Metropolitan Center for Independent Living

09/01/2026

Happy September, everyone! We hope you'll join us for one of MCIL's free self advocacy classes, available in person or online. Here is our September schedule:

September 9: Goal Setting & Realistic Planning Class
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

September 16: Driver's Ed Class
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

September 23: Breaking Down Self Advocacy Class
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

September 28: Housing Class
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Click here to check out the full fall schedule and register:
https://bit.ly/458DBaj

Enhance your independent living skills, sign up today!

08/31/2026

It's been a fun start to the State Fair with our friends at Minnesota Council on Disability! We've enjoyed visiting and telling everyone about all the services we provide. We will be back in the Education Building with MCD on September 2nd and 4th!

08/27/2026

We're excited for another year at the State Fair! We'll be guests in the Minnesota Council on Disability booth tonight from 5:00-9:00 pm in the Education Building, we hope you'll stop by and visit!

08/17/2026

Voices for Vaccines has a page with an overview of COVID, Long COVID, and how the vaccines work. Learn more at the link below:

COVID is caused by a type of coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Learn more about the COVID-19 and vaccine updates.

08/06/2026

"We are guided by the immutable laws of humanity, which are self-evident, universal, and serve as the basis of a constitutional society in that call to advancing freedom, safety, fairness, human dignity, and the work of caring for one another in pursuit of solving the direct care crisis, transforming the healthcare system and society"

Thank you to MSN for the honor of including MCIL Executive Director Jesse Bethke Gomez among their Top 10 Leading Men in 2026. This honor recognizes the work of MCIL in solving the direct care workforce shortage crisis.

Read Top 10 Leading Men in 2026 on the MSN website:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/top-10-leading-men-in-2026/ar-AA29pqFc

07/15/2026

Important Update: The Disability Pride Festival has been postponed due to an extreme heat warning on Thursday. Thank you for continuing to care for one another. We will be celebrating disability pride together soon.

With gratitude,

ACT

07/14/2026

ADA Minnesota & Metropolitan Center for Independent Living were honored to attend, participate and share information at the 2026 Special Olympics Games Unified Work Summit! The Unified Work Summit “is a call to action addressing the critical employment gap within the intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) community.” Check out The Unified Work Playbook (PDF) which indicates critical resources and information for employers and disabled job seekers:

https://assets.2026specialolympicsusagames.org/bb/2a/79e1d7b54b40bf1ca7eef5665bd2/unified-work-playbook.pdf

07/02/2026

As the Primary Care Medical Director for the University of Washington Long COVID Clinic, Dr. Nikki Gentile supports patients and also studies the effects of long COVID, focusing on pain. Click the link below for a comic strip from Public Health - Seattle & King County sharing some of the challenges facing patients and offering suggestions to help patients manage symptoms:

In this comic strip, a clinician at the UW Long COVID Clinic shares her experiences supporting patients whose lives have been upended by long COVID. She also shares advice about what can help.

06/30/2026

The State of Minnesota is in the process of drafting a revised Olmstead Plan. You can read a draft of the plan and learn more about it here: Plan Update / Minnesota Olmstead Implementation Office The Minnesota Olmstead Implementation Office (OIO) explains that the Olmstead Plan aims to ensure that d...

06/22/2026

Today, June 22nd, ADA Minnesota recognizes the 27th Anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C. and E.W.

This precedential decision was premised on the Americans with Disabilities Act, and held that people with disabilities must be placed in “community settings rather than in institutions when the State's treatment professionals have determined that community placement is appropriate, the transfer from institutional care to a less restrictive setting is not opposed by the affected individual, and the placement can be reasonably accommodated, taking into account the resources available to the State and the needs of others.”

Learn more on the ADA Minnesota website:

https://mcil-mn.org/27th-anniversary-of-the-olmstead-decision/