United Cerebral Palsy of Mobile

UCP is once again planning to celebrate Mardi Gras in style! Purchase a UCP Mardi Gras Tee or a Mardi Gras Mask. COVID may have changed the way we celebrate this year, but we hope to keep the spirit alive with this fun and festive Mardi Gras gear!

Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner. Make the celebration easier and order your game-day feast ahead of time. UCP is teaming up with award-winning Wild Bunch Butt Burners Cooking Team for our Butts and Ribs sale! Boston Butt and Racks of Ribs will be prepared ahead of time and packed for easy reheating. The deadline to order is February 1st so make sure to get your order in today! Visit the link below to put in your order and if you have any questions call (251) 479-4900.

“COVID-19 cases and deaths are rising across the United States. The more steps you and your family can take to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the safer you will be.​

In the last week, there has been an average of more than 212,000 cases per day. As of January 4, more than 20,666,700 people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus and 351,682 have lost their lives.

About 20 percent of hospitals with intensive care units reported that at least 95 percent of their I.C.U. beds were full in the week ending Dec. 24. It is critical at this time for everyone to take measures to try to reduce the number of people sick and protect themselves and their loved ones from not only the coronavirus, but from our hospitals reaching a dangerous breaking point.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) urges everyone to take these easy steps to help slow the spread of COVID-19:

·         Wear a mask to protect yourself and others and stop the spread of COVID-19.

·         Stay at least six feet away from others who don’t live with you.

·         Avoid crowds.

·         If you are going out, avoid poorly ventilated indoor spaces and wash your hands often. Use hand sanitizer if soap and water aren’t available.”

Thank you for considering United Cerebral Palsy of Mobile for you Giving Tuesday gift! Please support us by contributing to our donation page, or by creating your own. If you plan to create your own page, please feel free to share your own personal story and the impact that UCP has had in your life, or the impact you have witnessed UCP have on others.

The help and generosity of people like you makes a lasting impact on those we serve. UCP’s mission is to promote the independence, productivity and full citizenship of people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. Any contribution you make today will help individuals in our community meet and exceed their goals!

In addition, we have an anonymous donor who has agreed to match every donation up to $6,000. This means that your gift will have an even greater impact! A $25 gift is transformed to a $50 gift, $500 is now $1,000!

All proceeds from the 2020 Giving Tuesday Campaign will benefit UCP Preschool and Camp SMILE. These programs have both touched so many lives.

A gift made to UCP Preschool will assist teachers and aids in ensuring our classrooms are safe, healthy and educational for every student who walks through our doors. For example, a gift of $25 can be used to purchase new classroom manipulatives. A gift of $100 can be used sensory integration lab equipment. Many of our students have trouble putting together information from all of their senses which can lead to difficulty in the classroom and with activities of daily living.  The SI Lab will be a combination of activities and equipment that our students can use to help them learn to organize their sensory input, self regulate and have improved independence and motor planning ability!

Gifts benefitting Camp SMILE open the doors to adventure for many campers. A gift as small as $15 could help pay for one camper’s entire week of art supplies. Many of our art projects are sensory driven, and reflect the theme of the summer. Each year, a homemade picture frame craft is completed so that campers may hang their camper-counselor picture from the summer.  A $380 gift provides a Campership for a camper who could otherwise not afford to attend!

Any gift you make is important to those we serve and we appreciate your heartfelt consideration!

 

Although we won’t be able to hold a traditional Food and Folly this year, we will be making the best of the cards we’ve been dealt. This year we’ll be hosting Food & Folly “at Home”! We have partnered with Georgia Rousso’s to provide to-go dinners. As always, the fun of Food and Folly includes a silent auction and a wine grab. This year’s virtual silent auction includes big ticket items such as a specialty bourbon basket or an Orange Beach vacation! For a $25 ticket, the wine grab gets you a mystery bottle of wine as well as a chance to win a bottle of Dom Pérignon! Make sure to get in on the action before it’s too late, the wine grab closes off on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. and the wine grab closes at 7:00 p.m. that afternoon. Don’t miss out on the fun, click the links above to check out both the silent auction and wine grab.

This month we are celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). National Disability Employment Awareness Month celebrates the ingenuity people with disabilities bring to America’s workplaces.” Each October, NDEAM celebrates America’s workers with disabilities and reminds employers of the importance of inclusive hiring practices. We are very proud of our Supported Employment program here at UCP. Our SE program currently services roughly 150 individuals across three counties providing them with vital career skills. For more information on our SE program, please visit http://www.ucpmobile.org/ucp-programs/adult-services/supported-employment/ or call UCP at (251) 479-4900.

UCP of Mobile has made the hard decision to postpone the 2020 Christmas Night of Lights 5K & Fun Run. Our main priority is the safety and health of those we serve and of our supporters. We know there are many people that look forward to this event every year, and we are already anticipating the race in 2021. Once again, we’d like to thank the Mobile Sports and Entertainment Group. Their partnership has played a critical role in the continued success of the Christmas Night of Lights 5K and Fun Run. We hope everyone will take the opportunity to drive through the lights when they open up!

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If you need any assistance pertaining to Hurricane Sally, please call United Way at 211.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce, in light of recent developments regarding COVID-19, we feel it is in the best interest of our campers and staff to cancel Camp SMILE for the 2020 summer session. While tough, we are thankful to have many wonderful camp memories and friendships to fall back on. 

We are hearbroken, but determined to keep everyone in the Camp SMILE family safe and healthy. We know everyone who planned on being a part of Summer 2020 is incredibly disappointed, and sad, to have a summer go by without Camp SMILE. As we move forward in these uncertain times, we will be doing everything we can to keep the Camp SMILE Spirit alive and well. We have already shared some #CampSMILEatHome activities, and will continue to do so, bringing even more excitement into your homes.

Camp SMILE has always been more than a place. We know this is not ideal, but we also know that we’ve always marched to the beat of our own drum, and if anyone can make the best of adapting to tough surroundings, it’s our campers and volunteers. 

For more information on how this cancellation will effect you and your family, please click the following link:

Camp SMILE’s Covid-19 Response

 

New information has become available via Social Security Administration Commissioner Andrew Saul concerning the effect of Economic Impact Payments to SSI Recipients in a blog post. Below is a list of announcements he made concerning the matter.

• People who receive Social Security, retirement, survivors, or disability insurance benefits and who did not file a tax return for 2018 or 2019 and who have qualifying children under age 17 should now go to the IRS’s webpage to enter their information instead of waiting for their automatic $1,200 Economic Impact Payment. This will ensure they will receive the $500 per dependent child payment in addition to their $1,200 individual payment.
• The same guidance applies to SSI recipients, especially those who have qualifying children under the age of 17. To receive the full amount of the Economic Impact Payments you and your family are eligible for, go to the IRS’s Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info page and provide information about yourself and your qualifying children.
• Any new beneficiaries since January 1, 2020, of either Social Security or SSI benefits, who did not file a tax return for 2018 or 2019, will also need to go to the IRS’s Non-Filers website to enter their information.
• Social Security retirement, survivors, or disability beneficiaries who do not have qualifying children under age 17, you do not need to take any action with the IRS.  You will automatically receive your $1,200 economic impact payment directly from the IRS as long as you received an SSA-1099 for 2019.
• Please note Economic Impact Payments will not be considered as income for SSI recipients, and the payments are excluded from resources for 12 months.
• Eligibility requirements and other information about the Economic Impact Payments can be found at the IRS’s Coronavirus Tax Relief and Economic Impact Payments page.