Education, employment, transportation, housing:
These are the most common areas of concern for people with disabilities. The barriers can seem insurmountable-enough to make one want to stay in bed and pull the covers up over your head. Those who seek to navigate the systems set in place to assist in solving these problems often find a complex, contradictory maze.
That’s where Centers for Independent Living (CILs) come into play. Yet this vital resource is often underutilized by people with disabilities. Many don’t even know CILs and their rich history and broad array of services exist. The first CIL was created by Ed Roberts in Berkeley, CA in 1972. He and other disability activists worked to create equal opportunities, self-determination, and model self-respect for people with disabilities well before the civil rights for people with disabilities were spelled out by the ADA some 18 years later.
