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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

An Update from the NCIL Veterans Subcommittee: Participate in the CIL Survey by April 29!

The Veteran Subcommittee has been meeting and getting back up and running over the past few months. A few dedicated members are working to assess the needs of our membership as it connects to the veteran community. A couple of weeks ago, we sent out a survey to Center for Independent Living (CIL) Executive Directors asking about what CILs are currently working on as it connects to directors, what resources Centers need to move forward, and feedback on what the Veteran Subcommittee should be working on in the coming year. So far we have received 26 completed surveys. We want to thank those directors and CILs who have taken a little time to provide us this very valuable information. The survey will be open until Friday, April 29, 2016. If your CIL has not yet participated, please take the survey. We will be sharing results in a future issue.

As Memorial Day is approaching, we wanted to share with members the difference between Memorial and Veterans Day. For many this may seem obvious, but we have heard from veterans with disabilities how often the days seem to be confused. Memorial Day will be held Monday, May 30, 2016 and is a federal holiday remembering those who have died while in military service. Veterans Day is a federal holiday held on November 11 that honors the service of all US military veterans. It is an important distinction as members of the IL community look for ways to connect to the veteran community. It is also really important to try and find other ways besides federal holidays to really connect to the veteran community and build that into your planning for the entire year. 

The Subcommittee is made up of members of NCIL and APRIL and we wanted to highlight the veterans section of APRIL’s website, which may serve as a resource for your work.

In the upcoming weeks, be on the lookout for an invitation to engage in an IL dialogue about veterans, which will highlight work in the community.

If you are interested in serving on the NCIL Veterans Subcommittee, we meet the 2nd Monday of each month at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. To join, please contact Sarah at [email protected].