Disability Resource Center

CAL Philosophy

History & IL Philosophy l Commitment to Diversity l Email Privacy Policy

Independent Living Philosophy

Mission

The Center for Accessible Living is an innovative leader in empowering all people to achieve their goal of independent living while involving the entire community.

Independent Living Philosophy

"Independent Living does not mean that we want to do everything by ourselves, do not need anybody or like to live in isolation. Independent Living means that we demand the same choices and control in our every-day lives that our non-disabled brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends take for granted. We want to grow up in our families, go to the neighborhood school, use the same bus as our neighbors, work in jobs that are in line with our education and interests, and raise families of our own. We are profoundly ordinary people sharing the same need to feel included, recognized and loved." Dr. Adolf Ratzka

Most Americans take for granted opportunities they have regarding living arrangements, employment situations, means of transportation, social and recreational activities, and other aspects of everyday life.

What is Independent Living? Essentially, it is living just like everyone else--having opportunities to make decisions that affect one's life, able to pursue activities of one's own choosing--limited only in the same ways that one's neighbors who do not have disabilities are limited. Independent living has to do with self-determination. It is having the right and the opportunity to pursue a course of action. And, it is having the freedom to fail--and to learn from one's failures, just as people without disabilities do.

There are many different types of organizations which serve people with disabilities. These organizations provide valuable services and are important links in the network of services that help people with disabilities maintain independent lifestyles. What makes independent living centers very different from these other organizations is that centers have substantial involvement of people with disabilities making policy decisions and delivering services. Why this emphasis on control by people with disabilities? The basic idea behind independent living is that the ones who know best what services people with disabilities need in order to live independently are people with disabilities themselves. It is a shift from the medical model to the independent living model. This theory locates the real problems or 'deficiencies' in society, not the individual with a disability. The answers are to be found in changing society, not people with disabilities.

(Taken from An Orientation To Independent Living Centers, published by ILRU Research and Training Center on Independent Living at TIRR, Houston, Texas.)

Consumer Control

Consumers (individuals with disabilities) control all aspects of the Center including decision making, service delivery, management, administration and establishment of policy and direction. The Board of Directors, which establishes policy and direction for the Center, is composed of members from the local community, the majority of which are consumers. A majority of the management level staff are consumers. All of the peer counselors, a majority of the direct service staff and the majority of the overall staff members are consumers. There is a wide diversity of types of disabilities of Board and staff members including sensory, physical and cognitive categories. The Center maintains working relationships with, and staff are members of numerous consumer advocacy groups and organizations on the local, state and national levels. This provides an opportunity to receive additional input and feedback from consumers on the grassroots level. To the greatest extent possible, the Center attempts to recruit and utilize volunteers, support staff and instructors who are individuals with disabilities.

History

Center For Accessible Living History

In 1979 Consensus, Inc., did a demographic and needs assessment study of physically disabled people in Jefferson County -- one of the first of its kind in the country. The results, released in 1980, showed that 80,000 people in Jefferson County had disabilities -- twice as many as had been thought.

In that study, people with disabilities identified housing issues -- the availability of housing information, info about barrier removal/access and legal rights as the number one unmet need. The Center for Accessible Living grew out of these findings and began operations January 1981 as housing resource program, with a $48,600 grant from City of Louisville's Community Development Cabinet.

Soon we realized the problem of housing is interrelated with other problems people with disabilities face when trying to secure housing: employment (to pay for housing), transportation (to get to the job), attendant services (assistance to get your clothes on to go to the job), peer counseling (when your personal assistant is late two days in a row, making you almost miss your ride to work), just to name a few.

To address these needs we sought funds to expand our center to a comprehensive independent living center. In October 1981, Prime Movers got a $200,000 grant from the RSA, US Department of Education, and the Center became a full-fledged independent living center, providing housing information, peer counseling, personal assistive services, and self-advocacy.

The Center started as a dream of a few people with disabilities asking the question: What do we really need? What would really be the best solution to our problems? The Center for Accessible Living was the result of those answers.

Independent Living history

The history of the independent living movement is tied in with the African-American civil rights struggle and with other movements of the late 1960s and 1970s. A major part of these activities involved the formation of community-based groups of people with different types of disabilities who worked together to identify barriers and gaps in service delivery. To address barriers, action plans were developed to educate the community and to influence policy makers at all levels to change regulations and to introduce barrier-removing legislation.

In 1972, the first Center for Independent Living was established in Berkeley, California by Ed Roberts. At the same time, Jean Wirth of the United States Department of Health Education and Welfare had developed a program of monitoring peer counseling and supports for minority college students in order to reduce their drop out rate. Jean approached Ed Roberts and others and asked them to design a similar type of program for the disabled students.

The program they developed was called the Physically Disabled Students Program (PDSP). Included were provisions for Personal Assistance Services, wheel chair repairs, emergency attendant care and help in obtaining whatever financial services were available under the various state, federal and social service rehabilitation programs.

The three principles of PDSP were:

experts on disabilities are the people with disabilities
the needs of people with disabilities can best be met with a comprehensive program, rather than fragmented programs at different agencies and offices
people with disabilities should be integrated into the community

As the program gained in popularity, people with disabilities who were not students began applying for services. In May of 1971, the PDSP began meeting with community residents who needed these services and established the first center for independent living with a one-year $50,000 grant from the Federal Rehabilitation Services Administration.

Central to the philosophy of the Center for Independent Living (CIL) was that it be an advocacy organization - not a social service agency.

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Our Commitment to Diversity

Diversity

We define diversity as the characteristics that make one individual different from another. Diversity not only reflects the world in which we live but also creates a dynamic work setting that fosters creativity, excellence, and ultimately, better service for our customers.

The Center for Accessible Living strives to ensure that all employees are appreciated, evaluated objectively and equitably, and offered equal opportunities to grow and advance in their careers. We believe that the workplace should enable each individual to contribute to the business, and that our policies and practices should facilitate these contributions. Differing points of view, different frames of reference, and a broad range of life experiences bring synergy to the workplace.

We value and are committed to maintaining a workforce that reflects the diversity of our consumers. We realize that commitment to inclusion is a strategic imperative in today's marketplace. Our commitment to diversity extends beyond our organization, into the community we serve and is reflected in the services we provide.

Finally, we realize that while we have made progress in the area of diversity, we have significantly more to accomplish, and are dedicated to building on our progress and our commitment as an organization to diversity.

Email and Marketing Privacy Policy

We have created this privacy policy to demonstrate our firm commitment to your privacy and the protection of your information.

Why did you receive a mailing from us?

Our email marketing is permission based. If you received a mailing from us, our records indicate that (a) you have expressly shared this address for the purpose of receiving information in the future ("opt-in"), or (b) you have registered or otherwise have an existing relationship with us. We respect your time and attention by controlling the frequency of our mailings.

If you believe you have received unwanted, unsolicited email sent via this system or purporting to be sent via this system, please notify the Center for Accessible Living, Inc.

How can you stop receiving email from us?

Each email sent contains an easy, automated way for you to cease receiving email from us, or to change your expressed interests. If you wish to do this, simply follow the Unsubscribe or Update Profile links at the end of any email.

Sharing, Privacy and Usage

We use appropriate security measures to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of data used by our system. We will never share, sell, or rent individual personal information with anyone for their promotional use without your advance permission or unless ordered by a court of law. Information submitted to us is only available to employees managing this information for purposes of contacting you or sending you emails based on your request for information, and to contracted service providers for purposes of providing services relating to our communications with you.