Background Statement
NWCCI fosters communities where natural supports replace the need for institutional care and minimize reliance on welfare service providers. We work with people to achieve goals for being civically and socially engaged in more inclusive, accommodating and accessible environments. We do not allow money to be a barrier to our services and work with people of any age, background and ability to identify options and accomplish goals through a personalized Independent Living Plan. Our staff shall implement a participant-driven, skills-building approach to establish objectives and identify actionable tasks, duties, and responsibilities.
We do not attempt to cure, fix or rehabilitate anyone. We do not tell anyone what to do. We do not set up programs and plug people into what is deemed best for them. We listen to what is important to them and work together to do the best we can with their abilities to live more independently. We believe in dignity of risk and the right to fail as a means of learning life lessons and improving independence.
Our peer support, options counseling, skills-building approach to successfully supporting people with disabilities who have goals for thriving in our communities is shifting the paradigm in how human services are delivered. We are a movement of people with disabilities celebrating unique strengths and valuable perspectives gained from lived experience. We work with people to craft messages for educating elected officials and key decision-makers around issues affecting our ability to participate in community, such as transportation, housing, access to healthcare, employment, education and more. We support people with disbilities to be civically engaged, experience freedom from isolation and participate in local economies. We assist individuals with disabilities to identify options and develop plans for accomplishing goals in a supported step-by-step process. We work together to foster skills such as self-advocacy and professional etiquette, useful for making informed choices, directing services and assuming control of our own lives to overcome learned helplessness, toxic charity and dependency resulting from institutional models of care.
The NorthWest Colorado Center for Independence (NWCCI) was founded in 1997 as the Independent Life Center. We are one of nine (9) Centers for Independent Living (CILs) in Colorado and over 400 ClLs throughout the United States. In 2013, current Executive Director Ian Engle rebuilt, renamed and implemented a complete overhaul to revitalize the organization, recruiting staff and board members to embrace a participant-driven model of success. In 2016, a nationally recognized facilitator was brought in to develop a strategic plan with our board of directors, a working document mapping the evolution of our success. We are currently in the process of updating our strategic plan for the second time since its inception. NWCCI is integrated in five counties: Grand, Moffat, Routt, Rio Blanco and Summit. NWCCI has developed into a firmly rooted Center for Independent Living with systems in place for ensuring succession and operational longevity.