Advocacy Spotlight: Center for Independent Futures

Center for Independent Futures (CIF) in Evanston is one of Joining Forces for Affordable Housing's founding community partners. CIF was started by two women who wanted their daughters with disabilities to live more independent lives. There weren’t many opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to find housing that suited their needs or allowed them to live as independently as they wished before CIF. With an emphasis on equity and self-determination, these two founders created an organization that now empowers people with disabilities to lead independent and fulfilling lives, using a person-centered approach to provide different kinds of services. 

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Barriers to Well-Being and Independence
CIF has noted many obstacles that individuals with disabilities (and their families) often face in their efforts to achieve both well-being and independence:

• It is assumed that families ought to care for family members with disabilities themselves, yet many families can’t afford or aren't equipped to provide that level of care without some financial assistance or a caregiver.
• Finding affordable housing is very difficult when people with disabilities require housing that also accommodates any specialized needs they have.
• People that qualify for supportive services get placed on very long wait lists that delay access to services.
• Caregivers are largely underfunded and difficult to find.
• Even though people who live with their families or in group homes may receive state disability benefits, these benefits aren't sufficient for people who want to live more independently.
• Many areas with desirable housing for individuals with  disabilities aren’t close to necessary resources like public transportation, grocery stores, doctor’s offices, employment, etc.
• To qualify for disability benefits, people can’t have more than $2,000 in their bank accounts or on hand. At the same time, the benefits don't provide enough money for independent living, leaving recipients stuck in poverty.

CIF Services and Solutions
To address these disparities, CIF provides services such as: 

• Person-centered coaching and education that teaches people with disabilities how to live as independent a life as possible, whether that means living with their parents, living alone, or living with roommates.
• Community-based supportive housing that places several people into one house, where residents have their own bedrooms and rent is split among them. CIF tries to ensure that these properties are close to necessary resources,
• Providing a supportive learning management system to schools and organizations  that teaches people with disabilities about establishing social connections, navigating transportation, how to find and keep a job, community engagement, health and wellness, and recreation.
• Providing the New Futures Initiative training program that shows organizations how to create affordable, supportive housing solutions in their communities.
• Hosting community-building events that allow clients to share their talents with others to promote enrichment. 

CIF and Housing
From years of work, CIF has developed a comprehensive toolkit with important information and linkages to resources to establish accessible and supportive housing anywhere in the country. Since affordability is usually at the forefront of CIF's priorities, CIF has participated with Joining Forces since its inception in 2017.

Additionally, CIF took part in Joining Forces’ Equitable Zoning Project. Beyond zoning laws that might not include accessible or accommodating infrastructure for Evanstonians with disabilities, a major issue that the disabled population in Evanston faces is the City's "three-unrelated rule." Since most people with disabilities have limited incomes, they don’t have enough money to spend on high rents, which makes living with roommates to split rent a necessity for this community. However, it’s illegal for people to live with more than two other people who aren’t relatives.   

What Is Still Needed?
CIF believes that one of the best things that can be done to improve affordable housing in Evanston is enforcing ADA compliance across the board and ensuring that apartment buildings with elevators have several working elevators. Another suggestion is to move forward with radical zoning reform to make Evanston’s zoning code more equitable for people with disabilities and lower incomes. 

Ultimately, the idea of accommodation should be normalized both in our culture and in our building designs. Factoring accommodations into developments at the planning stage isn’t that expensive or complicated compared to adding accommodations to a development that’s already been built. Even though a lot of people don’t live with disabilities, different kinds of disabilities tend to come with age. So, most people will face disability at some point in their lives, and the accommodations for people who have always had physical limitations can also benefit elderly people. 
 
People interviewed: Dick Malone (CIF’s Executive Director), Kathy Lyons (CIF’s Director of Community Outreach and Strategy), and Samantha Kolkey (CIF’s Director of Programs and Services)   ​