Yesterday, Phil, Kimberly and I headed to Chicago to meet with Rep Lilly to discuss
Rebalancing and the Care Campaign. On Wednesday I head up to Lisle for our
Annual Leadership Conference, taking place on the Thursday the 6th and Friday the
7th. We have a great line up of Statewide and National Speakers on important
disability issues and networking opportunities. Hope to see you there!


Representative Lilly – D-78

 

Please extend a warm welcome to Kimberly!

Tony

Kimberly L. Johnson-Evans

My beautiful family which includes my two sons and my husband reside in the South
Suburbs of Chicago. My son, William (age 20) was diagnosed with Persuasive
Development Disorder (PDD), Speech Delay, and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at
the age of six. In the early 90’s, resources and services for children with Autism were
extremely limited, especially in my area. I was determined that our son would live up to
his full potential and that is when the seed was planted for me to become my child’s voice
and advocate. William currently attends Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois where he lives
on campus with a school sponsored support program called “ACCESS”.

During my journey I realized that many other families in my area were impacted by ASD
with no information and no idea where to get help. I continued my advocacy as a volunteer
parent advocate with Chicagoland Autism Connection (formerly Chicago Southside)
Support Group providing families with information and resources to help support their family
members. Several years ago, I implemented the “A Team” Social and Recreation Club for
teens and young adults with ASD to encourage social interaction with peers through planned
outings and life skills workshops.

I am excited and look forward to working as a LIGAS Family Support Advocate to continue to
bring families together and provide them with information. Working with LIGAS Class members
will allow me to continue my outreach as a professional advocate for a program that I
am truly passionate about. It is important to me that every person who has an intellectual or 

developmental disability is able to build a successful life within their own communities and
reach their full potential.

We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude
and bond.” -Gwendolyn Brooks

Sincerely,

Kimberly L. Johnson-Evans


Tony Paulauski
Executive Director
The Arc of Illinois
20901 S. LaGrange Rd. Suite 209
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-464-1832 (OFFICE)
815-464-1832 (CELL)
Tony@www.thearcofil.org