ONE PEOPLE CU CAMP WITH ERIC AND GILLIAN
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Community Choices previously partnered with One People CU during the winter for an Open Champaign event, The Lounge, which was a night of performances that included poetry, music and book reading from numerous Champaign artists including four CC members. During the planning of that event, we discussed the possibility of CC members volunteering at One People’s summer camp.
One People's Summer Arts Camp is a dynamic community-based youth camp where kids engage in the creative arts through exciting youth-centered projects and large group activities. Kids, ages 9-14, enroll in Creative Communities where they participate in fun activities designed to nurture their creativity while fostering community. In addition to dinner each evening, during the week kids enjoy live performances and talks by local practicing artists. Each year, this volunteer-led free camp concludes Friday with a celebration honoring the kids' hard work featuring performances by the kids themselves!
From July 10 to July 14, Eric Beasley and Gillian Dombrowski, along with CC staff Hannah Sheets and Eric Enger volunteered at the camp. The Erics volunteered with the creative writing group. A seasoned poet, Eric Beasley helped the kids through different writing exercises and assisted them in finishing their poems. All the hard work paid off when the kids performed their poetry on Friday in front of the entire camp and the campers’ family members.
Gillian and Hannah volunteered in different areas throughout the week. They assisted kids in the engineering group and the visual arts group. They also made the popcorn for the family members who attended Friday’s performance (which was as much of a hit as the performances themselves).
We’d like to acknowledge Eric Beasley and Gillian Dombrowski for donating their time and energy to this camp and the kids who benefitted from their presence. Well done, Eric and Gillian!
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On June 29th, Farm Credit of Illinois was kind enough to host a LEAP training for any interested Mahomet businesses. Aside from Farm Credit, representatives of Mahomet Schools, and the Mahomet Chamber of Commerce attended to learn about how to be a more inclusive employer. The group setting allowed for a lot of great brainstorming and discussion, and we look forward to hosting more group trainings for businesses in the future.
In working to make Champaign County an even more disability-inclusive community, Community Choices and DSC have partnered in a collaborative effort called "LEAP": LEADERS IN EMPLOYING ALL PEOPLE. LEAP provides a free training to area businesses that are interested in becoming more inclusive employers.
If you know of a Champaign County business that would be interested in learning more about our free 1-hour LEAP Certification training, please contact Ashley Withers at Ashleycchoices@gmail.com.
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THANK YOU TO THE GORSUCH FAMILY FOR HOSTING SUCH A FABULOUS POOL PARTY!
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This past weekend Community Choices Members and their families had the chance to come together, get to know each other better, and to beat the heat at the Gorsuch’s Pool Party and Potluck!
With the help of their kind hospitality we got to kick back and remember what makes our organization special – that at the heart of it all it’s a group of people looking to connect with each other and build a community!
Thanks to all who came, for all the delicious food that was shared, and for the opportunity to spend time together!
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Thank you to everyone that got their membership renewal paperwork in! We will be sending out our updated membership directory in the next few weeks!
If you chose not to renew, but change your mind later, you can always get reconnected by calling our Membership Coordinator at 217-621-1090.
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MEMBERSHIP SURVEY RESULTS
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Each year Community Choices askes its members to complete a Membership Survey. This is a great way for us to get feedback about what we are doing well, and areas where we could still grow. This year we had the opportunity to work with a group from the U of I’s Psychology Department through project sponsored by one of our funders – the Champaign County Mental Health Board. As part of this project we got support from the University to revamp our survey to help us learn more about if our programs are doing what we hope they are to support our members to live full, meaningful lives in the community. Here’s the highlights of what we found out:
While we hope that these results are true of our whole cooperative, they are based on the 31 total members who replied.
Overall Experience
93% of members who participated in the survey felt that the organization treats them with respect.
100% of members felt that Community Choices is respectful of their culture and values.
86% of members felt that we very much supported their personal goals. The other 14% felt we somewhat supported these goals.
90% of members felt that we very much communicate in a way that they understand. 7% felt we did this a little, which 3% felt we didn’t really do this.
