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Read more about the article My Special Place: Creating Community and Purpose for Adults with IDD
Aerial view of 1475 El Camino Real complex

My Special Place: Creating Community and Purpose for Adults with IDD

  • Post published:July 24, 2025
  • Post category:Socialization/My Special Place/Housing

We are thrilled to share that we are actively working to acquire two buildings at 1475 El Camino Real, right next to Freedom Pointe at The Villages. These buildings, formerly…

Continue ReadingMy Special Place: Creating Community and Purpose for Adults with IDD

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  • One Big Beautiful Bill Act
    June 27, 2025
  • My Special Place
    June 20, 2025
  • Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day
    February 7, 2025
  • Happy New Year!
    January 1, 2025
  • Transitions Life Center Visit
    December 1, 2024
  • Exciting APD News
    November 5, 2024
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    October 1, 2024
  • Encouraging iBudget Waiver News & CDC+ Information
    September 1, 2024
  • APD is Processing iBudget Waivers
    August 1, 2024
  • AFINS Website is Now Live
    July 2, 2024

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🗓️ Wednesday, August 13, 2025

🕙 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon

🧑🏻‍💻 Webinar


Join us for a hybrid Family Care Council meeting. You may join us via GoTo Meeting or in person at their Central Region office, located at 901 Industrial Drive, Suite 100, Wildwood, FL 34785. Paula Whetro, Family Care Council Area 13 Chair, will be hosting this meeting. The meeting agenda is as follows:

  • Budget
  • APD Update
    • Forum Plans Update:
      • Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025 – Lake Deaton United Methodist Church, 6500 Wesleyan Way, Wildwood, FL 34785
    • Vendors needed: Update from Kristin Schuttz
  • Old/New Business
    • Printing costs for Flyers .20 each + shipping from Sunland Printshop
    • Meeting info flyers and Forum flyers
  • Moving Forward
Join us via GoTo Meeting

Safety Planning Considerations for Survivors with Disabilities

🗓️ Tuesday, August 26, 2025

🕑 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

🧑🏻‍💻 Webinar


Safety planning is an important tool for survivors of domestic violence, used to ensure that the survivor has a plan in place under a variety of circumstances when an abuser may become dangerous. Survivors with disabilities experience a number of unique factors that advocates must take into consideration while safety planning to be effective. For instance, abusers use unique tactics that are often not accounted for when planning for safety within the relationship. Additionally, survivors with disabilities who escape the relationship experience limited community resources – such as transportation options and accessible shelter – which need to be accounted for in their safety plan.

In this webinar, we will explore the unique dynamics experienced by survivors with disabilities and how they factor into their safety plan. We will review strategies for supporting survivors with disabilities to create safety plans that respond to these dynamics.

The webinar will be presented by Sandra Harrell, Senior Managing Director of Survivor Advocacy Initiatives at Activating Change.

Register Today

Unseen and Overlooked — Strengthening the Response to Human Trafficking of People with Disabilities

🗓️ Tuesday, August 19, 2025

🕜 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM

🧑🏻‍💻 Webinar


People with disabilities are among those most at risk of human trafficking—yet too often, they remain invisible in prevention and response efforts. According to the U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report, individuals with disabilities are one of the groups most vulnerable to being trafficked. A small but powerful study in Florida revealed that girls with intellectual disabilities were significantly more likely to be trafficked than their peers—an alarming finding that has received far too little attention.

Despite growing evidence of this crisis, professionals on the front lines still lack the training, tools, and resources to identify and support trafficking survivors with disabilities.

In this insightful and powerful event, Activating Change will share findings from a national needs assessment exploring how systems are—or are not—responding to survivors with disabilities. You’ll learn directly from the staff who led this assessment as they share key insights, unexpected discoveries, and the most urgent opportunities for change.

Whether you work in anti-trafficking, victim services, disability advocacy, or systems change, this session will offer essential information to strengthen your work and help ensure no survivor is left behind.

Register Today

Special Olympics Golf 2025 Season – Sumter County

The 2025 Special Olympics golf season begins the first week of August. Special Olympics Florida has secured funding for these two golf locations. Approved golfers – Single 9-Hole and Unified teams approved by Lenny Kemp – can tee off at these courses at no cost:

  • Arlington Ridge
    4463 Arlington Ridge Blvd.
    Leesburg, FL 34748
  • Cane Garden Country Club
    1726 Bailey Trail
    The Villages, FL. 32162

If you choose to play at a different course, you must pay out of pocket and, scan and email your scorecard and receipt to Lenny Kemp.

Golf Season Rules – 2025

  • Once approved by Lenny Kemp, you must begin golfing the first week of August.
  • Special Olympics Florida covers the cost of 10 rounds (tee-offs).
  • To qualify for competitions, you must complete 10 rounds of golf.
  • Lenny may adjust the schedule based on weather or qualification deadlines.
  • After each round, you must scan and email your scorecard to Lenny Kemp.

Skills Golfers wanting to practice may do so at

Lady Lake Golf Driving Range
230 Rolling Acres Rd
Lake Lake, FL 32159

Competitions:

  • Area: October 12, 2025
  • Regional: October 26, 2025
  • State: December 12 & 13, 2025 (State golfers are selected through a lottery system managed by Lenny Kemp.)

Contact Lenny Kemp at:

  • email: lenardkemp@sofl.org
  • phone: 863-397-9775

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