2022 September News

Festive Fall

Greetings from CIDA

Dear Members, Friends, and Collaborators of CIDA,

I trust that you had a wonderful summer with your family and friends, and I hope that you are excited to kick off a new school year and a new season. We are delighted to inform you that we will be hosting not one, but two big events this fall for all of us to get together. We would love for you to join us and celebrate this amazing community that is dedicated to increasing inclusion opportunities in our community.

As you may have already received the invitation, we are hosting the 7th Annual Very Special Art Festival at St. John’s University on September 24 with the theme of “This is me.” This year’s festival offers even more exciting opportunities for aspiring artists of all abilities with an opportunity to exhibit their artworks and learn from an artist in residence at The Queens Museum.

Following the art festival, our board of directors will host an annual benefit gala in October. We are thrilled to announce that Richard Yongjae O’Neill, a grammy winning violist, will join us as a special honoree and perform at the event. If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please contact us. We have a limited number of tickets available, so please register for the event to reserve your seats as soon as you can.

Along with these special events, we are kicking off the new school year with IEP workshops and support groups. Please check out the event calendar to register for the workshops and support group meetings. We are very excited to see you to the events, celebrate inclusion in arts, and renew our commitment to the mission of making disability a possibility.

I look forward to seeing you at the events!

Sincerely,

Young Seh Bae, Executive Director

News and Resources

Governor Hochul signs legislation to support people with disabilities.
The bills signed include supported decision making for those with disability who reach adulthood shifting the support from guardianship to supported decision making. Learn more here.

NYC plans to end the school-based COVID testing program this fall.
New York City is planning to end its program to administer weekly coronavirus tests to a random sample of students, removing one of the last standing campus COVID safety measures. Learn more about the change.

NYC special education recovery services program to be scaled.
In response to pandemic disruptions, New York City officials required every school to offer special education services last year outside regular hours to any family who wanted them. But that won’t be the case this coming school year, education officials said. Instead, the education department is vowing to determine what extra instruction or therapies children may need on an “individual basis.” You can read the full guidance via this link.

What’s Up at CIDA

The Queens Museum, Artist-in-Residence, will host a special workshop at the 2022 Very Special Art Festival!
CIDA will be hosting the 2022 Very Special Art Festival Registration on September 24 at St. John’s University. Participating contestants are asked to create artwork at home and submit up to 2 creations at the festival site. Families will be able to enjoy a special workshop hosted by Mo Kong, an Artists in Residence at The Queens Museum. Winners of the contest will have an opportunity to exhibit their works at CIDA 2022 Art Exhibition and Gala in October. Register Today!

Two new staff members joined CIDA!

CIDA welcomes two new staff, Hisken Ali Issac and Vanita Narine. Hisken joins our team as a Career and Job Development Specialist, and Vanita joins us as our in-house graphic designer. Vanita holds a Dual Certification in Graphic Design and Web Development from Pace University. She is excited to bring fresh and innovative ideas to develop creative content for CIDA. Hisken brings his experience in management consultation, team building, professional development, strategic implementation, and company collaboration. Hisken takes pride in providing a high quality level of education, professionalism and care. Learn more about Hisken and Vanita via CIDA Our Team page.

Become 2022 CIDA Annual Gala and Art Exhibition sponsor and reserve your table today!
We invite you to join us for the 2022 Art Exhibition and Gala on October 21, 6:00 PM at Leonard’s Palazzo in Great Neck. Sponsorship opportunities are open, and many different levels and benefits are available for you to choose from. This year’s gala celebrates inclusion in arts with a special exhibition that features pieces that CIDA social co-op (CoSpire) members created. As the highlight of the event, you and your guests will have an exclusive opportunity to hear from and watch a Grammy Winning Violist, Richard Yongjae O’Neill, perform up close at the event. Reserve your table today.

Stakeholders meetings with OPWDD commissioner and NYSED
On August 16, CIDA hosted a stakeholder meeting with OPWDD Commissioner Neifeld, New York City’s major developmental disability service agencies, ACCES-VR, and the NYC Department Education D75, to discuss providing language support and improvement for Asian students with developmental disabilities and their families. CIDA will continue to communicate with OPWDD and other stakeholders to provide feedback to the 5.07 state-wide plan(five-year service improvement plan) for OPWDD.

Events

As we recover from the COVID-19 epidemic, all events are now online. Please check our event calendar for event details and registration information.

• Understanding IEP (Basic) (Korean)
  • Speaker: Haewa Park
  • September 12, Monday 7:30pm, on Zoom
  • Register here

• Understanding IEP (Intermediate Level) (Korean)
  • Speaker: Dr. Young Seh Bae
  • September 13, Tuesday 7:30pm, on Zoom
  • Register here

• Support Group for Adult: Q&A for Dolbom Updates/Developing Circle of Support
  • Speaker: Dr. Bae
  • September 27, Tuesday 7:30pm, on Zoom
  • Register here

Local Resources

• Computer Classes for a new career (Korean)
  • Starts on September 5th (4 weeks program)
  • Contact KCS(347-905-6001) for further information

• ESOL programs for adults
  • KCS (Korean Community Services of metropolitan New York) (718) 939-6137
  • NYC DOE Adult Education Department: find more information here