Mandy Smith
RCIL will be hosting a low vision fair at the Marion County Senior Center on July 28th starting at 12:30pm. RCIL’s Mandy Smith, Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist, along with Audio-Reader and Kansas Talking Books will be speaking about their free services and options for people with vison loss. Along with presentations,equipment will be presented…
Read ArticleThrive Allen County is providing non-emergent medical transportation to Allen County residents regardless of age or income. Service hours are 8:30am-5:00pm Monday-Friday and all trips must be made in Allen County or 115 miles within the county (including Topeka, Kansas City, Wichita, and Joplin.) Eligible trips include the grocery store, pharmacy, social services agencies, and…
Read ArticleProfessional Mentoring Opportunities for Blind College Students: Apply Today Apply to the Pearson Corporate Disability Mentoring Program, a six-month program in which sighted Pearson and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) professionals are paired with blind young adults to provide blind mentees with greater access to beneficial workplace experiences and strategies. Participants, through a virtual mentoring relationship with a…
Read ArticleEvergy will be resuming residential disconnects on Monday, May 3rd. Evergy will not be offering any special pay agreements after Friday. If you have a large balance that has previously been on a pay agreement, please contact Evergy by Friday to get a quote to set up a pay agreement. You will also need to…
Read ArticleNewman Regional Health is hosting the 22nd Annual and first ever drive through Teddy Bear Clinic on Saturday April 10th from 9:00am-12:00pm in the Newman Regional Health parking lot off 12th Ave (Emporia). This event is FREE to attend and is intended to help educate children of the importance of healthcare. A non-perishable food donation…
Read ArticleEmpowHer Camp is a fun and exciting one year program for girls with disabilities ages 13-17 EmpowHer Camp starts with one week of adventurous camping in the Adirondacks where they explore nature, make friends, and laugh around the campfire. They also connect with mentors who will help them set goals and achieve them! After the…
Read ArticleIf you are interested in learning about Telehealth the following training might be good for you. The Fab 4: Connected, Device, Platform, Appointment This training will help families learn how to access health appointments via their smart device. The trainings are offered March 16th 6:00pm-7:30pm or April 15th 6:00pm-7:30pm both on Zoom. To learn more…
Read ArticleOklahoma School for the Deaf is offering free ASL I & II classes online. It is a 8 week pre-recorded course February 15-April 5. Classes will upload every Monday at 6:00pm. Certificates are available upon request after you satisfy course requirements. For more information contact Sarah Jameson sjameson@osd.k12.ok.us or Kara Floyd kfloyd@osd.k12.ok.us
Read ArticleKansas Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (KABVI) will be hosting with the assistance of American Counsel of the Blind (ACB) an online convention Friday, November 20th and Saturday, November 21st. This is the ACB’s annual meeting but it is also a celebration of KABVI’s 100 year anniversary. Friday’s agenda is scheduled 10:00am-5:00pm and…
Read ArticleOctober 15th is White Cane Safety Day also known as Blind Americans Equality Day. Which is a day to celebrate and raise awareness about the white cane, that people who are blind or have low vision use to help with mobility. A white cane’s purpose is to identify objects on a traveler’s route and to…
Read ArticleTomorrow, July 14th, is the last day to register to vote for the primary election on August 4th. You may register online, by mail, or in person. The link to register is https://www.vote.org/register-to-vote/kansas/ According to vote411.org the process for an absentee ballot is as follows: To vote by mail, follow these instructions: Complete the application for…
Read ArticleThe Kansas Disability Caucus, Inc. would like to announce registration is open for the Kansas Online Disability Caucus on August 12th-14th. After our Board had to make a difficult decision to cancel the in person Disability Caucus event on the same dates in Topeka, we felt it important that we provide some sessions online. We…
Read ArticleResearchers with the Great Lakes ADA Center in the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago are seeking participants to complete an online survey about work, internet use, and disability rights. Who is eligible for this study? Survey participates must: Identify as having a disability. Be 18-24 years old.…
Read ArticleI get questions many times about available apps for people who have vision loss. I thought I’d write a brief description of 5 apps that have great features for people who are blind or visually impaired. LookTel Money Reader – This app uses the camera on the back of the phone/tablet and then says out…
Read ArticleNational Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI, is offering the following supports: First, we are implementing monthly workshops via online to provide educational topics. To do this, we are seeking workshop topics and presenters. If interested in submitting a workshop proposal, you can learn more at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020-2021_Online_Workshops Second, we implemented an online support group for Front…
Read ArticleTravel to Provide Essential HCBS RCIL has received calls from concerned Direct Support Workers regarding the need for travel documents while they are working for their consumer during “stay at home” ordered periods. RCIL has received official direction from the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services that Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) are…
Read ArticleHome and Community Based Services The health and safety of our consumers, their Direct Support Workers (DSWs) and our staff is the Resource Center for Independent Living’s (RCIL) utmost importance. With the development of COVID-19, RCIL is following the CDC’s current recommendations and recommend that all consumers and their DSWs follow the CDC recommendations of…
Read ArticleKansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) Secretary Laura Howard today announced that visitation at all four state hospitals has been restricted effective immediately as a measure of precaution to reduce exposure of COVID-19 to residents and staff. “Restrictions on visitors at state hospitals are a difficult but necessary step in our mission to…
Read ArticleRCIL’s Mandy Smith will be hosting the following events: Low vision fair April 7th at the Parsons Public Library from 1:00-3:00pm Low vision independent living classes April 23rd and 30th at the Riley County Senior Center in Manhattan from 1:00pm-3:00pm Low vision fair May 13th at the Marion Senior Center from 12:15pm-2:15pm Please look for more…
Read ArticleI’m a few days late but National Braille Day is celebrated on January 4th, which is Louis Braille’s birthday. As most know, Louis Braille created Braille at a young age after going blind from accidently poking his eye out and obtaining an infection that affected his second eye. Louis created Braille after learning a form…
Read ArticleHolidays and winter can be a rough time for many people. In the last two days, I found out, 3 people I know tried to commit suicide in 2019. Suicide is not the answer. If you are feeling down or in a bad place, please talk to someone. The suicide hotline is always available (800)273-8255.
Read ArticleThere are two regular season games left (December 15th and 29th) vs Broncos and Chargers. You can also purchase play off tickets through our fundraiser also! The link is below! https://www.chiefs.com/tickets/ticketfundraiser Follow the link, click the game you want, enter our promo code RCILINC, and chose your tickets. Let’s go KC!!
Read ArticleRemember that when you use smile.amazon.com to shop, RCIL will receive a donation! All you have to do is type in smile.amazon.com and chose the Resource Center for Independent Living, Inc. (RCIL) then shop like normal on Amazon. Amazon will then credit RCIL with a donation. (This is all year long, not just Black Friday.)…
Read ArticleOur annual Trunk or Treat is canceled due to winter weather. Please have a safe and fun Halloween! Reminder our offices will be closed November 11th, in observation of Veterans day, and on November 28th and 29th for Thanksgiving.
Read ArticleRCIL will be hosting it’s annual Trunk or Treat on October 30th from 5:00pm-6:00pm. It is held at our Osage City office (1137 Laing). As always we will have candy, goodies, and FREE hot dogs! Bring your family out to enjoy a fun filled evening. If you would like to donate to this effort or…
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