Projects and News
Disability History and Awareness Bill Passes Illinois House of Representatives
April 07, 2008
Rarely have legislative bills in Illinois been on such a "fast track" to becoming State law as House Bill 4537 - Disability History and Awareness! In a stunning move at the Capitol, the Illinois House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed HB 4537, with 109 voting Yes and only one voting No. Self-advocates and their allies across the State have worked extremely hard to turn their dream of a disability awareness campaign in Illinois public schools into reality. Round One is now finished when it comes to making this bill a law. For Round Two, here is a slogan about what all of us would like all of YOU to do to keep the ball rolling and keep HB 4537 in the public eye! (Hint: What do the first letters of all the words in this slogan spell out? That's whom we would like you to contact members of a certain part of the Illinois legislature)Start Educating Newcomers About This Empowering (Legislation)!HOUSE BILL 4537 SCOREBOARD: CIVIL RIGHTS: 1, STATUS QUO: ZIP!!!
Illinois Voices DVD wins AVA Award
December 06, 2007
AVA AWARDS ANNOUNCES WINNERS FOR 2007 – Macon Resources, Inc’s Illinois Voices DVD titled Illinois Voices: Changing Attitudes, Changing Lives, produced by Scene It All Productions is a Platinum Winner! The Illinois Voices DVD is a documentary portraying the lives of persons in Illinois with developmental disabilities. It was produced by Rich Buckler of Scene It All Video, Arthur, IL. Funding was provided to Macon Resources, Inc. by the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities. Ava Awards is an international awards competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by creative professionals involved in the concept, writing, direction, shooting, and editing of audio-visual materials and programs. There were over 1,700 entries from throughout the United States and several foreign countries in the 2007 competition. Ava Awards is sponsored and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). Judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry. To learn more about Illinois Voices, go to www.illinoisvoices.com
New Visions
August 09, 2007
New Visions is a statewide initiative funded by the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities that empowers people with developmental disabilities to envision, express and realize the dreams that they believe will enrich their lives in the community. The initiative utilizes personal coaches in a person-centered planning process that guides individuals to develop support networks and action plans to meet their hopes and dreams. The three components to New Visions include:
Full Life Future Planning™, a person-centered planning process, is an interactive customized process where an individual and members of their support network work together to create a picture for the individual’s future based on their hopes and dreams, develop a detailed action plan, and begin to take steps toward making that picture a reality.
Dare to Dream workshops are designed to motivate people with developmental disabilities to dream bigger and to achieve their aspirations.
Dreaming New Visions workshops are intended to teach and assist families of people with developmental disabilities in supporting their loved ones’ dreams. Outreach and follow up with families is provided as requested.
Bridging the Gap between Dreams & Reality workshops assist case management and support staff in understanding how they can help persons with developmental disabilities envision and express their dreams and take steps to obtain them.
Blue Tower Training offers bi-monthly newsletter
August 09, 2007
Blue Tower Training now offers a bi-monthly newsletter, The Training Times. The goals of bringing you The Training Times are:
- Networking with other trainers
- Highlighting training ideas and techniques that will enhance the training program at your agency
- Sharing programs that may be useful in your training program
- Providing a clearinghouse of ideas, products and programs
- Exchanging ideas with other training coordinators throughout Illinois and the rest of the country
Sign up to receive Blue Tower Training's Training Times! Email krescenebeck@gmail.com and include "BTT Training Times Sign Up" in the subject line.
Download past issues of The Training Times here:
Training Times_November December 2007.pdf
