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Join Progress Center’s Larry Biondi Legislative Training Class on Tuesday, May 10 for a discussion with Forest Park’s Village Administrator.  The Village Administrator Moses Amidei will join the group for discussion and questions about the role of an administrator and about access and accommodations in Forest Park. The meeting starts at 2 p.m. and will be hosted over zoom.  One issue the administrator is now working on is an ADA Transition Plan for the Village of Forest Park.  The administrator would like feedback and comments from the community on the transition plan.  The transition plan can be accessed at this link: Transition Plan.  According to the Forest Park Village, the transition plan ” addresses the public right-of-ways portion of the ADA requirements.”

The Larry Biondi Legislative Training is a seven-week course that meets once a week. The course covers, self-advocacy, disability history, local government, regional government, and Federal Government.  The session on May 10 is open to all members of the community, not only current students.

Here is the zoom information to join the meeting:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88506939102?pwd=aEZwLzU3Y0ZKdFJaVDhQZ1BxZjhSUT09

Meeting ID: 885 0693 9102
Passcode: 544629
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,88506939102# US (Chicago)
+13017158592,,88506939102# US (Washington DC)

For accommodation requests, please contact garnold@progresscil.org

Climate Change and Disability

Progress Center is a disability resource, information, and advocacy organization that serves Suburban Cook County. Oak Park, Illinois is included in the Progress Center service area.  Progress Center is part of a project to recruit people with disabilities to give input on issues of sustainability and climate in Oak Park. This input will be used in the development of a Climate Plan for Oak Park, Illinois. Beginning on February 17, 2022, Progress Center will co-host a series of affinity groups.  These groups will meet monthly between February and May of 2022.  At the affinity group sessions, members of the disability community and those closely connected with the disability community, will answer questions, share information and give feedback on climate issues.  There will be a maximum number of six people per group.  Participants should be Oak Park Residents, or have a close connection to Oak Park.  Progress Center is recruiting people who will be able to participate in each monthly session between February and May. Participants will be compensated with a $30 gift card for each session they attend.  If you are interested in attending, or if you would like more information, please contact Gary Arnold at garnold@progresscil.org

Progress Center has personal protective equipment supplies available at no cost. Progress Center can also assist with Covid-19 Vaccine Scheduling or Covid-19 Test Scheduling.

Personal Protective Equipment:  Progress Center has supplies of PPE available for people with disabilities and personal assistants.  Progress Center will assemble a package and send the package to you in the mail. These supplies include KN95 Masks. KN95 masks are also available to community-based organizations upon request.

Covid-19 Vaccinations:  Progress Center can assist with scheduling a Covid-19 Vaccination, either at a Vaccination Site, or in your home.

Covid-19 Testing:  Progress Center can assist people with scheduling a Covid-19 Test or with ordering free Covid-19 Tests to be delivered to your home.

Community Check-In: A weekly support group that gives people an opportunity to connect with others in the community.

Flyer with Covid-19 Resources available for download: Covid 19-Resources

For more information about these programs, contact Progress Center at 708-209-1500 or garnold@progresscil.org

The Larry Biondi Fellowship for Radical Thought & Action

The Larry Biondi Fellowship proposes to elevate advocates with any range of experiences and interests as long as they further the legacy of Larry Biondi through radical engagement in disability rights.  This engagement may appear in the form of community outreach, policy development, direct action, technical wizardry, communications acumen, leadership and support along all tracks and at any station along the path to disability justice and equity.

Each LB Fellow must commit to a four- to six-month work residency shared between Progress Center for Independent Living (PCIL) and Chicago ADAPT.  The nature of the work and hours of commitment will be guided by each call for proposal periodically devised and posted by the LB Fellowship Committee.

The LB Fellowship Committee

The LB Fellowship Committee shall comprise of two current staff members from PCIL, two active members of Chicago ADAPT and one or more independent advisors selected by both organizations.  The Committee must consist of an odd number of members and a quorum is no less than 75% of Committee members.

