CEL celebrates Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

As the nation honors Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month throughout March, the Chicago area’s one-of-a-kind Center for Enriched Living (CEL) is celebrating its impact over the past year, while continuing to build awareness of the need for inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Throughout the pandemic, CEL was able to provide needed services to its members with IDD, by moving programs online so they could learn and socialize from home. CEL even provided its members with a virtual Career Academy and continued to partner with local businesses to help people find work.

“People with IDD are already so isolated in many cases, so the pandemic was an especially lonely and scary time for them,” says Harriet Levy, CEO of CEL. “Our goal was to continue providing the social connections and growth that they depend on CEL for even in the best of times.”

Now CEL is launching plans to regain its pre-COVID momentum and preparing for the return of more in-person programming for its members. CEL’s state-of-the-art Universally-Designed center in suburban Riverwoods recently reopened for the REACH Adult Day Program, as well as evening and weekend social programs. Other enrichment and educational offerings are expected to follow soon. In addition, CEL leadership has launched a “Bounce Forward” rebuilding plan to “recapture membership lost during the pandemic and come back stronger than ever,” according to Levy.

CEL has a 53-year history of providing life-changing opportunities for people with IDD. The organization works to enable them to be fully included in the community, achieve personal success and enjoy a good quality of life. CEL does this by providing social enrichment, innovative day programs and community-based employment opportunities that are often lacking for people with IDD. The majority of programs take place at the Riverwoods facility, which, prior to the pandemic, was serving hundreds of teens to seniors from more than 50 Chicagoland communities.

When the shutdowns began, CEL acted quickly to move programs online, including art classes, dance parties, yoga, book club, Coffee Talk and virtual adventures around the world. CEL is normally membership based, but for several months, the programs were offered for free so everyone could take advantage.

Levy says that over the past year, there has been great concern about people with IDD being even more ignored and left behind than they already are. “At CEL, we do everything we can to fight for equal opportunities so everyone, regardless of ability, can have personal fulfillment and a good quality of life. But there is still a long way to go,” she says, adding that the situation is especially challenging in Illinois, which ranks 48th in the nation for support for adults with IDD.

To demonstrate the importance of providing opportunities for people with IDD, CEL invited the community to join Virtual Open Houses during Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. To register to attend a virtual program with CEL members, contact Niki Bartosiak at niki@CenterforEnrichedLiving.org or 847-315-9916.

CEL is also planning its popular Chefs’ Night for Monday, June 28. The event, which once again has been transformed into a virtual format, is CEL’s biggest fundraiser and normally attracts hundreds of supporters each spring. It will look different again this year, but it will still include stories of CEL members and their families and demonstrations from chefs and mixologists. Learn more at www.centerforenrichedliving.org/events/chefs-night/. In addition, CEL is sponsoring the raffle of a Ford Bronco or $30,000 cash. Tickets, which are available at www.centerforenrichedliving.org/car-raffle/, are 1 for $100 or 3 for $275, and only 1,299 will be sold. The grand prize drawing takes place at Chefs’ Night.

Chefs’ Night will include inspirational stories from CEL members who feel that the organization has been a lifeline for them throughout COVID-19. CEL's inspirational stories of the past year include:

Nick and Lorraine: After months of sheltering in place, 20-year-old Nick had already watched all 23 seasons of his favorite TV show, Arthur. Twice. That was outside of the many hours spent in CEL's Virtual Programs. Nick and his mom, Lorraine, were grateful for the free virtual programs that CEL offered. From virtually traveling to faraway places with his friends, to playing (and quite often winning) bingo, to dance parties and show & tell, CEL's virtual programs were a lifesaver. "As much as I appreciate CEL's Virtual Programs, trying to get Nick logged in to his classes and then logging in to my business meetings was a lot to manage," Lorraine says. "Having him in the house all the time was preventing me from putting in a good day’s work." It's a sentiment CEL heard from many parents during the pandemic. So earlier this month when CEL opened the doors to allow a few summer campers back in, Nick and Lorraine were both ecstatic. "He's so happy to be back. Every morning in the car on the way to CEL, we get about 3 or 4 traffic lights away and he starts shrieking at the top of his lungs because he knows he’s close." Lorraine has noticed that the return to semi-normalcy has even brought a calmness and less agitation when he's home. Even though he's not doing his favorite activity - horseback riding - this year because all activities are onsite to be as safe as possible, Nick (and Lorraine) are overjoyed that CEL was able to open the doors for another year of summer camp.

Michelle and her mom Pam: When the pandemic struck and CEL shut its doors, 26-year-old CEL member Michelle was despondent. Michelle's mom, Pam, says, "She would just sit in her bed with her iPad and didn't really talk to anyone." Michelle has always been shy and after a medical procedure, she stopped speaking completely. In the four years Michelle has been coming to CEL, she has blossomed while participating in the REACH Adult Day Program, Monday Night Bowling and the Employment Opportunities Program. Pam was afraid that the pandemic would cause Michelle to regress. Incredibly, once she joined CEL's Virtual Programs, the opposite happened - Michelle came out of her shell. Every Friday evening, Michelle sits with her mom to go through the virtual program calendar for the following week. She chooses what she wants to do - her favorites being the Employment Program Social Group, Disney Mania, Trivia, Dance Party and Bingo with Ron. She is advocating for herself, opening up to friends and staff and her social anxiety seems to be a distant memory. "I can't believe how much she's grown in these past few months," Pam says. Michelle is looking forward to coming back to some "in-person" programs next month. In the meantime, she (and mom) are grateful for the virtual program options.

Katy: Prior to COVID, Katy was happily employed at a job she loved - as the morning front-desk receptionist at CEL. For Katy, working in an environment where she was respected and challenged daily while interacting with co-workers and friends was more than just a job. It was independence - bringing greater meaning and purpose to her day. When the pandemic struck, she was furloughed. Rather than sit at home bored, she was happy to participate in CEL's Virtual Career Academy. She was excited to share her insight to newer members who hadn't yet experienced working in the community - so she became a mentor. CEL employment mentors share their personal career journeys as well as the obstacles they had to overcome along the way. CEL mentors continue to demonstrate that anything is possible when working toward a career goal. New Career Academy members are put at ease when they hear success stories from mentors. Our experienced mentors understand how to overcome workplace challenges. Their presence in class is invaluable. "I like being a mentor because I like to help people follow their dreams," Katy shares.

More About the Center for Enriched Living
In 1968, Lynne Albanese, a social worker at the Deborah Boys Club in Albany Park, was approached by mothers looking for opportunities for their children with developmental disabilities. Albanese accepted the children at the club. Soon, other parents were looking for similar activities, as there was nothing available to them. So Albanese and the Young Men’s Jewish Council, which ran the Deborah Boys Club, created a Sunday afternoon social enrichment program for children with developmental disabilities. And the Center for Enriched Living (CEL) was born. In 1984, CEL became an independent 501(c)3 agency. The organization is privately funded with a $4mm budget and no geographic boundaries. CEL opened its state-of-the-art center in Riverwoods in 2000 and renovated the building with Universal Design in 2016, making it a more inclusive and welcoming space for all. CEL members engage in social enrichment seven days a week, continue learning in adult day programs, and explore career options with community business partners. In 2019, the organization won a Chicago Bears Community All Pro grant for $100,000, in celebration of the team's 100th season. CEL is CQL Accredited and a Guidestar Platinum nonprofit. For more information, visit www.CenterforEnrichedliving.org.