Has the Access Center for Independent Living (ACIL) ever played a role in an advocacy effort that influenced your life or helped you reach an independent living goal?
If you are one of the many individuals in our local communities whom we have empowered over the past 40 years, we kindly ask for your support now. Centers for Independent Living (CILs) depend significantly on federal funding and grants to assist communities. Unfortunately, the recent executive order signed by the new administration has frozen all federal grants and loans, jeopardizing ACIL and other CILs across the United States in their ability to serve people with disabilities in the future.
Upon learning about the executive order, ACIL promptly eliminated all non-essential expenses, including office supplies and mileage reimbursements, from our budget in an effort to sustain our service to local communities for as long as possible, but we recognize that this can only go so far.
The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), an organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the rights of individuals with disabilities through advocacy for all CILs in the U.S., swiftly responded to the executive order. The organization launched a campaign encouraging people with disabilities to write letters to the president, vice president, and federal legislators, urging them to reinstate federal funding so that CILs can continue our vital work in local communities.
NCIL’s campaign page, linked at the end of this article, advocates for the restoration of federal funding for CILs, highlighting that CILs have faced decades of underfunding and that many rural areas lack CILs to assist individuals with disabilities. The page emphasizes that CILs serve as essential hubs for disability information, resources, services, and advocacy. Furthermore, it explains that funding CILs enables individuals with disabilities to live at home with their families, allowing them to work, attend school, worship, and engage in community activities.
If the points on NCIL’s campaign page resonate with you or if ACIL has positively impacted your life or the life of someone you care about over the past 40 years, we humbly request that you write a letter detailing the influence ACIL has had on you or your loved one, while urging federal legislators to restore funding for our services.
NCIL’s campaign was launched on January 29th. According to a news alert on their website, by January 30th, 3,500 letters advocating for the reinstatement of federal funding to protect CIL services had already been collected through the campaign. While this is a fantastic beginning, it is not enough. The more individuals with disabilities who share their stories about how CIL services have improved their lives, the greater the impact. If ACIL or another CIL has assisted you, please consider sharing your experience by contributing a letter to the campaign. If writing a letter is not feasible for you, you can still support NCIL’s campaign by sending a prewritten letter that NCIL has provided regarding the significance of federal funding for CILs.
To submit your letter to the NCIL campaign advocating for the reinstatement of federal funding for CILs, please visit https://ncil.org/advocacy-action/.
If you have any questions or wish to learn how else you can advocate for this cause, feel free to reach out to ACIL at 937-341-5202 or [email protected]. Thank you in advance for your support, which allows us to continue supporting you.