Connect Department
The outcomes we hoped for through participation in the Co-Op and in our Connect Department Activities are more friendships and the feeling that our members are part of a supportive community.
We were thrilled to find out that 78% of our members with disabilities that participated said that they had definitely or somewhat made a friend through our programs. Of those friendships made, 63% of respondents said that they were very close or close to that other person.
Of members without disabilities, 50% said they had made friends while participating in our activities. Of those, they said that 30% were close or very close friendships and 40% were a little close.
89% of members with disabilities and 82% of members without disabilities felt that Community Choices provided them with a supportive community.
Community Living Department
In the Community Living Department, the outcomes that we hope our members experience are the ability to live independently and having access to the support to grow and mature. As a small program, we only had 4 participants with disabilities and 7 family members reply.
75% of members with disabilities said that the program had helped them to live independently and 67% said that they had grown and matured through participation.
57% of family members felt that the Community Living program had enabled their family member to live independently, 100% of these family members felt the program had very much or somewhat helped their family member with a disability to grow and mature.
Customized Employment
In the Customized Employment Department, we looked to see if participants were getting the support they needed to work toward their job goals and that our program was responsive to each person’s skills and interests as part of the job development process. We had 6 members with disabilities respond and 10 family members.
100% of members with disabilities said that they were getting the support they needed to work toward their jobs goals and 83% felt that their skills and interests were important to the process. The other 17% said that this was “a little” important to the process.
70% of respondents without disabilities felt very much that their family member was getting the support they needed to work toward their job goals. The other 30% felt that they were getting somewhat of the support they needed.
80% of members without disabilities felt that the skills and interests of their family member with a disability were important to the job development process. 10% said this was “a little” important.
Summary
We received a lot of wonderful comments from our members. Most of these were very positive and noted the support that helped to participants to make their work goals happen, the great experiences that developed through Co-op Clubs, the focus on personal goals, social opportunities, and the connection to many jobs and volunteer opportunities. You all also told us about some frustrating situations, like having to wait to work on some goals and difficulty getting connected with friends in certain situations.
We are always trying to grow and improve here at a Community Choices and getting feedback from our members is a huge part of that. Thank you to all who responded to the survey! We will keep refining our survey and continue to look for other ways to hear the voices of our members! As always, feel free to reach out if you have questions, concerns, or experiences you’d like to share! The Executive Director, Becca Obuchowski, can be reached at becca.communitychoices@gmail.com.
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HELP US BE PART OF COMMON GROUND FOOD CO-OP’s ROUND UP FOR GOOD PROGRAM
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Did you all know that Champaign Urbana is home to another great cooperative that shares many of the values that Community Choices was built on?
Common Ground Food Co-op has 4 Ends in their mission:
- The Co-op is the center of an inclusive vibrant community
- The cooperative movement in strengthened
- The co-op is an educational resource on food issues
- The local food movement is robust and environmentally sound
As part of their mission, they give back to the community through their “Round Up for Good” program. Each year Co-op owners vote for 11 charitable organizations to be highlighted every month. Then, every time someone shops at Common Ground they have the option of rounding the cost of their purchase up to the next whole dollar. The extra few cents get donated to the organization of the month. In 2016, this program donated over $57,000!
Community Choices would love to be one of these organizations and we hope you can help us get there!
Organizations can be nominated for the program between September 1st and 13th. Then official voting on the top 20 nominated organizations is September 14th-21st.
You have to be an owner/member of the Common Ground Co-op to vote though, so get signed up before the September 1st! http://www.commonground.coop/owner-sign-up
They also have great options for individuals who have financial need through their Food for All program!
Already an owner at Common Ground? – Please nominate us! Stop by the store or call in your nomination at 217-352-3347 between September 1st-13th! Tell your friends!
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THIS MONTH'S SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEMBERS:
Urbana Neighborhood Nights: New Souls @ Prairie Park
Lunch Club @ Seoul Taco
Taste of Champaign
Dinner @ Golden Harbor
**Community Choices membership and RSVPs are required to attend social events. To discuss membership or to RSVP, contact Hannah Sheets, Membership Coordinator, at hannah.communitychoices@gmail.com or 217-621-1090.
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