The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990, yet , to date, numerous businesses have still made no effort to remove access barriers. Michael Hellmann, the ADA specialist at Westchester Independent Living Center (WILC), will discuss compliance guidelines under the ADA and what you can do if you are denied access to a place of public accommodation.
Its Your Move Michael Hellmann
Its Your Move Joe Bravo
Joe Bravo, the long term executive director of Westchester Independent Living Center (WILC) and Putnam Independent Living Services (PILS), will discuss the growth of the Independent Living Movement, and talk about his personal experience living life as a wheelchair user.
Its Your Move David CJ
David C. Johnson discusses his personal experience living with Autism and how it is perceived by the general public and by individuals at different intersections of marginalized identity. Autism filicide, intersectionality, institutionalization, and the movement to “cure” autism will also be discussed.
Its Your Move Fran Wishnick
Fran Wishnick has written a profoundly moving book about her son Craig, who at the age of 27 ended his own life after a lifetime struggle with Asperger’s Syndrome and mental illness. Not only is this book beautifully written, but it is deeply honest and provides a tremendous insight into Craig’s day to day perseverance. It also speaks to the inadequacy of the various support systems that were unable to help him.
Its Your Move Geri Mariano
Most people wouldn’t consider the ability to live independently in their own home and in their community, a civil right, but an option they can exercise freely. Geri Mariano will discuss some of the current challenges she is facing while trying to maintain her independence – in her own home and on her own terms – while dealing with cuts to her Medicaid services.
Housing Resource Guide for People with ASD-I/DD
The Housing Resource Guide, for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Westchester County NY, was written to assist people with ASD-I/DD, their families and the people who provide support including professionals, providers and oversight agencies.
Westchester Institute for Human Development
Click here for the Housing Resource Guide for People with ASD-I/DD
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
Westchester County has published this flyer listing local organizations offering events and
Flyer for May is Mental Health Month 2018 Westchester Events
New Resource to Help Individuals Access and Use Their Health Information
April 2018 – The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) today released the ONC Guide to Getting and Using your Health Records, a new online resource for individuals, patients, and caregivers.
This new resource supports both the 21st Century Cures Act goal of empowering patients and improving patients’ access to their electronic health information and the recently announced MyHealthEData initiative. The new initiative, led by the White House Office of American Innovation and supported by ONC, empowers patients by giving them control of their healthcare information. Other participants in the effort include the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“It’s important that patients and their caregivers have access to their own health information so they can make decisions about their care and treatments,” said Don Rucker, M.D., national coordinator for health information technology. “This guide will help answer some of the questions that patients may have when asking for their health information.”
Individuals’ ability to access and use their health information electronically is a measure of interoperability and a cornerstone of ONC’s efforts to increase patient engagement, improve health outcomes, and advance person-centered health.
“The ONC Guide to Getting and Using your Health Records” informs patients and consumers about the value of health information, and provides individuals with clear, actionable advice on how to:
· Get their health record, including offering tips through the process of accessing their records electronically,
· Check their health record to make sure it is complete, correct, and up-to-date, and
· Use their electronic health records, such as sharing their records to better coordinate their care and using apps and other digital technologies to better manage and improve their health.
To view the ONC Guide to Getting, Checking, and Using your Health Records, visit: HealthIT.gov.
Additional information on the HIPAA Privacy Rule is available at: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html
Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
Lower the risk of developing diabetes while improving your health
For more information on this free diabetes prevention program, email aparks@wilc.org or call 845.228.7457 extension 1106 914.259.8036 (VP), Fill out the eligibility questionnaire and registration. This link will take you to our Putnam County site.
If you have been diagnosed with prediabetes, you have a serious condition. Many people with prediabetes who don’t change their lifestyle may develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years.
Type 2 diabetes can lead to serious health issues such as:
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Blindness
- Kidney failure
- Loss of toes, feet, or leg
Do you have risk factors?
- You are overweight
- You are 45 years of age or older
- Your parent or sibling has type 2 diabetes
- You are physically active fewer than 3 times per week
- You ever gave birth to a baby that weighed more than 9 pounds
- You ever had diabetes while pregnant (gestational diabetes)
If you have prediabetes, join our CDC-recognized lifestyle change program. It can help you lose weight, become more active, and prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.
