MASSENA INDEPENDENT LIVING CENTER, INC.
Serving all of St. Lawrence & Franklin Counties with staffed Offices in Massena & Malone, the Massena Independent Living Center, Inc. (MILC) is a private not-for-profit Organization that remains true to our mandate to be Consumer controlled and operated (by and for people with disabilities). Incorporated in 1987, MILC has assisted thousands of North Country residents to increase their independence and access to community life.
OUR MISSION
The MILC, like all Independent Living Centers (ILCs) has the important but unfulfilled Mission of working to ensure that we and our Nation’s more that 45 million fellow people experiencing disabilities are one day able to participate in, and be considered as equals in, all areas and aspects of the American way of life. The fact is that despite major inroads made (i.e. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act & even the Americans with Disabilities Act itself); passive and overt discrimination which excludes people with disabilities from their participation and enjoyment of many things in this Country—still exists. Our goal: to end that discrimination and exclusion, and ensure that people with disabilities have the opportunity to prove ourselves equal. With that; Independent Living Centers are committed to working everyday at effecting the Systems & Attitudinal Change it will take for people with disabilities to be uniformly treated, considered and viewed as the people that we ultimately are—which is ordinary everyday Americans!
CONSUMER CONTROL AND OPERATION
What sets the MILC, Inc. apart from practically all other traditional human service providers out there, is our reliance on the experience, input, knowledge and guidance of the people we claim to represent and serve. In other words; the Massena Independent Living Center, Inc. is a true Independent Living Center in that by mandate, more than fifty percent of the members of our Board of Directors are people with disabilities themselves. Although not required by statute to do so, we take that concept of the power of the peer experience a bit further by ensuring that the majority of our staff and volunteers working at the Massena Independent Living Center, Inc. are people with disabilities as well. Ultimately; this “personal experience with, and consequent perspective of what needs to be done when it comes to matters of disability” goes a long way toward explaining the vigor with which we pursue our “job”!
OUR CREDO
“Nothing about me, without me!”
People with disabilities have been long subjected to the Medical Model of service provision. That “medical model” casually assumes that “professionals” working within an organization or agency, are somehow more qualified than we are, when it comes to making decisions about our lives. The problem with that; beyond just the incredible disrespect it implies, is that it discounts the reality that more often than not, the best judge of a person’s abilities, inabilities, hopes, dreams, aspirations and desires, is the individual themselves. “Nothing about me without me” has become the disability community’s shout for respect, and it’s concept that you are in the best position to know what it is that you can do and/or need, is how the Massena Independent Living Center will interact with you from our first contact on.
Who Does the Massena Independent Living Center Serve?
· People with all physical and mental disabilities.
· People with disabilities of all ages.
· Parents, spouses, siblings, and significant others of people with disabilities.
· School personnel
· Business and industry
· Local government agencies
· Human Service organizations
· Volunteer sector organizations, hospitals, health organizations, and the medical community
· Civic organizations
The Web abounds with information. Click the links below for just a few examples:
Click the link at the end of this sentence for an example of information on Employment
Click the link at the end of this sentence for an example of information on Civil & Disability Rights
Click the link at the end of this sentence for an example of information on Recreation
Click the link at the end of this sentence for an example of information on General
What Services does the Massena Independent Living Center Provide?
Peer Counseling is provided between two or more individuals with disabilities, to share ideas and experiences about living with a disability, in order to gain greater awareness and control over ones own life.
Independent Living Skills Training teaches everyday life skills and is often provided by people with disabilities. Training may include budgeting, meal preparation, arranging transportation, or personal assistance services, job seeking, and self-advocacy.
Information and Referral Services aim to provide individuals with resources and options that may be necessary in making informed choices about living, learning, and working independently.
Individual and Systems Advocacy addresses access to equal opportunities in exercising social, economic, educational, and legal rights. Independent Living Centers work with individuals, community organizations, state/national networks; to promote full inclusion of people with disabilities, and to improve the implementation of existing laws: federal, State, and local.
PLUS
· Assistance locating accessible and/or affordable housing.
· Acquiring and maintaining appropriate benefits and entitlements
· Architectural and communication barrier consultation
· Personal counseling that is non-clinical and short term in nature to address individual goals
· Securing, learning how to use, repair, and maintain equipment
· Assistance in registering to vote
· In-service training, workshops/seminars on disability issues, disability laws and Independent Living philosophy
· Disability awareness training
· Developing Plans to Achieve Self Support (PASS) for recipients of public assistance - SSI/SSDI
· Specialized training and services specific to certain communities
· Pre-employment & Job readiness consultation and training
· Non-repetitive wheelchair lift equipped transportation
Information & Referral
As it is the most requested and perhaps most important service offered by the MILC, we take the answering of people’s disability related questions and requests for appropriate referral quite seriously. Toward that end; feel free to visit, call, email or write us at anytime and if we do not have the information you need immediately at hand—we will research the question and get back to you A.S.A.P. In the meantime, we have put together a list of a few of the more common questions we are asked—and offer some advise along with links to direct sources of information.
I am about to leave high school and am thinking about either working or going on in school. What should I do?
By all means, a good first move is to call the MILC and ask to speak to someone for assistance in developing your Transition Plan. Beyond that; if you have a physical, cognitive or mental Health related disability issue.– regardless of whether you are in or out of school, contact the Malone Office of the New York State Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities. Click the link at the end of this sentence to visit their website http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/malone/
Same question, but coming from a person experiencing a visual impairment.
If your visual acuity is better than 20/200 when corrected but rises to the level of impairing your ability to equally attend school and/or work—again you should click on the above reverenced NYSEDVESID link and seek their assistance. However, if your visual acuity is less than 20/200 when corrected, you become eligible for services available to people who are legally blind. In that event; click on the link at the end of this sentence to visit the Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped’s Website http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/cbvh/
I believe that due to my disability, I have been discriminated against and would like some advise on what to do about it.
Without doubt; contacting the Massena Independent Living Center is a good first step. Although we are not “legal representatives” per say, we can certainly assist you in gathering information about and subsequently understanding your disability related protected rights. Along with that; the MILC will work with you to develop an effective personalized strategy toward asserting and securing your rights & will suggest appropriate referral.
Knowledge is Power, so know your Rights!
Contacting us
You can call, write, email or stop by and see us at either of our locations in Massena or Malone.
Located in Massena, our Main Office address is 156 Center Street, Massena, New York 13662. The toll free phone number is 1-866-772-2482 or you can call 315-764-9442 voice or TDD. Our fax number in Massena is 315-764-9464. Our email which can be clicked on at the end of this sentence in Massena is mindepli@twcny.rr.com
Our Malone Outreach Office address is 41 Pearl Street, Malone, New York 12953. There the phone number is 518-483-2151 voice or TDD. Emails can be sent by clicking on the link at the end of this sentence to leonardatmilc@hotmail.com