The Committee shall devise Fellowship proposals based on continuing communications with Progress Center staff and Chicago ADAPT members. The Committee shall hold quarterly meetings to maintain the needs of the Fund and Fellowship by developing fundraising campaigns; creating, selecting and posting Requests for Proposals; reviewing applications and monitoring the success of current Fellows.  Both Progress Center and Chicago ADAPT are expected to support fundraising efforts and Committee needs.

Committee members shall serve one-year terms and be eligible for reinstatement by the two organizations at the end of each term.

Fellowship Committee Applications

The Fellowship is currently seeking applicants to join the Larry Biondi Fellowship Committee. Please complete the attached form and return the form to biondifund@gmail.com. Download the form here: 2021-LBFundCommitteeForm-final —  2021-LBFundCommitteeForm-final

To request a form in a different format, please contact gary8970@gmail.com

In Home Vaccination — Booster and 1st and 2nd Dose Vaccinations

The Cook County Department of Public Health continues to schedule appointments for in-home vaccines. This service is available to seniors and people with disabilities who are unable to travel to a vaccination site. To schedule an appointment, call the number 833-308-1988 (hours are Hotline hours are M-F 7am-10pm and Sat 8am-10pm)  or visit this link: http://bit.ly/homevaccine

If you would like assistance with submitting a request for an In-Home Vaccination Appointment, Progress Center can help. Please email garnold@progresscil.org or call 708-209-1500 and ask for the Program Director.

Progress Center mourns Larry Biondi

Progress Center is devastated by the loss of Larry Biondi.  Larry died on the afternoon of June 28.  The organization’s longest serving employee, Larry worked at Progress Center for 28 years. As the Advocacy Manager, Larry led the Progress Center Community Organizers, and he organized and implemented strategies to improve housing, transportation, public access and health care for the disability community.  Larry also was well known for Progress Center’s Legislative Training Course.  Larry and his team offered the course twice a year, once in the Spring and once in the Fall.  The course met once a week over the course of ten weeks, culminating in a trip to Springfield, where students from the course met with Illinois State Politicians and their staff, and applied the skills they learned during the training.

A person with a disability, Larry hired and managed his own personal assistants.  The personal assistants provided support with essential tasks like getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, cleaning, cooking and eating.  At work, Progress Center personal assistants supported Larry so that he Larry could focus on his job.  Perhaps as much as anyone else, Larry knew the essential link between accommodations and independence and inclusion for people with disabilities.  Without personal assistants, Larry would not have been able to live on his own. Understanding that link, Larry never stopped fighting to strengthen and build systems of community services so that all people with disabilities had the opportunity to access services and live independently.   In addition to his nine to five job at Progress Center, Larry put in just as many hours with Chicago ADAPT, a grass roots disability advocacy organization, and with National ADAPT.  Larry went to hundreds of local and national ADAPT demonstrations, participating in civil disobedience when local, regional, and national entities failed to recognize the needs and rights of people with disabilities.

Larry rarely turned down an opportunity to speak to a group of students, join a coalition, or attend a meeting, so long as he had a chance to raise awareness about disability, learn more about issues, and empower other people with disabilities.

At the front end of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Larry actively engaged in two new coalitions, and remained committed to the coalitions throughout the pandemic. As a member of the PPE for People with Disabilities Coalition, Larry joined the effort to ensure that people with disabilities in Chicagoland and their personal assistants had access to personal protective equipment.  With the Institutional Rescue and Recovery Coalition, Larry advocated for residents of long-term facilities, who suffered an alarming mortality rate during the Covid-19 crisis.

Larry will be missed sorely by his family, by his friends, by his peers, by his co-workers, and by thousands of people in the disability community, who, whether they know it or not, were touched by Larry’s work and commitment to disability inclusion.

As details become available, we will share information about funeral services.

New Cook County Renter Rights & Protections Take Effect June 1
Ordinance extends protections to more than 200,000 renters

CHICAGO – On June 1, 2021, all provisions of the Cook County Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance (RTLO) will go into effect. The ordinance extends housing protections to renters and landlords in more than 245,000 suburban households.

