![]() 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. 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:
CIF Services and Solutions To address these disparities, CIF provides services such as:
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)
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