Center for Accessible Living Inc

CAL is a disability rights and resource center for people with disabilities, governed by people with disabilities. Services are offered on a peer level to individuals with all types of disabilities.

Our experienced staff provides information, advocacy and services that create opportunities for people with disabilities to live as independently as possible. 

“Independent Living does not mean that we want to do everything by ourselves, do not need anybody or like to live in isolation. Independent Living means that we demand the same choices and control in our every-day lives that our non-disabled brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends take for granted. We want to grow up in our families, go to the neighborhood school, use the same bus as our neighbors; work in jobs that are in line with our education and interests, and raise families of our own. We are profoundly ordinary people sharing the same need to feel included, recognized and loved.”

- Dr. Adolph Ratzka

"My experiences in the nursing home were not good. For a woman in her early thirties, I had very little freedom. The staff told me what to do and when to do it; they wanted to put me to bed at seven in the evening.

Once I was out on my own, the Center for Accessible Living helped me find an apartment. The Personal Care Attendant Program allows me to be the boss of my attendant, so that I can live more independently. I can hire and fire who I want and most importantly, I can set my own schedule.

For the first time in my life I was eating and going to bed when I chose to, not when someone else wanted me to. I was able to eat food that I wanted to eat, not just whatever was put in front of me. I now have the choice of doing what I want without being told what to do. I can go to a baseball game if I want to."

- Jackie, Consumer/Client.