Did You Know! Outside Resources
CIL Orlando serves many different counties in Florida. As our name suggests, we mainly offer support to people in the Orlando area including Orange County, Seminole County, and Osceola County. We also offer our services farther out into DeSoto County, Polk County, Highlands County, and Hardee County. While CIL wants to help as many people as possible, CIL Orlando is restricted in giving some of its resources to those living in our listed counties. However, CIL is a national organization and there is more than one Florida branch. Every CIL branch is happy to help anyone who reaches out to them.
CIL Orlando makes it easy to find out which county your local CIL branch is in, not just in Florida but across the entire United States. On our website if you go to the “About Us” page, there is a section listing the seven counties we serve as well as a link to a website that will help you find CIL locations in your area. This website is https://www.ilru.org/projects/cil-net/cil-center-and-association-directory. Once you access this directory all you have to do is click on the state you live in, from there you will be prompted to type in either your city or county name. If there is a CIL in your city, it will show up. If there isn’t a CIL branch in your city typing in your county will show you the CIL nearest to you. Once a CIL branch has been identified the directory will list the address, phone number, email address, and other relevant information about the location. Every CIL branch wants to help as many people as possible, and part of how we do that is by directing people to places where they can get the help and resources they need.
CIL’s references don’t just stop at CIL branch locations though. The Center for Independent living works with and is in contact with many other non-profit groups across the country. Even if there is something CIL can’t help a consumer with, we’ll direct them to those who can. One of the ways we do this is through https://www.findhelp.org/. This is a website that provides a comprehensive list of food, shelter, clothing, and disability aid resources. The homepage of the website will prompt you to enter your zip code. Once you have done so, you will be directed to a page that lists local resources separated into categories such as food, transit, health, and more. Clicking on any of these categories will further subdivide the resources, before giving you the option to look at specific organizations that provide those services. There is help out there from so many different places, and while CIL Orlando is one of those places we also understand that some organizations offer services we can’t and are better suited to people’s specific needs. We strive to make sure our consumers are shown how many options they truly have when it comes to resources that can help them live independently.