Thursday, July 21, 2016
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our blog this week! Thank you all so much for dropping by today; we are so happy that you did, particularly because we have exciting news to share: ILO is hiring! Also, due to our incredible growth we are also looking for volunteers that share our passion for helping adults with disabilities achieve full, integrated, inclusive, independent lives.
For those of you that may be new to ILO, our mission, our values, and our website, here is a little background.
Integrated Living Opportunities (ILO) is a non-profit organization serving Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland. ILO helps families create intentional communities to facilitate networks of support for adults with developmental disabilities (self -advocates) enabling them to live as fully contributing members of their communities. The intentional community may consist of family members, friends, paid service providers, volunteers and local organizations. One of those people may serve as a community builder who helps the self-advocate navigate experiences at work, while traveling or when socializing.
These intentional communities of peers and caring people are connected to the self-advocates for the rest of their lives, even after the parents are gone. ILO, as a community-building organization, offers services in five different areas: Training (New Futures Initiative), Assessment (Full Life Futures Process Skills Inventory), Establishment of Supports and Staffing, Advocacy and Long Term Planning.
ILO is itself a community, where parents can share similar challenges and celebrate together as they prepare their family member with disability to live independently. . Through our work with Center for Independent Futures®, participating families learn how to create intentional communities for their self-advocates that are person-centered and supported by community partnerships and community pods.
If you are interested in learning how you can join the ILO team, either as an employee, a volunteer, or as a participating family, please read on!
Now Hiring: ILO Employment Opportunities
ILO is currently looking to fill two positions – Director of Development and Project Director – in the Maryland and Washington, D.C. areas:
Director of Development
We are looking for a compassionate, creative adult to work part-time fundraising for Integrated Living Opportunities (ILO), a new non-profit in the Washington, DC and Montgomery County, MD area. You will be joining the ground floor of this initiative to integrate adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD) in the community. The primary job duties of the Director of Development include overseeing the coordination, management, and administration of fundraising for ILO. The pay will be $30 per hour for 15 hours per week, (about 60-65 hours per month), with some flexibility in scheduling the hours. Job duties and responsibilities may increase as the organization grows. The job begins immediately.
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s Degree REQUIRED
- Experience working with people with developmental disabilities — PREFERRED
- Experience in the fundraising field: developing a plan, making the ask, providing the follow up, and tracking donations and contacts REQUIRED
- Strength-based thinking — able to focus on individual’s and organization’s abilities and assets
- Good organizational skills
- Creative, open approach to the job
- Willingness to work as part of a team
- Flexible schedule
- Skilled listener
- Energetic and positive
- Pass a background check
- Proof of citizenship or right to work
Project Director
We are looking for a compassionate, creative adult to work part time with adults with developmental disabilities. The Project Director will supervise the Community Builders, design aspects of the program as needed, network with professional and community organizations, support the Executive Director in outreach and training opportunities, and navigate the DC DDS and Maryland DDA systems to support the ILO families, and others on a fee basis. (The Community Builders are the staff that work directly with participants to create community within the participant group and in the wider community.)
You will be joining the ground floor of a new initiative to integrate adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD) into the community. The pay will be $30 per hour for 15 hours per week, (about 60-65 hours per month), with some flexibility in scheduling the hours. Job duties and responsibilities may increase as the organization grows. The job begins September 15, 2016.
Requirements:
- Licensed, certified Social Worker PREFERRED
- Bachelor’s Degree in human service related field REQUIRED
- Experience working with people with developmental disabilities REQUIRED
- Understand DC and Maryland DDS/DDA systems STONGLY PREFERRED, but will train for the right person
- Strength-based thinking- able to focus on individual’s and organization’s abilities and assets
- Good organizational skills
- Creative, open approach to the job
- Willingness to work as part of a team
- Flexible schedule
- Skilled listener
- Energetic and positive
- Valid driver’s license, vehicle in working condition, insurance to cover transporting individual
- CPR and first aid qualified PREFERRED
- Pass a background check
- Proof of citizenship or right to work
How to Apply: To apply for either position (or both) please send an electronic copy of a cover letter, resume, and list of three references with contact information to ginny@accesseduc.com.
Want to help your adult family member with disability achieve dreams? Join ILO today!
Again, thank you all for taking the time to visit our website and read our blog today! We hope that all of the information we have provided you about working with and/or volunteering with ILO has inspired you to contact us, and help us build and grow intentional communities and networks of support for adults with disabilities in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and eventually across the country. As mentioned above, we are always looking for volunteers – if you are interested in learning about the volunteer opportunities at ILO, please contact us (info@ilonow.com), or leave a comment on this blog. As well, we will be writing and publishing a blog in the coming weeks that detail all of our available volunteer opportunities, so keep an eye out for that post! Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to ensure that you receive every blog as it is posted. (Note: A subscription box can be found on the right hand side of the blog webpage.)
If you have an adult family member with a disability that is currently looking to live independently, while remaining connected and integrated into an inclusive community, please let us know! We are always looking to grow, and we would love to share with you how to become a participating family in our ILO network.
If you would like more information about ILO or the work we do, please take a moment to browse our website – our Building Community is particularly informative, and The Future of ILO – Meet Pete and Darren, the hypothetical case study of an ILO self-advocate, may help families envision the future that we are building for our self-advocates.
That’s all for now – drop by again next week!’
