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

IL-NET Presents… A National Webinar & Teleconference: Remote Work and Consumer Connections During the COVID-19 Pandemic – A Q&A Session for CILs and SILCs

Tuesday, April 7, 2020; 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Eastern

Register online

The IL-NET National Training & Technical Assistance Center is offering a new panel presentation in our series on maintaining strong CIL and SILC operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please join us on April 7 as our panel discusses effective strategies to work remotely and connect with consumers during the crisis. Our panelists will share their experience of working remotely, innovative remote work practices they’ve adopted, and concrete ways that you can maintain connections with your consumers and continue essential services and supports during this time.

You won’t want to miss this important webinar! Sign-up today!

Registration: This event is free-of-charge. Registration closes at 12:00 Noon Eastern on April 7, 2020.

Target Audience: Staff and board of Centers for Independent Living. Some Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) staff may also find this content useful.

Your Presenters

The panel will be moderated by Richard Petty, IL-NET Director, and Tim Fuchs, NCIL Operations Director.

Susan Dooha, J.D. is the Executive Director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York (CIDNY). CIDNY’s goal is to ensure full integration, independence, and equal opportunity for all people with disabilities by removing barriers to the social, economic, cultural, and civic life of the community. In 2017, under Susan’s leadership, CIDNY helped nearly 40,000 people take control of their own lives by offering information, education, and advice to individuals struggling with poverty, housing, barriers to health care coverage and access, nutrition, education, and work. In 2017, CIDNY became the lead plaintiff in litigation seeking an accessible subway system. Susan is the recipient of many honors and identifies as a person with a disability. She obtained her law degree at Yeshiva University, Benjamin N Cardozo School of Law in 1990.

Lou Ann Kibbee is the Independent Living Program Manager at the Hays office (SKIL of Western Kansas) of the Southeast Kansas Independent Living Resource Center, Inc. and has been active in the Independent Living Movement for the past 25 years. She holds a Bachelors of Psychology from Fort Hays State University and has many hours contributed toward a graduate degree in counseling. Her professional affiliations include serving as Secretary for the National Council on Independent Living, past chair of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Kansas, and a member of the Kansas Systems Transformation Grant. Mrs. Kibbee currently resides in Hays, KS.

Sarah Martinez, MA, CRC, has served as the Executive Director of Access 2 Independence of the Eastern Iowa Corridor, Inc. in Iowa City, Iowa since 2019. Prior to her work in IL, she was a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for Iowa Rehabilitation Services with a focus in youth pre-employment transition services. Sarah is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor with a Masters degree in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling from the University of Iowa and Bachelors degree in Human Services from Purdue University. She serves on the Board of Directors for Heritage Area Agency for Aging in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and is the SILC Representative on the Iowa State Rehabilitation Council. 

The IL-NET National Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Center for Independent Living is operated by ILRU (Independent Living Research Utilization). The IL-NET T&TA Center provides training and technical assistance to centers for independent living and statewide independent living councils. ILRU arranges some training activities through the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), peer-to-peer mentoring and youth program support through the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL), and online courses and document development through Utah State University Center for Persons with Disabilities.

The IL-NET is supported by grant numbers 90ILTA0001 and 90ISTA0001 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy.

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