“Substandard housing can cause an array of serious health conditions,” explains Jenna Prochaska, Health Justice Project at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. “This ordinance creates critical safeguards to help curb dangerous conditions–an important step to protect the health of vulnerable tenants in the Cook County suburbs.”

Renters with low income are more likely to fall into or deeper into financial insecurity as a result of unfair late fees, a landlord’s refusal to return a security deposit, a landlord disguising a security deposit as a move-in fee, or taking a landlord to court.

The RTLO creates consistent countywide rules for tenants and landlords, establishes basic expectations for decent behavior and healthy living conditions, and clarifies rules, making it easier for everyone to follow them.

The Cook County Regional Tenant Landlord Ordinance:

• Bans unlawful lockouts
  * Restricts retaliatory conduct and undisclosed landlord entry
• Protects owners against property destruction and abandonment
• Provides consistency on how and when landlords can safely evict renters
• Prohibits lease terms that waive written notices, rights to a trial, and disclosures
• Blocks landlords from charging exorbitant late rent fees
• Improves procedures for completing minor repairs in a timely manner
• Guarantees fair security deposit returns
• Prevents nontransparent move-in charges
• Defends tenants from landlord retaliation
• Allows landlords a two-business day right to cure noncompliance with leases

The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to pass the ordinance on January 28, 2021. Cook County Commissioners Scott Britton and Kevin Morrison were chief sponsors of the ordinance, which was first introduced in July 2020. The commissioners worked with housing advocates, tenants’ rights and legal aid groups, as well as landlord, realtor and property owners’ groups to build support and consensus for the ordinance, and the final legislation incorporated a series of amendments. Commissioners Brandon Johnson, Larry Suffredin, Bill Lowry, Alma Anaya, Dennis Deer and Deborah Sims co-sponsored the ordinance.

“We applaud the leadership and persistence of Commissioners Scott Britton and Kevin Morrison, who worked long and hard to pass this measure,” said Andrea Juracek of Housing Choice Partners. “We are thankful for the support that the full Cook County Board has shown for the ordinance.”

The Cook County Residential Tenant Landlord Ordinance comes decades after the City of Chicago and suburbs such as Evanston and Mount Prospect adopted similar ordinances. A coalition of legal aid organizations and housing advocates are now working with municipalities that have adopted their own ordinances to ensure the various ordinances are consistent, complementary, and all offer robust protections to renters.

“We look forward to working with Cook County, the City of Chicago, and villages throughout suburban Cook County to ensure that all renters in our communities have common housing rights and the support they need to stay secure in their housing,” said Michael Rabbitt of Neighbors for Affordable Housing.

To view the ordinance itself, visit: https://bit.ly/3iT0VQQ

To learn more about the campaign to pass the ordinance, visit: housingactionil.org/rtlo

To learn more about renter rights in the ordinance, visit: illinoislegalaid.org/ccrtlo

About the Cook County RTLO Coalition:

A coalition of housing advocacy organizations, legal aid organizations, and renter leaders worked to build support for the RTLO and are now working to raise awareness about the ordinance and support implementation of the ordinance. These organizations include: Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance, Health Justice Project at Loyola University School of Law, Housing Action Illinois, Housing Choice Partners, Illinois Legal Aid, Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing, Metropolitan Tenants Organization, The Moran Center, Neighbors for Affordable Housing, North Suburban Legal Aid, PASO West Suburban Action Project, and Progress Center.

For more information, contact Kristin Ginger, Housing Action Illinois, 312-854-3333, kristin@housingactionil.org

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KN95 Masks Available

Progress Center has large supplies of K95 Masks. These supplies are available to community organizations in Suburban Cook County and the surrounding areas.  Masks are available at no cost.  Organizations and groups in need of masks will be asked to pick up the supplies at the Progress Center office in Forest Park, Illinois. To place an order and schedule a pick-up, contact Kira Meskin at Progress Center, kmeskin@progresscil.org

Other Covid-19 Resources available at Progress Center

Emergency Back Up Providers: If you are a member of the Illinois Home Services Program and your personal assistant is unable to work because of Covid-19, Progress Center will help you find an emergency provider.