- Eat healthy without giving up all the foods you love
- Add physical activity to your life
- Deal with stress
- Cope with challenges that can derail your hard work
- Get back on track if you slip up (we all do!)
PreventT2 runs for 1 year
- During the first 20 weeks you will meet once a week
- During the second six months you’ll meet once or twice a week
Requirements:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be overweight (body mass index ≥25; ≥23 if Asian)
- Have no previous diagnosis of type 1 or type 2 diabetes
- Take the Could You Have Diabetes quiz to assess your risk OR
- Have a blood test result in the prediabetes range within the past year:
- Hemoglobin A1C: 5.7%–6.4% or
- Fasting plasma glucose: 100–125 mg/dL or
- Two-hour plasma glucose (after a 75 gm glucose load): 140–199 mg/dL OR
- Be previously diagnosed with gestational diabetes
NYS draft Transition Plan
Public Comment open for draft NYS Transition Plan to better integrate services based on person-centered planning for people with developmental disabilities.
Individuals with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) 1115 Waiver Transition Plan
The New York State Department of Health (DOH), in collaboration with the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), is pleased to announce that a draft of the I/DD 1115 Waiver Transition Plan is now available for public comment.
The State is seeking comment from the public from now until January 5, 2018.
WILC successful in Port Chester Train Station Elevator Project
Port Chester train station elevator now open
The Journal News 12.1.2017
After more than a year-and-a-half of pedestrian and traffic confusion downtown, construction on a new elevator and ramp that will make the Metro-North station permanently handicapped-accessible is nearing completion.
Attention riders: a new elevator and handicap accessible ramp at the Port Chester Metro-North station are now open, the Metropolitan Transit Authority said Friday morning.
The $6.1 million project, which started last October, makes the station fully accessible to people with mobility disabilities.
The elevator, built out of structural steel with a glass enclosed cab, is located on Westchester Avenue next to the rail bridge and will lift passengers from the sidewalk level to the Connecticut-bound platform and from the platform to the street. The new permanent ramp to the New York-bound platform is located at 127 Westchester Ave., the former location of the old Port Chester Auto School.
The project was fully funded by the MTA’s 2015-2019 capital budget.
The upgrades are partially the result of a federal lawsuit filed in December 2014 claiming the agency violated civil rights laws by failing to make the station handicap accessible when it spent millions to renovate it that year.
A settlement between disability advocacy group Westchester Independent Living Center and the MTA required the agency to complete the project by the third quarter of 2017.
“I couldn’t be happier to see the elevator working,” said Daniel Brown, an attorney for the plaintiffs in the 2014 lawsuit. “This case began when I saw a wheelchair user stuck on the platform because of the lack of wheelchair access, and I’m grateful that no one will ever again have to suffer such an indignity.”
The elevator construction had closed a portion of sidewalk on Westchester Avenue underneath the rail bridge for over a year. Traffic is now moving smoothly through the area.
The station, on the New Haven Line, serves around 2,800 people a day.
by Gabriel Rom
LoHud.com
The Journal News 12.1.2017
New York State of Health open enrollment for 2018 begins November 1
The New York State of Health open enrollment for 2018 begins November 1. Enroll by December 15th for coverage starting January 1, 2018.
These are very important dates if you need a health plan for 2018.
- Open Enrollment for 2018 begins November 1
- Enroll by December 15th for coverage starting January 1, 2018
It’s your place to shop, compare and enroll in a low-cost quality plan that’s right for you. And it’s the only place you can receive financial assistance based on your income, to lower your costs even more. On the website you can use the “Get Help” button to chat, find a navigator site location, get language support and more.
NYStateofhealth.ny.gov is the official website for the New York health plan marketplace for the Affordable Care Act. If you prefer to call: TTY 1-800-662-1220 or phone 1-855-355-5777
ABLE Program to Help Persons with a Disability Save Money
The NY ABLE Program allows New York State residents with disabilities to save money for their disability-related expenses without the risk of losing benefits from assistance programs like Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Medicaid.
NY ABLE also provides tax advantages. Earnings on accounts can grow tax-free if funds are used for qualified disability expenses when withdrawn. Investment options can provide short-term or long-term savings based on the account owner’s objectives, and a checking account and debit card can be used for convenient access to funds as needed.
