Independent Lifestyles has been serving people with disabilities in Central Minnesota for 13 years.
ABOUT US
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. For many Americans with disabilities, however, barriers in their communities take away or severely limit their choices. Independent Lifestyles, Inc. (ILICIL) was founded in 1997 to help persons with disabilities break down these barriers. ILICIL started with a small office building in downtown St. Cloud with only a handful of staff. Today ILICIL is getting ready to move into our own building with 30 staff and over 50 PCA's, a branch office in Little Falls and Big Lake.
Independent Lifestyles believes that
everyone deserves opportunities to make decisions that affect their life, are
able to pursue activities of their own choosing-limited only in the same ways
that one's non-disabled neighbors are limited.
Independent living should not only be defined in terms of living on one's own.
Being employed in a job fitting their capabilities and interests, or having an
active social life are aspects of living independently. 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 non-disabled people do.
How Centers for Independent Living differ from other service providers
There are many different types of organizations which serve people with
disabilities - state vocational rehabilitation agencies, group homes,
rehabilitations hospitals, sheltered workshops, nursing homes, senior centers,
home health care agencies, and so forth. These organizations provide valuable
services and are important links in the network of services that help people
with disabilities maintain independent lifestyles.
What makes Centers for Independent Living very
different from these other organizations is that centers have substantial
involvement of people with disabilities making decisions and delivering
services. Why this emphasis on control by people with disabilities? The basic
idea behind independent living is that those who know best what services people
with disabilities need in order to live independently are those with
disabilities themselves.
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