Mission

The mission of the Center for Independent Living of Central Pennsylvania is to advance the rights of persons with disabilities through the elimination and prevention of barriers that people with disabilities experience. Community participation is an integral part of the Center for Independent Living of Central Pennsylvania’s activities.

Philosophical Tenets

1. Equal Rights: Persons with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as all other citizens. This is the basic philosophy of independent living programs.

2. Integration: Integrated community programs, services, and facilities are essential for persons with disabilities to enjoy equal access to the cultural, vocational, residential, and leisure opportunities open to other people. The CILCP believes all persons have a right to such integrated experiences.

3. Self-Determination: Persons with disabilities are entitled to choose the patterns of life and conditions of everyday living like everyone else. They have the right to privacy, a home, employment, going to school, leisure activities, social interaction, sexual relationships, and life in a self-determined setting in a community neighborhood where people with disabilities are integrated with people without disabilities. They are entitled to make decisions that involve risk in their lives.

4. Equal Responsibility: Just as people with disabilities have the right to self-determination, they have the responsibility to follow through with their commitment in good faith and with due consideration of the rights of others. They are accountable for their own actions.

Principles for Operation

1. Consumer Control: The CILCP is guided and controlled by consumer control at all levels of responsibility in the organization. This assures that the interests of people with disabilities will be followed in achieving community integration, self-determination, equal rights, and dignity.

2. Consumer Based Needs: The CILCP periodically assesses consumer needs and service resources within its service area to assure its plans, priorities, and programs are responsive to and reflective of what people with disabilities need and want.

3. Individualized Plans/Opportunities: An independent living plan and/or opportunities are designed and carried out by the individual with a disability in conjunction with the CILCP staff.

4. Community Based Activities: Persons with disabilities have the best opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes with which to participate and thrive in the community in an integrated community setting. The CILCP encourages the use of existing community services by persons with disabilities. These include those not specifically addressing the needs of persons with disabilities including residential, vocational, social, recreational, and personal services. Activities sponsored by the CILCP are located in environments accessible to all citizens.

5. Equal Opportunity: As a Center for Independent Living for persons with disabilities, the CILCP provides the information, support, and resources needed by people with disabilities to live, work, and recreate alongside their fellow citizens.

6. Nondiscrimination: The CILCP will not discriminate in any of its activities against any individual based on disability, type of disability, race, ethnicity, gender, age, or religion.

7. Cross Disability: The CILCP will provide opportunities to people without regard to type of disability. The CILCP believes that people with various disabilities have more in common to bind them together than differences to divide them.

8. Un-included and Under-included: The CILCP will constantly strive to identify and reach out to those populations of people with disabilities who have historically not been included to an equitable extent in its activities.