Housing Matters
This year’s virtual event focused on housing. Safe, accessible, affordable, available housing is a foundation for community living. We shared stories of success, the barriers that still exist and opportunities for the future.
Agenda
Welcome – Nancy Trzcinski, MASILC Chairperson
Host and Moderator – Steve Higgins, Executive Director Independence Associates
Speakers:
- Commissioner Toni Wolf, Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission
- Senator Susan L. Moran
- Noelle Balutis, Center for Living and Working
- Eric Shupin, Director of Public Policy and Lily Linke, Municipal Engagement Policy Associate Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association
- Shaya French, Boston Center for Independent Living and R. Feynman, Disability Policy Consortium
- Marcelino Guerra, Center for Living and Working Board Member
Community Sharing
Massachusetts has 10 Centers for Independent Living, which together serve all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The Independent Living Movement is founded in the belief that people with disabilities, regardless of the form, have a common history and a shared struggle, that we are a community and a culture that will advance further banded together politically.
The first Center for Independent Living was founded by disability activists in California in 1972. There are now 403 Centers across the United States, providing Peer Support, Information and Referral, Individual and Systems Advocacy, Independent Living Skills Training and Transition.
Independent Living Education Day is a day to celebrate and share the success stories of IL and give voice to the barriers that still exist. This year’s event will focus on housing. Safe, accessible, affordable, available housing is a foundation for community living. This year we will share stories of success, the barriers that still exist and opportunities for the future.