Partner With MyCIL
From educating members of your team on how best to support the aging or people with disabilities to holding a lunch & learn that garners actionable information from stakeholders, MyCIL is your partner. Team up with us to host your event here or at your location. We’ll design and lead the forum, training or presentation you need to have the best impact.
Who We Are
MyCIL is a Center for Independent Living. We help the aging and people with disabilities in Northeastern Pennsylvania live their best, independent lives.
MyCIL is more than just a dedicated team of Independent Living Specialists — we are people who understand what having a disability means. Over 51% of our team has a disability. In fact, many use our services. By knowing firsthand what it’s like, we can better serve our community. Thanks to MyCIL’s accessible Independent Living van, all our team members can participate in community events.
How We Help Our Communities
MyCIL is dedicated to helping older people and people with disabilities live their best, independent lives. We are committed to improving the overall wellbeing of our communities.
Independent Living Services
As a non-profit Center for Independent Living, MyCIL provides help for the aging and people with disabilities through our five core independent living services:
Advocacy
Skills Training
Information and Referral
Peer Mentoring
Transitional Services
Our service area covers 10 counties in northeastern PA:
• Bradford
• Columbia
• Lackawanna
• Luzerne
• Pike
• Monroe
• Sullivan
• Susquehanna
• Wayne
• Wyoming
Financial Management Services
Through ACES$, we provide financial management services, a Participant-directed payroll management solution. As the largest non-profit financial management services (FMS) provider in the country, we put our Participants first. And since we’re people with disabilities ourselves, we know firsthand what it’s like. We treat our Participants as we want — and deserve — to be treated.
For people on Medicaid waivers who hire someone to help them live independently, ACES$ takes care of the payroll, from enrolling them and their caregivers to processing timesheets and payroll taxes. We take care of the payroll details so our Participants can take care of what matters most: living their best, independent life.
MyCIL’s Transitional Skills Center
As the only facility of its kind in the area — serving over 20 districts from 4 counties in the Northeastern PA region — MyCIL’s Transitional Skills Center offers young adults with disabilities the training and support they need to achieve their individual independent living goals. Moreover, they have the unique opportunity to form lasting friendships with peers from across the region.
In our simulated life settings, our students develop practical skills. They progress through a series of activities designed for their abilities and goals.
TSC Is Spreading Petals
The mission of TSC Is Spreading Petals is simple: spread joy, beauty, and hope while providing job training to MyCIL’s Transitional Skills Center students. They organize the donated flowers, rearranging them anew, and then deliver them to the elderly and critically ill.
TSC Is a Latte Fun
In addition to TSC Is Spreading Petals, TSC students have the opportunity to participate in other skills-building initiatives.
With TSC Is a Latte Fun, our mobile coffee cart, TSC students make and package the baked goodies, prepare the coffee and then serve the refreshments.
How We Can Serve You
MyCIL is your partner in aging and disability awareness, education and resources.
Education and Disability Awareness Training
We can design a presentation for your specific needs and audience covering any disability topic, such as:
- MyCIL’s Independent Living Services
- Disability Resources
- ADA Compliance
- Disability Sensitivity Training, including our popular, interactive program Project ABLE
- Disability Awareness Training
In the past, we’ve created and delivered disability presentations for a range of organizations and groups including:
- Medical School Students
- Firefighter/Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
- Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis Clubs
- Career Centers and Staffing Agencies
- State Agencies and Inter-agency Councils, such as Mental Health & Developmental Service and Human Service
- Advocacy Groups, such as Court Appointed Special Advocates
- Support Groups, such as Grandparents Raising Grandchildren NEPA
- Healthcare & Rehabilitation Centers
- Head Start Programs
- Colleges and Universities
Contact us today to learn more about our customizable disability and aging educational presentations.
Disability and Aging Forums
Whatever your objectives, MyCIL can lead interactive disability forums that elicit helpful feedback from stakeholders in the disability or aging community. We’ll partner with you to design and lead an engaging forum that provides the key input you need to move your organization forward.
