Delta Center for Independent Living

Delta Center for Independent Living is a non-profit organization which exists to support people with disabilities to live as independently as possible in the community. Our coverage area includes St. Charles, Lincoln, and Warren Counties. We are one of twenty-one centers in Missouri. Centers for Independent Living arose from the disability rights movement in the early 1970s. Communities were not accessible and supports to assist people with remaining in their homes did not exist. The disability rights movement led to the Rehabilitation Act of 1975 and eventually the Americans with Disabilities Act. . Connecting people to community resources through our information and referral services assisted 507 people during the last reporting year. Referrals range from financial assistance to transportation to in-home supports and health care services. There is no end to what people with disabilities will need in the way of community supports to remain independent. . Skills training, which can encompass self-advocacy, cooking, budgeting, etc. was provided to 28 people over the last year. . Peer support services connect people with disabilities with each other in order to create natural support networks of people who have common, shared experiences. Thirty-three received peer support services during the year. . Delta Center partners with the Veterans Administration by providing veteran-directed in-home services in Warren, Lincoln, and Montgomery Counties and St. Louis City in Missouri as well as a dozen counties in Illinois. This program continues to grow. Delta Center also provides the financial management service part of the program to Centers for Independent Living in other parts of the county which offer the Veteran Program. . Delta Center offers an equipment exchange program which provides durable medical equipment to people who otherwise cannot afford them. During this fiscal year, Delta Center received $36,097 worth of donated items (if they had been purchased new). We re