Springfield Center for Independent Living

03/31/2026

Make Yourself Heard regarding: Change to Eviction Notice Rules for HUD-Assisted Housing

A proposed rule by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will remove the requirement that Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and HUD Assisted Housing give tenants a 30-day notice for eviction and 30 days to pay pass-due rent. Some state and local rules allow for a shorter time frame for both of these. In 2024, a new rule was put in place to protect tenants from eviction with less than a 30-days' notice for passed-due rent. It also required that tenants be allowed 30 days to pay passed-tue rent. The proposed rule would remove this protection.

The proposed new rule will not go into effect until the agency reviews comments on the proposed rule and issues a new final rule. If it is issued, the new federal rule will no longer require housing providers in HUD-assisted housing to give tenants 30 days’ notice or 30 days to pay past-due rent. Instead, eviction timelines may follow state or local laws. In some places, state and local laws allow shorter notice periods.

By submitting your comments, you can inform HUD:

• How housing rules affect you or your family
• Challenges related to rent payments or eviction timelines
• Your experience with HUD-assisted housing ideas you want HUD to review

Public comments will be accepted through Monday, April 27th, 11:59 p.m. EDT.
Go to:

This rule revokes the 2021 interim final rule and 2024 final rule requiring that public housing agencies (PHAs) and owners of properties receiving project-based rental assistance (PBRA) provide certain tenants with 30-day notification prior to termination of lease for nonpayment of rent....

03/27/2026

Save the date for our event

03/14/2026

Check out our latest March/April Newsletter! You can access the full newsletter on our website at https://www.scil.org/news/

01/23/2026

January 23rd, 2026

Today, on Ed Roberts Day, we honor not only the father of the Independent Living Movement, but also the quiet, relentless force who made that movement possible: Zona Roberts.

Ed Roberts changed the world by insisting on a radical idea, that disabled people belong everywhere decisions are made, that our lives are not medical problems to be managed, but human lives worthy of dignity, autonomy, and power. He did not ask for charity. He demanded justice. He did not accept access as a favor. He defined it as a right.

But no movement is born in isolation.

Behind Ed’s courage was Zona’s unwavering belief. At a time when the world told her to institutionalize her son, to lower expectations, to accept exclusion as inevitable, Zona said no. She chose love over compliance, imagination over fear, and possibility over prescription. She fought school systems, medical authorities, and social norms, not for recognition, but for her son’s right to live fully.

Zona Roberts was not simply a supportive mother. She was an architect of liberation.

Together, Ed and Zona redefined what independence means, not as isolation or self-sufficiency, but as interdependence, community, and the freedom to direct one’s own life. Their legacy lives on in every ramp built, every policy changed, every attendant hired, every disabled leader who claims their place without apology.

At the Center for Independent Living, we carry this legacy forward with humility and resolve. We are heirs to a movement that was never meant to be comfortable or polite. It was meant to be transformative. Ed taught us to challenge systems. Zona taught us to protect the human heart within that struggle.

As we face new frontiers, technology, aging, housing, climate, and economic insecurity—we do so grounded in their wisdom: nothing about us without us, and nothing without love, courage, and persistence.

On this Ed Roberts Day, we honor Ed Roberts for changing the world and Zona Roberts for believing it was possible.

Their legacy is not behind us.

It is alive in us.

Sincerely,
Dr. Victor Pineda

01/14/2026

Edit 2: updated image 4/1/26
Edit: updated image

Here is a picture of our Personal Assistant Training Schedule for 2026. You can download a PDF copy on our website at https://www.scil.org/personal-assistant-training/

11/24/2025

Funding for key programs under the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) faces the likelihood of major cuts, specifically, Permanent Supported Housing (PHS) which provides long-term rental assistance assistance funding through Continuum of Care (CoC) programs. CoCs provide long-term rental assistance and support services for people with disabilities across the country. Funding will be slashed from 87% to 30%.

Part of this proposed plan also seeks to put those who are homeless in institutions. Our country will be sliding backward rather than moving forward. Read the following article from Justice in Aging for details.


HUD Seeks to Slash Homelessness Funding for Permanent Housing
Last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its proposal to slash funding for permanent supportive housing (PSH) in its Continuum of Care (CoC) homeless assistance program. PSH provides long-term rental assistance with supportive services for people with disabilities. Older adults age 55 and over comprise 40% of PSH residents.
HUD’s proposal seeks to radically undermine the CoC program, reducing funding for permanent housing from 87% to 30% of CoC funds. These drastic cuts would put approximately 170,000 people at risk of losing their housing and services.
Under new criteria, HUD also aims to prioritize funding projects in jurisdictions that criminalize homelessness and use measures such as involuntary commitment against people who are unhoused.
Learn more about the importance of PSH and HUD homeless assistance for older adults, and urge Congress to protect PSH and CoC funding.

