CALIFORNIA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING CENTERS

CFILC's goals are to increase access and equal opportunities for Californian's with disabilities. We seek to improve the options that people with all types of disabilities, of all ages have as the live, learn and earn.

One of our key strategies is to build the capacity of our network of California Centers for Independent Living Centers (ILCs). Twenty-eight ILCs in fifty communities provide services and advocacy to over 100,000 people annually. CFILC functions as a training and technical assistance center for California. All of our programs leverage, support and build the capacity California's ILCs to work, grow and thrive in their local communities.

ILCs are non-profits (501c3) that are run by for and about people with disabilities, we use a peer model of service and advocacy strategy that welcomes people with any type of disability to access services. Our board, staff and management always consist of 51% or more people with disabilities.

CFILC's Assistive Technology Network supports Assistive Technology Advocates in California ILCs, while also building a broad network of agencies, partnerships and collaborations to get Assistive Technologies into the hands of people who need it. We employ a host of capabilities through our trainings, webinars, technical assistance, toll-free line, online exchange, device lending libraries, reuse centers, loan guarantees and one-to-one advocacy, we make obtaining Assistive Technology a reality.

CFILC's Disability Organizing Network supports people with disabilities to build accessible communities. Through training, technical assistance, and a statewide communications infrastructure we support 28 ILCs build local and regional campaigns to increase access to Healthcare, Education, Housing, and Transportation.

CFILC's Youth Organizing! Disabled & Proud supports youth with disabilities by providing volunteer opportunities within ILCs across California. YO! Volunteers learn both hard and soft skills working side by side with staff how have a variety of disabilities. YO! Volunteers make a year long commitment and earn a stipend, as they work on youth driven organizing campaigns like teaching disability history in schools and bullying prevention.

CFILC's Digital Access Project is focused on increasing access to internet services for people with disabilities. We offer low-cost internet service options to the disability community, through a network of partners statewide. We assist our community in accessing low-cost refurbished computers, laptops and tables, and we work to identify local accessible digital literacy training centers so that people with disabilities know where to learn about how to use technology.

CFILC is a learning organization, we are constantly assessing and evaluating our progress and making course changes as needed. We look to be innovative, we try new things and while sometimes we fail, we always learn!

We have made progress in our AT Network program by winning federal funding this year to create the FreedomTech Loan Guarantee program. This program will make it possible for low to moderate income people needing expensive Assistive Technology to get low interest loans.

We made progress in or DO Network program by building an interactive website and launching a social media strategy, and by re-branding an old and confusing program name (Systems Change Network) to a name that was chosen by the community. We broadened our network to support not just the ILCs, but to directly engage the communities that local centers serve.

We made progress in our YO! program by integrating key youth issues into our other programs. We have increased the number of opportunities that youth have to participate in YO!, as Volunteers, as Action Team members, as Youth Advisory Council members, and through shorter summer internships with YO! as well as other programs locally, statewide and nationally.

We made progress in our DAP project by identifying barriers to internet adoption, and working with community partners and funders we were gifted donations of technology and funding that allow us to offer free modems to people with disabilities, saving individuals $60 in set up fees-which was the biggest barrier to gaining digital access.