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Index
of previous MCIL Journals
10/14/99, 12:41 pmcdt
Independent Living is the right to screw-up.
That is not in the Memphis Center for Independent Living's mission statement, but it is a benchmark to see how well we are doing our job. Our mission statement is to fully integrate people with disabilities into our community. So, if someone with a disability is integrated in the Memphis community, they are going to screw-up just like their non-disabled peers.
The Independent Living movement was started by people with disabilities and is a philosophy of assimilation that allows people to screw-up. For too long, people with disabilities have been seen as objects to be "taken care of." This "caretaker-dependency model" tends to take away the power, dignity and self-respect of a person. It also isolates and segregates people with disabilities in their homes and in institutions away from the community.
The Independent Living movement works to put the power, dignity and self-respect back in the hands of people with disabilities. The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act is the major tool to empower people with disabilities, and to reinforce their role as consumers, voters, parents, workers, and people that screw-up.
I hope you hear more about the work of MCIL, you may be familiar with a recent court battle over the single step at the Public Eye. In this case MCIL assisted an individual file a complaint in the Federal Court and should have access to the bar-b-que store in 90 days. The U. S. Attorney gave a press conference at MCIL where she said the access issue at the Public Eye wouldn't be the last.
What you may not hear about MCIL is that we work to assist people do the typical, routine, and everyday tasks in life that may have significant barriers to people with disabilities, that are not encountered by non-disabled Memphians. Like, becoming a parent, buying a house, starting a business, learning to use a computer, or my favorite, riding the bus.
MCIL concentrates on the classic areas of civil rights advancement: Housing, Employment, and Transportation. Public transportation is a building block for integration into the community. Medicaid pays for special transportation needs for medical trips - to the doctor and hospital. But this "medical" mode of transit is not typical of what Memphians do. Sadly, trips to the doctor are often the only time people with disabilities in Memphis leave their home. We hope to change that. MCIL is working to teach people to ride the accessible fixed-rout, and paratransit buses so every Memphian can screw-up.
Back to the Index of the MCIL Journal 1999
Back to the Index of the MCIL Journal 1998
Back to the Index of the MCIL Journal 1997
The Memphis Center for Independent Living
1633 Madison Avenue,
Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 726-6404 v/tty (901) 726-6521 fax
mcil@mcil.org
MCIL is a United Way of the Mid-South member Agency
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