To be eligible, an individual must be a New York State resident with a disability that was present before age 26 AND:
- be eligible for SSI or SSDI; OR
- be classified as blind; OR
- have a significant disability documented by a physician; OR
- have a disability that is included on the Social Security Administration’s Compassionate Allowances List.
One account per individual is permitted. Anyone can contribute to an individual’s NY ABLE account. The maximum net contribution is $14,000 per year and the maximum account balance is $100,000.
For more information, including details regarding the terms and conditions of the NY ABLE program, go to mynyable.org or call our toll-free number (1-855-5NY-ABLE) weekdays from 8 AM to 8 PM.
White Plains Housing Registry
Transportation
Available accessible transportation
Contact Evelyn Fernandez, Director Independent Living and Benefits Specialist, efernandez@wilc.org or call 914-682-3926 (voice) 914-259-8036 (VP).
WILC does not provide transportation. Our IL Team can help you explore options in Westchester.
Westchester County has the Bee-Line bus system and ParaTransit.
ParaTransit
Bee-Line ParaTransit is a shared ride service. Appointments must be made from one to four days in advance. Although ParaTransit currently provides some services beyond those required under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the future goal is to more closely mirror regular Bee-Line bus service. You must apply for ParaTransit.
Bee-Line Taxi in New Rochelle and Peekskill
A taxi program is underway in the cities of New Rochelle and Peekskill, giving ParaTransit riders the option to take a taxi instead of a ParaTransit van. ParaTransit riders from throughout Westchester County may use the taxi service, but only for trips within the cities of New Rochelle and Peekskill.
Get more information on ParaTransit and Bee Line Taxi at this ParaTransit link.
Anger Management
Recognize, overcome and cope with anger
Contact Gichel Walters, Director Minority Outreach and Re-Entry Programs, gwalters@wilc.org or call 914-682-3926 (voice), 914-259-8036 (VP).
WILC provides an evidence-based program and curriculum, Moral Recognition Therapy, that can help clients recognize, overcome and control anger 
management challenges.
Coping with Anger targets individuals who are strugling to manage anger and frustration in an appropriate way. This cognitive behavioral curriculum includes psycho-education, conflict-resolution, pro-social skill building, and commitment to change. This program is for use with consumers who are learning to manage feelings and behaviors accompanying anger. The anger management curriculum has eight modules completed in eight group sessions
ACCES-VR Peer Integration Program
Peer support to help you reach your employment goals
Contact Rebecka Palmer, Peer Integration Coordinator, rpalmer@wilc.org or call 914-682-3926 (voice), 914-259-8036 (VP).
Are you a person with a disability who would like to obtain employment? Do you need assistance with barriers that may prevent you from reaching your employment goals?
The Peer Integration Program (PIP) Specialist at WILC can work with you, one-on-one, to provide core Independent Living services with the goal of obtaining a job. In addition, PIP provides group trainings based on need and requests made by participants and ACCES-VR counselors.
Technical assistance trainings are also provided to partner agencies and ACCES-VR counselors. For current information on training please go the Events page.
Eligibility:
- You must be an ACCES-VR Consumer
- Link to ACCES-VR application http://www.acces.nysed.gov/vr/apply-vocational-rehabilitation-services
Deaf Services
Information and advocacy for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing
Contact Michelle Bianchi, Independent Living Advocate Deaf Services, mbianchi@wilc.org or call 914-682-3926 (voice) 914-259-8036 (VP).
Sign language interpreters are available. Both WILC and PILS utilize a video phone. WILC’s Deaf Services Specialist also provides sign language classes to White Plains police detectives and officers.
WILC Intake Form
- WILC Intake Form (PDF)
Partners for Success
Work readiness for individuals with disabilities
Contact Gichel Walters, Director Minority Outreach and Re-Entry Programs, gwalters@wilc.org or call 914-682-3926 (voice), 914-259-8036 (VP).
Partners for Success (PFS) is a work readiness, vocational and social rehabilitation training program.
Designed and developed by WILC, this program provides information and supports that assist individuals with disabilities to better understand themselves, to successfully engage and participate in the vocational rehabilitation (VR) process, to obtain and retain employment, and to define and pursue a desired future (for example, education, work, wellness, housing, etc.). The program is based on three key tenets: personal awareness, personal responsibility, and personal empowerment. PFS is a multi-day program.
