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Progress Center invites you…

Illinois ABLE Account Informational Webinar

Wednesday, December 10 at 2:00 pm

Join online from any location, or meet at Progress Center in Forest Park to join the webinar.

Know about tax-advantaged IL ABLE savings and investment accounts if you have a disability or you help someone who has a disability. Join the IL ABLE team to learn:

• Who is eligible to own an IL ABLE Account and expanded eligibility starting January 1.
• Who can open an IL ABLE Account.
• How individuals receiving public benefits such as SSI and Medicaid benefits can build assets with an IL ABLE Account.
• How IL ABLE Accounts work alongside other financial tools such as special needs trusts and retirement accounts.

Call Progress Center at 708-209-1500 extension 118 or email dkaras@progresscil.org for information on how to join the webinar.

The 30-day public comment period for the City of Berwyn ADA Transition Plan has begun.

The City of Berwyn invites residents to review and share feedback on the draft Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan. Comments are welcome through December 4th, and the plan can be viewed on the City’s website.

La Cuidad de Berwyn invita a todos los residentes a revisar y compartir comentarios sobre el borrador del Plan de Transición de la
Ley para estadounidenses con Discapacidades (ADA). Los comentarios serán aceptados hasta el 5 de diciembre, y el plan puede ser consultado en el sitio web oficial de la cuidad.

For a hard or electronic copy of the plan, or to request accommodations to view it, please contact:
Travis Helmkamp
travis.helmkamp@oatesassociates.com
618.345.2200

Para solicitar una copia impresa o electrónica de plan o para pedir adaptaciones para poder revisarlo, por favor comuníquese con:
Travis Helmkamp
travis.helmkamp@oatesassociates.com
618.345.2200

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17KDiEzcqx/

Progress Center is encouraging Governor Pritzker to veto the physician
assisted suicide bill added as a rider to SB 1950 on sanitary food
preparation.

The physician assisted suicide provision or amendment of SB 1059 does
not provide adequate safeguards against misuse. The disability community
is especially vulnerable to coercion or decisions made on our behalf without
respect for autonomy and freedom of choice. Historical medical bias and
views on the quality and value of the lives of people with disabilities cannot
be left out of this discussion and have not been in the conversation as fully
as they should. Furthermore, a topic this large should not be attached to an
unrelated bill as an afterthought or tactic for passing legislation that had
previously not been successful; it deserves full attention and input.

Contact the Governor’s office and encourage him to veto the bill, SB 1950,
or return it to the legislators with changes, changes that will remove
physician assisted suicide, hence preventing it from becoming law in
Illinois. Go to https://gov.illinois.gov/contact-us/voice-an-opinion on
Governor Pritzker’s website to voice your opinion or call his office at
217-782-0244.

Progress Center for Independent Living

Now that the Illinois legislature has passed a bill creating some transportation system reforms and provides for added funding sources for the regional system, we would like RTA’s decision-makers, whose recommendations are almost assuredly fulfilled by PACE, to follow through with their commitment to reconsider the drastic cuts to the RAP and TAP programs.

On October 1^st, the number of one-way rides allowed per month for RAP and TAP per person were reduced from 240 to only 30. We encourage the restoration of rides per month. Since October 1^st we have seen Paratransit bus problems escalate. This is happening because people have to use Paratransit buses more since a lot fewer RAP (Rideshare Access Program) and TAP (Taxi Access Program) rides are available, so an already strained Paratransit is even more so strained now. Availability during booking has decreased, pick-ups come later, rides are longer, and drivers and dispatchers are more stressed.

The disability community is calling for the number of rides per month under the RAP and TAP programs to be increased. Contact RTA at communications@rtachicago.org and submit your opinion.

Progress Center for Independent Living

ASL COMMUNITY CLASSES
CLASS MEETS FOR 6 WEEKS IN PERSON

Learn the basics of American Sign Language,
including Deaf Culture, the alphabet,
numbers, greetings, farewells, family signs,
community vocabulary, and more.

When: January 15th, 2026
Every Thursday | 1pm to 3pm
Where: Progress Center for Independent Living,
7521 Madison Street, Forest Park, IL
Cost: FREE

Register before January 9th, 2026
Email: ASL instructor, Carol Nemecek-Kowalski
Caroln@progresscil.org

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.

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 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!

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  !!!