Either hosted at your location or ours, a disability or aging forum hosted by MyCIL can better inform your organizational decisions.
With MyCIL, you get a partner who listens to objectives and designs creative ways to meet them. We’ve helped managed care organizations and state offices obtain actionable information through:
- Roundtables
- Listening Sessions
- Lunch & Learns
- Seminars
Contact us today to learn how our disability and aging forums at your location or ours can help your organization garner useful feedback from stakeholders.
Community Outreach
MyCIL Independent Living team members can offer ongoing community outreach to provide one-on-one support to members of your aging and disability community.
We can hold monthly standing office hours where people with disabilities and their families can meet with a MyCIL Independent Living Specialist to learn about programs and resources in your community and get access to the supports they need to live more independently.
Contact us today if you’re interested in offering community outreach hours through your office.
Awareness Campaigns
Are you looking for impactful ways to connect with the aging and disability community in your area? Do you want to make your position clear when it comes to disability rights and inclusion? MyCIL can help you design and implement awareness campaigns that meet your unique goals.
Contact us today to discuss your campaign goals and how we can partner to achieve them.
Meet the Independent Living Team
Keith Loughney
Director, Independent Living Services
Keith Loughney, MyCIL’s Director of Independent Living Services, has over 15 years’ experience in working with people with disabilities. As director, Keith develops and leads strategies for extending our mission’s impact in northeastern PA. He tirelessly promotes the Independent Living philosophy and the systems needed to sustain this effort by representing MyCIL at human services agencies, schools, and other community providers.
Keith Williams
Manager, OVR Grant and Advocacy
Keith Williams, Manager of OVR Grant and Advocacy, has over 36 years of experience advocating for the rights and full inclusion of people with disabilities. He’s been with MyCIL since its inception. In addition to his role at MyCIL, he’s also an active member of various national and area organizations, including Clarks Green Borough Council, where he serves as president, the NortheastPennsylvania branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, which he serves as vice president, Lackawanna CountyDisability Action Committee, PA Transportation Alliance, PA Voters Coalition, Pennsylvania Statewide Independent Living Council and more.
Deborrah Andzulis
Independent Living Skills Trainer
Deborrah Andzulis brings years of experience working with the disability community to her role as MyCIL’s Independent Living Skills Trainer. She works one-on-one with MyCIL Clients to design unique plans for meeting their independent living goals. Then, she supports Clients with individualized training, life-skill opportunities, and regular check-ins to ensure short- and long-term goals are being met.
Sara Wolff
Independent Living / Self-Advocacy Specialist
Sara Wolff is widely known in the disability community for her advocacy, motivational speaking, and active roles in disability organizations. She has been featured in the 2009 NDSS ad campaign “My Great Story,” participated in a PSA for National Down Syndrome Month alongside Meredith Viera, and made a guest appearance on Amy Schumer’s show Brave. She is also instrumental in effecting policy change and has testified before the Senate Finance Committee for Oversight and Taxation. In her current role at MyCIL, she continues advocating for the disability community as she plans outreach events, assists in disability awareness training, and represents MyCIL at human services fairs.
Resources
About Partnering With MyCIL
“We’re ready to partner with you. Contact me today to discuss your objectives and how we can design a training, forum, lunch & learn or other event that will deliver results.”
~Keith Loughney, MyCIL’s Director of Independent Living Services
Who Is MyCIL?
MyCIL is a Center for Independent Living whose mission centers on empathy, respect, and integrity.
Our Mission
As a non-profit
Center for Independent Living,
we support self-direction
with our expert and personalized
aging and disability services
— including advocacy, transitional skills, and
ACES$ Financial Management Services —
guided by our empathy, respect, and integrity.
Our Vision
To inspire, encourage, empower, and support
by providing
personalized aging and disability services
driven by our
humility, emotional intelligence,
and passion to make the world inclusively better.
Our Values
We put people first.
We do things the right way — the first time.
We advocate.
We authentically support our inclusive, diverse team.
We are agile and innovative.
ACES$ Online