EMPOWERING THOSE LIVING WITH DISABILITIES In the late 1960s a group of folks on Merritt Island


SPACE COAST CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING HELPS PEOPLE LIVING WITH DISABILITIES BECOME SELF SUFFICIENT


found that they were unable to get wheelchairs into many stores, nor easily navigate around sidewalks in business districts. This was a period of activism, and after finding others who also had similar problems, they began to advocate for accessible parking and accessible entryways into businesses and government buildings. It is from this small beginning, and after several name and location changes, that the organization now called Space Coast Center for Independent Living (SCCIL) was launched. First officially recognized and funded in 1972 as


a nonprofit organization, SCCIL has grown quite a bit. However, its main focus has never wavered from its primary mission of enabling people living with disabilities to live as independently as possible in their homes, in employment settings and in society at large. Helping the disabled community get the services they need, removing barriers, educating officials and business people about this community’s value as employees, breaking stereotypes and teaching this community the skills necessary to live and thrive on their own, is the organization’s purpose.


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“The core of SCCIL or any other CIL always revolves around advocacy, independent living skills, information and referral, and peer support and guidance. They are our foundation, and everything else we do is built upon them.”


– Jill Dunham-Schuller, executive director of SCCIL


PROGRAMS & SERVICES Today, SCCIL has grown to 14 employees,


six regularly working volunteers, and several more helping periodically. The organization has six departments performing services that range from transportation, accessible home modification, deaf and hard-of- hearing services and more. It also hosts support groups, outings and educational workshops.


Meanwhile, the organization’s home modification


division assesses the accessibility needs of consumers and performs appropriate home modifications. This program has blossomed over the past year as SCCIL has partnered with the Fair Housing Continuum, as well as the cities of Cocoa and Titusville, to provide these services. Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Services (DHHS) offers


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SCCIL’s Need-A-Ride program offers transportation services to various destinations around the county.


“With a recent contract award from the Department of Transportation, our Need- A-Ride transportation program, has grown to five accessible vans, carrying Vets and other SCCIL consumers to doctors’ offices, grocery shopping and various other outings throughout the county,” says Jill Dunham- Schuller, executive director of SCCIL.


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core services to the deaf community, as well as educational opportunities such as sign-language classes and youth groups for both deaf children and their families. “Our DHHS department also offers specialized equipment such as visual doorbells, for example, to deaf people at our cost to improve quality of life,” adds Dunham- Schuller. SCCIL’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) assistance department helps people with questions on barrier removal, educates doctors’ offices and other businesses on ADA requirements and assists individuals who feel they’ve been unlawfully discriminated against. Says Dunham-Schuller, “We’ve


come a long way beyond where that founding small group of people in the ’60s could have ever dreamed we’d be, but we can’t just rest on our laurels. With an ever-present need of our consumer base, we have to continue looking at new and more efficient ways of doing things, listening to and responding to the needs of the community, and trying to project what those needs might be tomorrow.”


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IMAGES BY CATHY HEINZ


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