Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living
Connecting people to the power of independence
The Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living (BVCIL) and the Texas A&M University Student Council for Exceptional Children (SCEC) invite consumers, their friends and families to our annual Holiday Party on Friday, December 6, 2013 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at BVCIL’s offices located at 1869 Briarcrest Drive in Bryan.
This year’s party will include holiday crafts, cookie decorating, food and a special guest. Come join us for an enjoyable evening with the community!
A great way people with disabilities can self-advocate is to help raise awareness by participating in surveys and studies.
The West Virginia University Center on Excellence in Disabilities is doing an online survey-based research study about the sleep quality and decision-making abilities of people who have had traumatic brain injuries. To be eligible, participants must be 18 years old or older and have sustained a brain injury within the past 3 years.
To participate, please visit TBI Research Project.
Eligible participants who complete the study will receive a $10 Walmart gift certificate.
Do you know someone in our community who has done a fantastic job making life equal for people who have disabilities?
Junction 505 and The Bryan/College Station Mayor’s Committee on People with Disabilities is seeking nominations for this year’s annual Mayors’ Award. From the announcement: “This award is to acknowledge and recognize outstanding contributions by individuals in our community to eliminate attitudinal, physical, and social barriers for people with disabilities.”
Anyone in the community can nominate, and self-nominations are encouraged. Nominations are due by September 3, 2013. To access the nomination form and submission instructions, please click BCSMC Award Application 2013_2pg
The award will be presented at Junction 505’s annual Harvest Moon Fundraiser on Thursday, October 17, 2013.
Medicaid still matters, and millions of Texans remain without any health insurance coverage at all.
The current Texas legislative session ends in less than two weeks. At this point, it looks like Texas is not going to participate in straightforward Medicaid expansion as set forth in the federal Affordable Care Act. It will be two years before the state legislature may look at this main issue again.
However, one option remains on the table as a provision in the Senate’s version of the state budget. This choice would make way for Texas to negotiate with the federal government to use dollars earmarked for Medicaid expansion to create a new healthcare system for Texas that is different from Medicaid. This approach would affect not only people who are uninsured, but also people who already receive Medicaid. Just how folks would be affected would depend on the outcome of the negotiations and the details of the new system–all future unknowns.
We Texans have the responsibility to read up, make up our minds, and let our representatives know how we feel. The clock is ticking down, and these last few days of the legislative session are our last chance to be heard on this issue for a long time. Do you want Medicaid to stay like it is and not expand to include others? Or, would you like Medicaid to change and be able to include people who are uninsured? It’s our choice, but only if we make ourselves heard.
Once you decide, just follow the link below to find your specific representatives. Then give ’em a good ol’ Texas holler or zap ’em an email! Medicaid matters, and so does choice!
The Brazos Valley Council of Governments (BVCOG), BVCIL, and other local organizations are partnering on a survey to gather data about local transportation. From the survey site:
“The purpose of the survey is to better understand the travel needs of the residents of the Brazos Valley-how they’re getting around, where they’re going for work or school, medical appointments, shopping and other services-and if they need help getting to them.
We’ll be sharing the results with the cities, counties and medical providers of the region as well as Texas A&M, TxDOT, Brazos Transit District and other organizations working to improve transportation for area residents.
This survey is open to any resident of the Brazos Valley regardless of age. If you prefer a paper copy of this survey, please call 979-595-2910 and leave your mailing address on the answering machine. A paper copy of the survey, with a postage-paid return envelope will be mailed to you.
When you complete this survey you can be eligible to win one of eight $25 Walmart gift cards. To be eligible, put your name, telephone number and/or e-mail address in the area at the end of the survey. Eight winners will be drawn at random on Monday, June 24, 2013 and winners will be notified by e-mail and/or telephone.”
Just follow the link below to take the survey. It would be helpful to have your family and friends take it too!
Inspired by a true story from the late 1970s and touching on legal and social issues that are as relevant today as they were 35 years ago, ANY DAY NOW is a powerful tale of love, acceptance and family. When a teenager with Down syndrome (Isaac Leyva) is abandoned by his mother, a gay couple (Alan Cumming and Garret Dillahunt) takes him in and becomes the loving family he’s never had. But when their unconventional living arrangement is discovered by authorities, the men are forced to fight a biased legal system to save the life of the child they have come to love as their own.