Living Gluten Free in 2013

When the Avenues computer lab opened last summer the hope was to be able to teach our clients computer skills.  However for many clients it has had a much greater impact on their lives.

Jenny has been learning computer skills but she has also gotten so much more out of her weekly visits to the lab.  Jenny was diagnosed with Celiac disease several years ago which meant she had to completely eliminate gluten from her diet.  At the time she did not have access to the internet and living a gluten free lifestyle felt very limiting to her.  Thanks to Marissa, the computer lab instructor, Jenny was been able to gain access to an entire online gluten free community. 
 

Every Wednesday Jenny is able to spend an hour in the computer lab looking up gluten free recipes she would like to make at home.  Jenny’s favorite website EZ Gluten Free even has videos she can watch to help her decide whether or not a recipe is worth printing out.  Once Jenny gives the recipe a thumbs up Marissa helps Jenny learn the skills to be able to print out the recipe to add to her collection.

Jenny watching a video on how to make Gluten Free Tex Mex Chicken Lasagna  

Not only has Jenny been able to look up gluten free recipes but Marissa has also helped Jenny find websites that tell her what frozen meals and restaurants offer gluten free options.  Before Jenny felt like she was always being told what she couldn't have and now she can walk into the computer lab and say exactly what she would like to eat. This particular day Jenny was in the mood for lasagna and Chinese food.

Jenny with her folder full of gluten free recipes

   

Irish Fest 2013

Sunday March 10th, Avenues celebrated St. Patrick's Day and Irish culture at The Cotillion Banquets in Palatine. Avenues clients and supporters gathered to enjoy corned beef and cabbage while harpist Marysue Redmann played soothing Irish songs. Everyone enjoyed hearing traditional Irish as sung by the Irish Heritage Singers and the Irish Music School of Chicago. We were also impressed by the Irish dance routines preformed by the Weber Dance Company. Many of our guests had the luck of the Irish and won great prizes in our raffle and silent auction. 

Thank you to all who came to this great event to support Avenues! Scroll down to see some great pictures from the event. Sláinte!

 

20 Years and Counting

Can you remember back to 1992?  When a gallon of gas cost $1.05, “End of the Road” by Boys II Men was number 1 on the billboard top 100 and Murphy Brown and Rosanne were among the most popular television shows.  Most importantly though, 1992 marked the year that Cindy was hired for the first time at Dominick’s grocery store.  More than 20 years later, Cindy continues to work at Dominick’s and is very proud of her success. 

 

Cindy ready for work back in 1993

 

Bagging groceries, putting items back on the shelves, collecting carts within the store and conducting price checks are among her responsibilities.  Cindy has loved working at Dominick’s for the past 20 years and plans to continue working there until she is ready to retire.  She likes that her supervisors count on her and said that working at Dominick’s, “makes me feel important.”

Cindy ready for work today

When Cindy’s not working, she likes spending time with her family and playing basketball.  Cindy’s basketball team, The Wildcats, just won first place. 

 Cindy with her family at this year's Love Affair

 

  

 Cindy playing basketball with the Wildcats back in 1998

 

In a time when unemployment rates are skyrocketing for people with disabilities, we are all very proud of Cindy’s amazing accomplishment.  Congratulations Cindy and here’s to 20 more years!

Oscar Picks with John

John is an Avenues Home based client and he loves going to see movies. For the last few years before the Oscars, John has printed out his own ballot and tried to predicted the winners for all the major categories. He's done pretty well in the past and he's feeling confident about his picks for this year. His favorite film last year was Lincoln and he is expecting it to take home the most awards this year. He's hoping The Hobbit takes home some little gold statues too.

If you want to predict your own winners and see how you stack up against John's picks go to http://oscar.go.com/mypicks to print your own ballot. If you need some tips, Johns full ballot is below. Have fun and enjoy this years Academy Awards.

Valentine's Day Party!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!


On a cold day in February, some clients came over to the main office to enjoy a Valentine's Dance Party with their case managers.  The night was filled with food, pictures, crafts, and of course, dancing!

There was photo booth for people to take pictures with choices of many fun props.











The clients had a great time choosing how to pose and who to take a picture with. 



After getting a picture taken, they could choose to decorate a frame for the picture to go in eventually.  There was so much creativity all around.

And you obviously can't forget about the dancing.  The music selection ranged from Frank Sinatra to Backstreet Boys and beyond.  Everyone had a blast breaking it down on the dance floor! 

The party was great and everyone had fun spending time with friends and celebrating Valentine's Day together! :)

In Need of Some Motivation to Exercise?

Stefanie, one of our community clients receiving Home Based Support Services, is interested in exercise and staying healthy and has found some really cool ways to do it.

She has been ice skating competitively for many years and has traveled all over the country winning many awards and trophies with Elite Stars http://www.elitestars.org/.  They are a group providing athletic programs for people with special needs.

Stefanie's 3rd place trophy from her most recent skating competition!

As if she wasn't busy enough between her job at Jewel and her skating practices/competitions Elite Stars has partnered with AAA (The Academy of Athletic Advancements) and Stefanie is now spending time doing elite sports training 2 times a week.  Check it out at http://www.theaaaway.com/

Stefanie had asked me to come check out what she has been doing so I made a visit on a Wednesday evening at AAA (located in Schaumburg) and was amazed by what I saw.  There were 3 girls in the class this particular evening and 3 trainers working with them individually.  I asked Stefanie if she likes the hard workouts and she said "I love them!"  Take a look at just a couple of the many different things she was doing in just one evening at AAA.

Talk about motivation and hard work...I'm suddenly feeling a bit lazy right now!