INDEPENDENT LIVING

Most people take it for granted, because for many, independent living is the simple stuff of life: Getting out of bed. Bathing. Walking down the stairs. Driving a car to work. Talking to friends and family on the telephone.

But life can be changed by an accident or disease. Sometimes suddenly, you're looking up at people from your wheelchair; or perhaps you were born without the ability to walk, to talk, to hear. Under these circumstances, you wculd find yourself in a world where the so-called simple stuff would be anything but simple. A world out-of-reach, access denied.

Thanks to the Center for Living and Working (CLW), people with disabilities are not alone. CLW exists solely to help those with disabilites live more fully in an abled world, the way they want.

We're part of a movement that started in the early 1970s when people with disabilites began advocating for more control over their lives and full access in their communities. At the heart of the Independent Living (IL) movement is the passionate desire by those with disabilites to control their own lives. This is why CLW is here. Not to tell someone with a disability what to do or to do it for them, but to work with each individual to help them achieve the level of independence that's right for them.

OUR CORE COMMITMENTS

The nonprofit Center for Living and Working (CLW) stands at the vanguard of the Independent Living movement. Founded in 1975, we now serve thousands of people in 92 cities and towns in central Massachusetts, through Independent Living programs and services, resources for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and outreach and advocacy. All of CLW's programs and services express our philosophy: People with disabilities have the right to make informed decisions about their daily lives. Extending from this philosophy are our core commitments:

• To listen to consumers and offer encouragement in the quest for Independent Living.
• To offer information and programs that enable people with disabilites to live as independently as possible.
• To provide services that address the details of daily life.
• To help ensure that our consumers can participate as vital members of the community.