"Disability affects hundreds of millions of families in developing countries. Currently around 10 percent of the total world's population, or roughly 650 million people, live with a disability" (World Facts).
Mission Statement
LIFE Center for Independent Living is a non-profit organization that strives to advocate for people with disabilities. They also attempt to educate the community about disabilities. The word LIFE stands for Living Independence For Everyone. They want people to understand that people with disabilities are just like everyone else. They can do most of the things that non-disabled people can do including think and speak for themselves, work, date, be athletic and of course, live on their own.
LIFE Center’s actual mission statement that they live by is:
"LIFE Center for Independent Living advances equality and integration of all persons with disabilities. To achieve this mission, we:
• Promote local, state and national advocacy • Educate persons with disabilities about their rights and responsibilities • Provide support services • Raise community awareness about disability issues in DeWitt, Ford, Livingston and McLean Counties" (lifecil.org).
History
“Centers for Independent Living were established by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973” (disabilitylink.org). They were created to help people with disabilities learn about and fight for their civil rights. Centers for Independent Living are there to help people with disabilities understand that they have a voice, they make their own decisions and they have to live with their choices.
LIFE Center for Independent Living was started in Bloomington, Illinois in 1985. LIFE Center is one of about 500 Centers for Independent Living in the nation and there are over 20 Centers for Independent Living in Illinois (Anderson). Each Center serves certain counties within the state. A Center’s Board of Directors and staff must be made up of a majority of people with disabilities. This shows that people with disabilities can have great jobs and it also helps the employees and board members relate to their consumers and their life experiences.
Services Offered
As a Center for Independent Living, the center has to provide at least four core services: advocacy, independent living skills, information and referral, and peermentoring. The LIFE Center for Independent Living here in Bloomington offers more than just these four core services; they also offer a community reintegration program, personal assistants, vision services for seniors, an equipment loan program, and an ITAC amplified phone program.
Advocacy
At LIFE CIL they believe in teaching someone or helping someone to fight for their civil rights. Advocacy can be fighting for one individual’s rights or it can be advocacy to change something for everyone with disabilities. Individual advocacy, for example, could be helping someone appeal the denial for social security benefits. An example of systems advocacy could be advocating for all hospitals and doctor's offices to have accessible exam rooms and be sure to have a way of communicating with everyone, including people who are deaf.
Independent Living Skills
Independent living skills are a must for anyone, but can be a challenge for someone with a disability. At LIFE Center for Independent Living they attempt to teach someone daily living skills for them to be independent in their own homes. This could including teaching budgeting skills, how to cook, how to clean, how to ride the public buses, where you can look for a job, how to prepare for a job, etc.
Information and Referral
Keeping people infromed is something that is very important to LIFE Center. They want to make sure that people know where to find the help they need and let them know what resources are available. LIFE Center offers infromation on where to go to find resources in the community that might provide the services that you are looking for.
Peermentoring
At LIFE Center for Independent Living they offer mentors with similar experiences that can help consumers understand and relate to different life situations. For example, if you were in a car accident and became paralyzed you might not know how to do all of the things you did before the car accident because now you are paralyzed from the waste down. There could be a staff member or board member at LIFE Center that either had a similar experience, or uses a wheelchair and could help you through the changes. They could teach you that you can do just about everything you were able to do before, just how to do it a different way.
Community Reintegration
If you have a friend or family member in a nursing home who doesn't actually need to be there and they would rather live on their own, then LIFE Center might be able to help them move into their own home. LIFE Center can help them learn about what their options are to live on their own and LIFE Center helps with the one-time moving costs to live in their own home.
Personal Assistants
If you have a disability and are able to live in your own home, but need some help with some things to live independently. Such as, bathing, cooking, cleaning, then LIFE Center can help you find a personal assistant to help you with these things. LIFE Center can also help you manage your personal assistant (PA) because you are their boss and your PA works for you. LIFE Center also has a Personal Assistant referral list. It is a list of people who have filled out the necessary paperwork and have attended LIFE Center’s PA Orientation because they are looking for this type of work. You can look through the list and find a PA who has the qualifications and avaliability that best suits you.
Vision Services for Seniors
If you are 55 years old or older and you have a severe vision loss, LIFE Center can help you get assistive devices that will help you live indpendently with vision loss. For example, you can get talking watches, talking clocks, large print calendars, large print check registers, address books, and many more things that are free of charge! LIFE Center can also help you learn how to get around your house, or the community with vision loss.
Equipment Loan Program
LIFE CIL also offers an equipment loan program. What this consists of is equipment such as, walkers, wheelchairs, canes, shoe horns, gate belts, grabbers, and much more. If you are in need of any of these items, then you are more than welcome to go into LIFE Center and rent out any of these items for free for three months at a time. All you have to do is fill out a quick form and then take the equipment with you, no medical insurance info required.
ITAC Amplified Phone Program
Another program they offer is called the ITAC program, which is a program that gives out free amplified telephones. This program is offered for people with severe hearing disabilities. LIFE Center is a ITAC selection center. To get a free amplified phone you must be a resident of Illinois, you must have a landline telephone, and you must be hard of hearing. LIFE Center offers a selection of different phones that are hearing aid compatible and are much louder than a normal phone. You can go to any ITAC Selection Center and test each phone to see which phone best suites you. You will need to complete the necessary paperwork with the help of your doctor or audiologist. Then you will need to send in a copy of your landline phone bill and a copy of your driver's license, state ID, or piece of mail showing your address. If you were to find a phone that works for you, then it would be shipped to you within two weeks of the paperwork being sent into ITAC.
Staff
Gail Kear-Executive Director Brianne Anderson-Office Manager Cheryl Bammann-Secretary (Pontiac) Bill Cooper-Independent Living Advocate (Pontiac) Dana Craig-Outreach Coordinator Jill Doran-Program Director Nathan Hack-Custodian (Pontiac) Vicky Hogan-Community Living Advocate Denise Iwaniw-Secretary Andrea Kindseth-Community Reintegration Advocate Jeff Morrison-Custodian Charles Smith-Independent Living Advocate Kim Tarkowski-Vision Access & Education Advocate
Contact Information
Bloomington Office: 2201 Eastland Drive Suite 1 Bloomington, IL 61704 Phone:309/663-5433(Voice/TTY) Fax:309/663-7024
Pontiac Office: 318 West Madison Street Pontiac, IL 61764 Phone: 815/844-1132 Fax: 815/844-1148
Toll-Free: 888/543-3245 Website: http://www.lifecil.org
