You may wonder exactly what an Independent Living Center does. Are we a government agency? A healthcare provider? A social service organization?

The answer is: we’re something different.

Independent Living Centers (CILs) were created by and for people with disabilities to promote choice, opportunity, and full participation in community life. They grew out of the Independent Living Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, when disability advocates challenged the idea that people with disabilities should be defined by their diagnoses or separated from their communities. Leaders like Ed Roberts and countless other activists fought for equal access, self-determination, and the right to live, work, learn, and participate alongside everyone else.

That advocacy helped shape landmark legislation, including the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and later the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), while establishing a new philosophy: people with disabilities are the experts in their own lives and should have the freedom to make their own choices.

That philosophy continues to guide SNCIL today.

What Does “Independent Living” Mean?

Independent living doesn’t mean doing everything alone.

It means having the freedom to make your own decisions, direct your own life, and participate fully in your community. For one person, that might mean living in their own apartment. For another, it may mean managing personal attendants, succeeding in college, returning to work, advocating for accommodations, or remaining in the home they love as they grow older.

Independence looks different for everyone because every person’s goals, circumstances, and support needs are different.

A Different Approach

Unlike many traditional service agencies, Independent Living Centers are consumer-controlled. That means people with disabilities are involved at every level of the organization, including leadership, staff, and our Board of Directors. People with disabilities are not simply recipients of services, they are partners, leaders, advocates, and decision-makers.

Our role isn’t to tell people what they should do. Instead, we provide information, resources, peer support, advocacy, and skills so individuals can make informed choices and direct their own lives.

This philosophy is often summed up in a phrase that has guided the disability rights movement for decades:

Nothing about us without us.

Our Core Services

Every Independent Living Center provides five federally mandated core services that reflect the Independent Living philosophy of choice, self-determination, and community inclusion.

Peer Support

Sometimes the best guidance comes from someone who has walked a similar path.

Peer support connects people with others who have lived experience with disability. Whether you’re adjusting to a new disability, navigating employment, exploring independent living, or simply looking for encouragement, talking with someone who understands can make all the difference.

Peer support reminds people they are not alone and that independence is possible.

Independent Living Skills Training

Learning new skills opens doors to greater independence.

SNCIL offers training in practical areas such as:

• Budgeting and financial management
• Transportation options
• Assistive technology
• Communication skills
• Emergency preparedness

These skills help people gain confidence while working toward the goals that matter most to them.

Individual and Systems Advocacy

Advocacy happens on two levels.

• Individual advocacy helps people understand their rights, request accommodations, navigate services, and overcome barriers they may encounter in education, employment, housing, transportation, healthcare, or community life.
• Systems advocacy focuses on improving policies, programs, and communities so they become more accessible and inclusive for everyone. By working with elected officials, businesses, schools, healthcare providers, and community organizations, SNCIL helps remove barriers that affect not just one person, but entire communities.

Information and Referral

Finding the right resources can be overwhelming, especially when you’re facing a new diagnosis, life transition, or unexpected challenge.

SNCIL connects people with community resources, disability services, housing options, transportation, employment supports, healthcare resources, and other programs that help individuals make informed decisions. Sometimes the most important step toward independence is simply knowing where to turn.

Transition Services

Change is a natural part of life, and people with disabilities deserve the support and resources to navigate those changes while maintaining choice and control.

At SNCIL, transition services help people of all ages move successfully through life’s major transitions. That might include assisting someone in moving from a nursing facility back into the community, helping an older adult remain safely in their home by connecting them with community supports, or preparing a young person with a disability to transition from high school to employment, college, independent living, or other adult opportunities.

Our transition services are guided by one simple goal: ensuring people have the opportunity to live, work, and participate in the community they choose. We provide information, skills, advocacy, and connections that help individuals navigate change while remaining in control of their own decisions.

Whether someone is 18 or 80, every transition is unique. SNCIL is here to help people move forward with confidence, independence, and the support they need to achieve their goals.

Benefits Counseling

While not one of the five federally mandated core services, benefits counseling is another important way SNCIL helps people achieve greater independence.

Our benefits counselors help individuals understand how work may affect benefits such as Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and other assistance programs. Having accurate information allows people to make informed decisions about employment and financial independence without unnecessary fear or confusion.

More Than Services

An Independent Living Center isn’t simply a place where people receive services. It’s a place where people discover possibilities.

Whether someone needs information, support, advocacy, skills training, or simply someone who understands their journey, SNCIL is here to help people build the lives they want, not by making decisions for them, but by standing beside them as they make those decisions themselves.

More than 50 years after the Independent Living Movement began, its vision remains as relevant as ever: communities where people with disabilities have equal access, equal opportunity, and the freedom to live life on their own terms.

At SNCIL, that’s what independent living is all about.