11/24/2025

For those who have Medicare coverage, the deadline for reviewing your Part D prescription drug coverage is fast approaching. One week from this coming Sunday is December 7th, the last day you can make changes to your Part D coverage. So, if you live within Christian, Logan, Menard, Montgomery, or Sangamon Counties, seriously consider contacting SCIL taking a look at your current coverage, as it may be changing in 2026. SCIL has two staff certified in walking you through the maze of Medicare Part D. SCIL will be closed this Thursday and Friday, so, if you need help with Medicare Part D, you have only next Monday through Friday for SCIL to help. Call Catherine or Dave at 217-523-2587, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

10/31/2025

Springfield-area Micropantries
Take what you need; leave what you can for a neighbor!

422 S. Fifth St. (on sidewalk, across from
Mansion/Y Block)

First Presbyterian Church:
321 S. Seventh (in lot off Capitol)

Legacy Theater: 101 E. Lawrence Ave.

Springfield High School:
101 S. Lewis St. (in the Commons lot off
Washington, by the shed)

Douglas Ave. United Methodist:
501 S. Douglas Ave. (by entrance off Illini Ct.)

Graham Elementary:

900 W. Edwards (NW corner of parking lot off Cook
between MacArthur & State)

MacArthur/Leland:
1501 S. MacArthur Blvd. (lot behind building)

Copper Pot Cooking Studio: 916 W. Laurel

South Side Christian:
2600 S. MacArthur (by garage behind church)

St. John’s Lutheran: 2477 W. Washington St.

Knox Knolls: 2251 W. Monroe St.

Hope Pres. (Colony West): 2211 Wabash Ave.

Parkway Christian: 2700 Lindbergh

2000 S. Pasfield (on Ash b/t College & Pasfield)

Boys & Girls Club: 300 S. 15th St.

Feitshans Elem.: 1101 S. 15th St. (inside front gate;
available only M-F when gate is open)

Harvard Park Baptist Church: 2401 S. Ninth St.

Washington Middle School: 2300 E. Jackson St.

Southeast Springfield High School: 2350 E. Ash
(behind school, off Ash, by community garden)

Youth Service Bureau: 2901 Normandy Rd.

Fifth Street Renaissance/SARA Center:
1315 N. Fifth St. (on porch of building)

Word & Spirit Worship Center:
2105 E. Reservoir St. (under carport off Wheeler)

Lanphier High School: 1300 N. 11th St.
(along east wall, opposite stadium)

Ridgely Elem.: 2040 N. 8th St. (by entrance)

Woodland Acres: 3200 N. Dirksen Pkwy., Lot 303
(south entrance to Woodland Acres)

Lakeside Christian:
225 Toronto Rd. (Donation hours: M-F 9-noon)

Cotton Hill United Methodist Church:
5931 N. Cotton Hill Rd.

Beyond Springfield
Southern View: Carman & Garrett

Southern View (Neuhoff Media): 3055 S. 4th St.

Chatham: 501 W. Mulberry (Chatham VFW Hall)

New Berlin: Corbett Park (W. Elm & S. Cedar) and
inside Alamo Laundry (716 E. Illinois)

Petersburg County Market:
500 E. Sangamon (inside store)

Virden: 157 W. Jackson (Pitman Hall, First Baptist
Church)

10/31/2025

IMPORTANT SNAP UPDATE
The federal government is stopping SNAP ( food stamps) funding for 42 million Americans during the federal government shutdown.

Beginning at midnight on Saturday, November 1, November benefits will not be available to 1.9 million Illinoisans who rely on SNAP to buy groceries. Benefits
from months prior to November can still be used.
SNAP customers should visit snapfederalimpact. illinois. gov for the most up- to- date information and to find food locally.
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1.9 million Illinoisans will go without new food benefits starting Nov. 1.
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45% of SNAP households have children, 44% include a person with a disability, and 37% include older adults living in the home.
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Our local economies will suffer.
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SNAP supports close to 20,000 jobs in local grocery stores, farming, manufacturing, and transportation in Illinois.
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Every $ 1 invested in SNAP benefit yields an economic impact of $ 1.50 to our local communities, resulting in a $ 7.2 billion economic impact annually
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10/30/2025

For all of the most upto date information and to find food locally you should visit http://snapfederalimpact.illinois.gov

10/29/2025

Check out our latest November/December Newsletter! You can access the full newsletter on our website at https://www.scil.org/news/

04/17/2025

Check out our latest May/June Newsletter! You can access the full newsletter on our website at https://www.scil.org/news/