Social Service - Vermont Center for Independent Living

The Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL) teaches people with significant disabilities how to gain more control over their lives and how to access tools and services to live more independently. We also conduct public education and systems change activities that promote the full inclusion of disabled people into community life.

An estimated one in five Vermonters has a disability. VCIL, a private non- profit organization, is Vermont's first and only cross-disability center for independent living and the first organization in the state to be directed and staffed by a majority of people with diverse disabilities.

Statewide, from October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004, VCIL responded to over 2,000 requests from individuals, agencies and community groups for information and referrals on a broad range of subjects related to living with a disability. We provided one-on-one peer counseling to 355 individuals to help increase their independent living skills and life opportunities; provided 401 households with financial and technical assistance for making their bathrooms and entrances accessible to a disabled family member; provided over 345 with personal assistance and/or assistive technology; provided communications equipment to 76 Deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired individuals through the Vermont Equipment Distribution Program, and delivered meals to almost 555 Vermonters through VCIL's Meals On Wheels program for Individuals Under 60 with Disabilities.

The VCIL central office is located in Montpelier with three regional offices in Bennington, Brattleboro and Burlington. The Montpelier office houses a disability resource library and the toll-free information line, through which answers to disability-related questions are provided to callers from every Vermont community. Our locally-based Peer Advocacy Counselors are available to people with disabilities in every municipality in Vermont.

During FY 2004, VCIL provided direct services to 49 residents of the Town of Hartford utilizing the following services/programs:

• Information & Referral
• Meals on Wheels (for people with disabilities under the age of 60)
• Home and Community Access Program
• Peer Advocacy Counseling Program
• Sue Williams Freedom Fund
• VT Equipment Distribution Program

To learn more about VCIL, call toll-free at 1-800-639-1522

The Hartford Housing Authority | Windsor County Partners | Health Care & Rehabilitation of Southern Vermont | Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) | Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) | The Upper Valley Haven, Inc. | Women's Information Services (WISE) | The Vermont Center for Independent Living | Vermont Adult Learning | Visiting Nurse Alliance of Vermont and New Hampshire, Inc. | The Family Place | Headrest | Bugbee Senior Center | Advance Transit