Britt's Birthday!

Today is May 27th, we want to wish Britt "Happy Birthday."

Yesterday we SURPRISED Britt with an early birthday party. We decorated the room with balloons, posters, banners, and streamers. We even truned off the lights, and yelled "happy birthday" when she walked in the door. We had mini-cakes. We played a game called, "Who knows Britt the best." We had to prove that we knew her very well. If we got the question right, then we got a necklace.

Rachel made Robbie write a rap about her....and here how it goes...

Happy Birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

I act like a Monkey, and

this wrap is for you!

Keep up ther pressure!

It can not be stress enough how serous the budget cuts for funding just might be, especially to our own agency. Pioneer’s President and CEO Lorraine Kopczynski, is currently in Springfield doing her part to address this issue. She has made people aware that “If the General Assembly does not approve new revenue, then state funded services - including community DD and MH services - could be cut by as much as 51% in the final budget! We know community services cannot endure ANY cuts without eroding services and supports. Cuts of this magnitude would DEVASTATE the community system beyond repair! We also know that the community system requires survival provisions to sustain the services that are currently being provided!” We would like to encourage everyone to contact your Legislators. If you need a list of names and numbers, please let me know. All of us need to keep up the pressure!

Memorial Day

ENJOY THE 3 Day weekend!

See you all back at Pioneer on the 26th!

EDS does Mock Interviews

There are some things to remember when preparing for mock interviews. Good grooming, clean clothes, be early,and practice what you are going to say.

We have already done one round of mock interviews. We watched everyones interviews on the big screen at MCC. We gave each person some tips to improve on their interviews. We are now in the process of doing another round of mock interviews so we can show off the new and improved skills. Everyone came in Dressed for Success on their scheduled day.

We plan to review these interviews also.

We are ready for some interviews!!!!!

Pause

On Tuesday May 19th we all Paused for 2 Minutes to bring attention to the fact that IL is ranked Dead last in providing community supports for people with Developmental Disablities.

Some of the changes we would like to see IL make are:

Reduce the number of people on the waiting list. Currently there are 16,000 people waiting
Spend the money more efficiently and wisely, and
Reduce the number of state operated institutions.

We would like to Thank Mayor Susan Low for coming to support Pioneer at this Event.


Thank you for your time at Pioneer Center.
We enjoyed meeting you.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to show us your support and to speak to us. It's great to know that you will support Pioneer in the future.
Can we contact you again in the future for other Self Advocacy events?

Pause For A Cause

Join us on Tuesday, May 19th

at exactly 10:00 a.m. for

Pause For A Cause

We will demonstrate the need for the state of Illinois to increase legislation and funding to provide community integrated supports for people with developmental disabilities. From 10:00 a.m. to 10:02 a.m., we will ‘Freeze’ in whatever we are doing. The main event will take place in the Pioneer Central building common area, but anyone can join by ‘freezing’ at that time.

Please contact Britt Whiting at extension 7180 or Wendy Weikel at extension 7119 with questions.

Thank you for supporting our self-advocates.

No MCC on May 15th

Work Opportunity!

All of the EDS clients are taking advantage of the work opportunity here at the center therefore we will NOT be going out to MCC on May 15th.

It's a great opportunity for clients to practice a variety of vocational skills, add photos to their portfolio, and work directly with CES staff while earning some money!

Retirement Rocks

Retirement Rocks in SOAR

The clients in EDS were invited for coffee by the clients in the SOAR program. SOAR means: Steppin' Out Adult Recreation.

The clients explained to us what retirement means to them. They told us about what theylike to do and what they learn about.

They played us some of their favorite music and we danced.

Adams Job Retention Party

Adam has been working at the Woodstock Animal Hospital for the past 2 years!!!! To Celebrate his success on the job we are going to have a pizza and a movie party!!!!!!!!

When: Monday May 11th at 12:00

Where: The EDS Classroom

Bring $5.00 if you wish to eat pizza with the group

Please join us to help us celebrate Adams big success.

Working on the Production Floor

Last week EDS clients had the opportunity to work on the production floor.
We had to inspect the caps for extra “flash” or green plastic.

We had to use our eagle eyes to spot the rejects.

We had fun doing the work.
And we can’t wait to see our paychecks!!
By: Melissa, Terri, and Sandra

Graduation Party on Friday May 1.

Rachel and Jon's Graduation Party

Congratulations to Jon and Rachel on graduating from the EDS program!! You did it!

We talked about how Rachel works at the Crystal Lake Showplace 16 Theatre. She has worked there for eight years. She started in 2001. Wow, talk about job retention. She takes the tickets from the customers and gives you back the stub.

As for Jon's job, he works at Home Depot in Crystal Lake. He has been working since May of 2008. He pushes carts in the parking lot and he also helps people load their merchandise in the car.

We had chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with frosting on top and sugar-free cookies to celebrate their graduation! We will miss them, but we are so glad for them and their jobs!!!

Karate Tournament

ON SATURDAY I WENT TO A TOURAMENT AT LAKE IN THE HILLS AT MARLOW HIGH SCHOOL AND I WON TWO MEDALS AND RACHEL CAME AND VIDEO TAPED IT AND WE ARE GOING TO WATCH IT ON THE BIG SCREEN ON FRI MCC

FROM TONY C