PPE:  Progress Center has supplies of PPE available for people with disabilities and personal assistants.  Progress Center will assemble a package and send the package to you in the mail.

Covid-19 Vaccinations:  Progress Center can assist with scheduling a Covid-19 Vaccination, either at a Vaccination Site, or in your home.

Community Check-In: A weekly support group that gives people an opportunity to connect with others in the community.

For more information about these programs, contact Progress Center at 708-209-1500 or garnold@progresscil.org

There will be a series of local Covid-19 Vaccinations Clinic over the next several days.  These clinics will be in the west and the south suburbs.  Below are information and flyers. If you have questions, please contact Progress Center at 708-209-1500.

Saturday, May 22, 2021, Chicago Heights, Illinois. COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic. Pfizer Vaccine.
Saturday, May 22, 2021, 9:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m.  Grand Prairie Services, 450 West 14th Street
Chicago Heights, IL 60411 To register and for more information: 708-444-1012, ext. 1532

2021-May 22- Vaccination Clinic– Chicago Heights

Monday, May 24, 2021, Broadview, Illinois.  Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic. BROADVIEW MISSIONARY
BAPTIST CHURCH, 2100 S 25th Ave, Broadview 60155, MONDAY, MAY 24, 3:30PM-7PM, Call Broadview Missionary Baptist Church at
708-343-3700. Walk-Ins Welcome. Pfizer Vaccine.

Broadview_with_CimparEngandSp

Monday, May 24, 2021, Harvey, Illinois. Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic. THORNTON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL, 15001 BROADWAY, , HARVEY 60426, Starting Monday, May 24, Monday–Friday 10:30AM–7:00PM, 312-864-0591, Walk-Ins Welcome.

2021-May 24- Harvey Vaccine Clinic

For more information, please contact Progress Center at 708-209-1500.

On April 15, 2021, Progress Center and Rush University Systems hosted a webinar titled “Employment Opportunities and Resources for People with Disabilities in Chicagoland.”

This post is a follow up to the event on April 15.  This post includes documents and information that were shared by the presenters.

Resources:

1. Final Agenda for April 15, 2021 Event – Download Here- 2021-April 15- Event–Agenda-update-final

2. Final Flyer for April 15, 2021 Event – Download Here- 2021-April 15- Employment Resources–flyer -final

3.  Rush Job Opportunities Power Point — Download Power Point Here: Rush Job Opportunities 4.15.2021

4. Rush Careers and Disability Inclusion Related Links — Download Here:  Rush Careers and Disability Inclusion related links

5. Rush Inclusion Initiatives 2021 – PDF — Download Here:  Rush Disability Inclusion Initiatives 2021

6.  Rush University Medical Center Job Highlights – PDF -Download Here:  Rush University Medical Center Jobs Highlights

7. Progress Center and Rush Employment Opportunities Highlights — All of Us — Power Point Slide- Download Here — PC+Rush Employment Opportunities_ AoU

8. About the All of Us Program — All of Us Frequently Asked Questions — This document was not shared at the presentation on April 15, 2021.  This document shares more information about the All of Us Program, which was mentioned during the April 15 event. Download the document here: AAHD_AoU_FAQ

Whether you attended the webinar on April 15, 2021, registered for the webinar, or both, thank you for your interest in the program.  Please feel free to reach out if you have any follow up questions.Here is a list of presenters with an email contact:

Sophie Seypura, Clinical Research Assistant, All of Us Research Program, Rush University Medical Center–sophie_D_Seypura@rush.edu

Kevin Irvine, Senior Talent Acquisition Consultant, Individuals with Disabilities, Facilitator, Rush Disabilities Employee Resource Group, Rush University Medical Center– Kevin_Irvine@rush.edu

Carol Bermudez, Senior Talent Acquisition Consultant, Rush Oak Park Hospital — carol_bermudez@rush.edu

Gary Arnold, Program Director, Progress Center for Independent Living — garnold@progresscil.org

David Sedillo, Senior Clinical Research Coordinator for All of Us, Rush University Medical Center — David_Sedillo@rush.edu