Independent Living Resource Center
Services
Who is eligible and how do we provide services?
We welcome anyone with a disability regardless of age, or type of limiting condition. The ADA defines a person with a disability as someone with an impairment that substantially limits his/her functioning. That person is eligible for our services if they can benefit from receiving them.

All our services are a combined effort of the consumer and the staff. We work to provide information about the array of choices available and assist our consumers to follow the path they want.

ILRC is a non-profit organization and does not charge for its services. We rely on funding from state, federal and local grants, the United Way, community businesses and individual donations in order to provide services to the community.

For more information on specific assistance and services, click on a link to the left.

Information and Referral

“Information is power,” as the saying goes. ILRC empowers consumers by providing them with information they may use to access the tools, strategies and accommodations that make living in the community successful.

 

Each ILRC office is staffed with an Information & Referral Specialist (I&R Specialist) who speaks fluent English and Spanish. Consumers who visit an ILRC office can use our resource library and/or consumer computer workstations that have internet access and can be used to find information, write résumés or other documents.

 

If ILRC doesn’t have the information needed by the consumer, the I&R Specialist will provide him or her with referrals to other resources and agencies that specialize in that consumer’s particular area of need, including government agencies (city, county, state or national), other nonprofit, community-based organizations.

 

If you decide you would like assistance in assessing your needs or achieving personal goals related to independence – learning about coping mechanisms for a newly acquired disability, for example, or support strategies for families adjusting to the growing independence of a family member with a disability – then the I&R Specialist will refer you to a Community Living Advocate for and appointment for assistance and peer support. (Request information about that process.)
First Step: Contact an Community Living Advocate (CLA)

Connect with your Community Living Advocate - Your first step is to make an appointment for an initial interview with an Community Living Advocate. Find the office nearest you and give them a call to set up your first appointment.  Call or drop by to make an appointment and to meet I &R staff.

Meet with your Community Living Advocate - At the first meeting, you and your Community Living Advocate will discuss your issues, unmet needs, and/or goals. We’ll ask for your name, complete address, date of birth, type of disability and income status; this information will remain confidential and is for our internal records only. For more information on confidentiality, click here.

Create a plan for achieving your goals - You and your Community Living Advocate will then create and sign an plan for achieving your goals or meeting your needs.  It's called an Independent Living Plan. This plan will include objectives and a timeline for meeting those objectives, and it will identify which objectives are the consumer’s responsibility and which ones will be met by ILRC.  This is not required; you also have the right to waive this plan process but still work with staff to achieve your goals.

Sign the Independent Living Plan - You’ll be asked to sign the Independent Living Plan to demonstrate that you agree to undertake your portion of the Plan, participate in the process and understand your rights and responsibilities as a consumer of the Independent Living Resource Center.

Please check the Consumer’s Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.

Please check our Confidentiality Statement.