Independent Living Services

1. Information & Referral - The Center provides information on, and referral to, services available for individuals with varying disabilities. The aim is to provide individuals with resources and options that can assist them in making informed choices about living, learning, and working independently. The staff is available to both consumers and agencies to research individual requests for information and potential referral resources. In addition, the Center offers a resource library on issues related to disability, which is open to the public.
   
   
2. Peer Advisement - The Center provides individual and group counseling, as well as peer support groups. Peer advisors with a variety of backgrounds are available to visit newly disabled individuals at hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and mental health facilities to help facilitate their transition back to the community. They can offer emotional support and practical advice on issues such as education and vocational opportunities, housing , recreation, sexuality, and adaptive equipment. Advisors can meet with individuals in the office or a mutually convenient location. Peer Advisors can serve as role models. The approach is - we've been there, we can talk about how we've coped.
   
   
3. Benefits Advisement - The Center provides help to consumers in understanding and accessing resources such as: Social Security Disability (SSD), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Work Incentive Program, Medicare, Medicaid, public assistance, food stamps, and emergency food sources. This service is designed to help consumers understand what resources are available to them and to assist them is making informed choices.
   
   WILC's staff can also provide the following:
   • Eligibility Screening
   • Assistance in Completing Applications
   • Assistance in Development of PASS PLANS (SSI's Plans for Achieving Self-Support)
   • Assistance in Preparing for Hearings, Administrative Reviews and Appeals
     
     
4. Independent Living Skills - The Center provides training in everyday life skills. Examples of training topics include: Individual Self-Advocacy, personal assistance services, arranging transportation, and job seeking. Also, Maximizing Your Health and Well-Being With or Without a Disability, Your Civil Rights Under the ADA, and The Information Age Spells Employment.Consumer workshops on topics such as money management, managing an attendant, wheelchair maintenance, and accessing technology are also available. Training is, more often than not, provided by persons with disabilities.
   
   
5. Individual and Systems Advocacy - The Center works with individuals, community organizations, and state/national networks to 1) promote full inclusion of people with disabilities into their communities, 2) heighten awareness and understanding of disability-related issues and laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and 3) improve the implementation of existing laws - federal, state, and local - that affect people with disabilities. WILC's advocacy services address access to equal opportunities in exercising one's social, economic, educational, and/or legal rights.