Callers to independent living centers often ask what we do for people with disabilities. The question is understandable as many programs with similar titles provide very different services.
Many people have only a vague understanding of how independent living centers operate.
It is helpful to consider these points when contacting an ILC for the first time. Independent living center are controlled and directed by person with disabilities. The independent living philosophy and the ILCs were established by people with disabilities that wanted to be able to be active members of the communities in which they live. In the past, people with severe disabilities were forced to live in institutional or hospital. In 1974, a group of people with disabilities living in residential or hospital settings decided to insist on the right to live independently and to work as desired in the community.