Vision Statement

Independent Living Centre Kingston believes in a society whereby people with all disabilities fully participate in every aspect of their communities by applying Independent Living principles. These principles empower individuals with disabilities to explore options, make decisions, take risks and take control of their own life.

Mission Statement

Independent Living Centre Kingston is a regional non-profit organization run by and for people with disabilities promoting Independent Living. We provide leadership, support and skills development for people with disabilities and our communities.

Board Of Directors: 2008-2009

Executive Committee:

President: Evelyn Maizen
Vice-President: David Grightmire
Secretary: Mike Gurnick
Treasurer: Vincent Durant
Past President: Steve Mitchell

Directors:

Albert Mezzetta
Mary Margaret Dauphinee
Maria Helena Delgado
Susan Charlesworth
Judy Groulx
Audrey Kobayashi
Andrew Ashby
John Fotheringham

Twenty years and growing, a brief history of Independent Living Centre Kingston

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a group of individuals with disabilities brought the concept of Independent Living (IL) to Kingston. After conducting a research study, they confirmed Kingston's need for an Independent Living Centre.

Planning and development resulted in funding for one full-time employee when Independent Living Centre Kingston (ILCK) opened its doors in 1988.

The early 1990s ILCK was defining what we were about, understanding the philosophy of IL, and internalizing it into our mission and mandate. Time was spent promoting the IL movement in Kingston because there was no awareness building before that.

Along with promoting the centre, ILCK secured funding to deliver information services, and support and skills building to people with disabilities for greater community participation. ILCK started to respond to the need for housing, and employment resources and services to people with disabilities - unmet needs in the community until that point. As we provided services and promoted ILCK, our membership and user-base continued to grow.

By the mid-1990s, we became more involved with disability organizations. ILCK brought more than 16 organizations from the Eastern Ontario together for the Voices in Partnership conference to assess priorities in the disability community. ILCK raised the issues of violence against women with disabilities, and developed educational material and training programs.

ILCK began to focus on educating the community about accessibility, and created an Access Guide to Kingston. Employment services went from on-site training programs to programs that helped people find employment and improve their quality of life, through concurrent IL skills building. In the late 1990s, the centre took a leadership role on the provincial and national levels. We became partners in the Direct Funding pilot project.

ILCK continues to provide its services and expanded them to include disability awareness training. We streamlined our operations programming procedures and today operate with greater efficiency than ever before.We continue to promote the centre within the community and have substantially increased our community involvement and outreach efforts.

Would you like to learn more about Independent Living? IL Resources.
Interested in becoming a Member of ILCK? Join.
Do you want to find out more about partnership opportunities? Valued Supporters.
Would you like know more about volunteering? Volunteer at ILCK.

Accredited
Member Of

Independent Living Centre Kingston Valued Partners