Plain and simple
What is a Center for Independent Living?
AccessAbility is a Center for Independent Living — a CIL. That name confuses people, so let's be clear about the most important thing first:
Nobody lives at a Center for Independent Living.
A CIL is not assisted living, not a nursing home, and not a residential facility or group home. It's a nonresidential resource center — a place people go to build the skills, equipment, and support to keep living independently in their own homes and communities.
The real definition
Run by and for people with disabilities.
Centers for Independent Living were created by the disability-rights movement and are defined in federal law (Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act). Four things make a CIL a CIL:
- Consumer-controlled — people with disabilities lead the organization: the majority of our staff and board are people with disabilities. Decisions about disability are made by people who live it.
- Cross-disability — we serve people with all types of disabilities, of all ages. No diagnosis list, no single condition.
- Community-based — we work where people actually live: homes, workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods across the Lowcountry.
- Nonresidential — we are an office and a resource hub, not a facility anyone lives in.
Crystal clear
What we do — and what we don't.
| Service | What it means | |
|---|---|---|
| Information & referral | One call connects you to programs, agencies, and answers that fit your situation — whether or not you're a member. | ✓ We do this |
| Independent-living skills training | Practical, daily-living skills — budgeting, cooking, transportation, self-advocacy — taught so you can do more on your own. | ✓ We do this |
| Peer support & mentoring | Guidance from people with disabilities who've been there — lived experience, not lectures. | ✓ We do this |
| Advocacy | Individual advocacy for your rights and access — and systems advocacy to make our whole community more inclusive. | ✓ We do this |
| Transitions | Helping people move OUT of nursing homes and institutions back into the community — and helping young adults transition to independent adult life. | ✓ We do this |
| Medical equipment (Home Again) | Refurbished durable medical equipment, loaned to members or available at fair low cost. Learn more → | ✓ We do this |
| Workshops & employer training | Sensitivity & awareness training, ADA assessments, and leadership programs for the whole community. | ✓ We do this |
| Not this | Why the confusion happens | |
|---|---|---|
| Assisted living | "Independent living" sounds like a housing category. It isn't — it's a philosophy: people with disabilities directing their own lives. | ✗ Not us |
| A nursing home or care facility | We don't provide medical care, nursing, or 24-hour supervision. In fact, we help people move out of institutions. | ✗ Not us |
| A group home or housing provider | Nobody lives here. We help you live independently where you live. | ✗ Not us |
| A home-care agency | We don't send aides or caregivers into homes. We connect you to resources and teach the skills that reduce how much help you need. | ✗ Not us |
| A medical provider | We provide equipment, skills, and advocacy — not diagnoses, treatment, or therapy. | ✗ Not us |
The philosophy
Independence means choice — not doing everything alone.
Independent living doesn't mean living without help. It means people with disabilities having the same choices and control over their own lives that people without disabilities take for granted — where to live, how to work, how to take part in community life.
A CIL exists to make those choices real: skills when you want to learn them, equipment when you need it, a peer who's been there, and an advocate in your corner.
Still unsure?
Ask us — that's literally our job.
Information & referral is a core CIL service, free to anyone. If we're not the right fit, we'll point you to who is.