Previous Next

Our Chanute Customer Appreciation Picnic winner of $100, Rebecca Stout (shown left in picture) and Mary Reynolds, SKIL’s IL Director, representing SKIL in the Chanute Tribune.  The remaining picnics for your chance to win $100 by getting a vaccination are located on the event page on our SKIL website!

By Nancy G. Holman PARSONS, Kan.—The SKIL Resource Center will honor the lives of people with disabilities on July 27, when it will hold its annual public celebration of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The public is invited. The free drive-through event will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot north of the Independent Living Center’s downtown Parsons headquarters at 1801 Main St. Walkers and wheelchair users are welcome. This year the celebration will include a free COVID-19 vaccination clinic provided by Labette Health, with a drawing for a $100 cash prize. It will also feature a free boxed lunch, door prizes,…

By Nancy G. Holman and Shari Coatneyof SKIL Resource Center Inc. As we travel the road of life, sometimes we meet a person who stands out among the rest.  Shirley “Lucy” Crouch was born Shirley Crouch in 1960 in Garnett, KS, later preferring the name Lucy. She was born with intellectual disabilities and later acquired physical disabilities. Lucy came to Parsons State Hospital and Training Center (PSHTC) as a young adult and spent much of her life in institutional care. I, Shari, met her there while serving on the hospital’s Human Rights Committee. She was fiercely and vocally unhappy at being institutionalized. As an Independent Living Center, one of SKIL…

Well here I set with one of the greatest self advocates I’ve ever known. We didn’t get to talk much today because she was tired ( so I did most of the talking). At about 3:45 Lucy looked up and I knew she was leaving this earth. At 3:45 she went to meet her hunny Jim and say hi to her friends and family that went on before her. We all have our special names and our funny memories that we will keep forever. It is never easy to lose a family member but today a skilsters got her wings. Shari Coatney CEO/President of SKIL Shirley “Lucy” Crouch was one…

by Andy Rausch and Joe Reinecker A federal grant to assist getting people within the disability community Covid-19 vaccination shots is allowing SKIL to provide free vaccinations at their annual customer appreciation picnics. “It came to us that we were already having these picnics, so we thought, how about we marry these two things together,” explains SKIL President/CEO Shari Coatney.   Coatney says SKIL initially wondered if such a thing would be possible, but by partnering up with Labette Health, the idea became a reality. “We’re doing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, because it’s a one and done, meaning the recipient only needs the one shot to be vaccinated,” Coatney…