of disability issues. They should also be able to accept scheduling assignments that vary in content and time of day from semester to semester.
For fullest consideration, applications must be received by October 8, 2025, at uic.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/17010?c=uic and must include a cover letter and resume.
The University of Illinois conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of contingent offer of employment. Background checks will be performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The University of Illinois at Chicago is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, protected veteran status, or status as an individual with a disability.
The University of Illinois System requires candidates selected for hire to disclose any documented finding of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment and to authorize inquiries to current and former employers regarding findings of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. For more information, visit Policy on Consideration of Sexual Misconduct in Prior Employment.
Hiring Department: Disability Resource Center
Location: Chicago, IL USA
Requisition ID: 1037073
FTE: 1
Work Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8:30AM – 5:00PM
Shift: Days
# of Positions: 1
Workplace Type: Remote
Posting Close Date: October 8, 2025
Salary Range (commensurate with experience):$65,000 – $75,000 / Annual Salary
Presentation: “Deaf Culture”
September is Deaf Awareness Month. JOIN US FOR A SPECIAL DAY DEDICATED TO RAISING AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING COMMUNITY.
“Deaf Culture”
Presenters will be Carol Nemecek-Kowalski and Rhychell Barnes
PLEASE JOIN US!
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH
1pm -3pm
Progress Center for Independent Living
7521 Madison Street
Forest Park, IL 60130
Spaces are limited, reservation is required, please contact:
Demetra Karas (dkaras@progresscil.org) or call at 708-209-1500
**Sign Language interpreter will be provided**
Concientización Sobre la Cultura Sorda
Concientización sobre la Cultura Sorda Folleto
ÚNETE A NOSOTROS PARA UN DÍA ESPECIAL DEDICADO A CREAR CONCIENCIA Y COMPRENSIÓN SOBRE LA COMUNIDAD SORDA Y CON PÉRDIDA AUDITIVA.
“Cultura Sorda”
Presentadoras: Carol Nemecek-Kowalski y Rhychell Barnes
Lunes, 29 de Septiembre
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Progress Center for Independent Living
7521 Madison Street
Forest Park, IL 60130
️Los espacios son limitados, se requiere reservación.
Por favor contacte a: dkaras@progresscil.org. Avísenos si necesita alguna adecuación razonable.
Por favor, evite usar perfume o colonia.
QPR Mental Health Training
Suicide Prevention Training
Progress Center invites you to a QPR Mental Health Training session. QPR stands for “Question, Persuade, Refer” and is an effective method of recognizing suicide warnings and preventing suicide. Anyone can take the training for free. Presented by the Kenneth Young Center at Progress Center’s Forest Park office, QPR training is highly recommended for care providers, case managers, educators, and whoever else would find it helpful. At the end of the hour of training, there will be an optional role-play opportunity, and participants will receive a certificate of completion.
Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) – these are the three steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. This training will help you learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help.
September 15 at 10:00 to 11:30 am
Progress Center for Independent Living
7521 Madison Street, Forest Park, IL
Email dkaras@progresscil.org or call 708-209-1500 ext.118 to let us know you’ll be attending and any accommodation requests.
Hop On The Bus at Progress Center
The Hop o the Bus workshop is designed to help people with and without disabilities build skills to independently and safely use PACE fixed-route public transportation. The new skills learned support participants to live and work in the community.
Presented by Search, Inc. at Progress Center’s Forest Park office, Hop on the Bus to Independence is a workshop of essential information about online resources and trip planning, using Ventra to pay for fares, accessibility and safety features, and building confidence to take public transportation.
Email dkaras@progresscil.org or call 708-209-1500 ext.118 to let us know you’ll be attending and any accommodation requests.
PACE ADA Information Session
Join us for an informational presentation on PACE Paratransit services.
PACE ADA INFORMATION SESSION
WHEN
August 21
1:00pm – 2:00pm
August 21
1:00pm – 2:00pm
WHERE
Progress Center
7521 Madison Street, Forest Park, IL 60130
Progress Center
7521 Madison Street, Forest Park, IL 60130
FEATURING a representative from both PACE and RTA
Join us for an overview of PACE ADA services, including Paratransit, RAP, and TAP. Learn which option is best for you.
Email dkaras@progresscil.org or call 708-209-1500 ext.118 to let us know you’ll be attending and any accommodation requests. A Zoom option is available.