Dear Friends,
I hope this letter finds that your 2024 is going well! ACIL’s “Enabling Access” Newsletter is a long time coming. It has been several years since the center published an official newsletter. With this first newsletter I wanted to ensure that I share some highlights over the past year. We relocated a little over a year ago to our new Helena Street location and in October of 2022 we were able to officially purchase the building. This was in large part due to a grant from the city of Dayton, through the Dayton Recovery Plan. Our grant focused on expanding the Recycled Equipment Donated for Independence Program (REDI) but has allowed us to bring all our programs under one roof. This is a momentous occasion, as it is the first time in ACIL’s 40-year history that we owned property…. Did I mention 2024 is also ACIL’s 40th Anniversary?!
ACIL’s founders incorporated ACIL in 1984 under the name Access Unlimited. A year later the name was officially changed to Access Center for Independent Living Inc. Look for more information in the coming weeks regarding our 40th anniversary celebration.
We are fortunate to see our 40th year of service to the community and I am thankful that I get to be a part of that.
Over the past year, ACIL has grown tremendously both in staff and service area. ACIL received an increase in state funding which allowed us to expand its service area to include Champaign, Darke, Miami, Logan, and Shelby Counties. With our service expansion we also hired two additional staff members.
We received a grant from the Disability Foundation to provide our “Think This Is Easy?” Disability Awareness Training to organizations and community members for free.
In the coming months, we will continue to work tirelessly to advocate on behalf of individuals with disabilities, provide outreach, and promote independence & inclusion in communities. If you are interested in our services, volunteering, or donating to our center, please reach out. We would love to hear from you.
Happy New Year!
Jeremy Caffee
Executive Director
Access Center for Independent Living
