Center for Independent Living - Berkeley

Center for Independent Living - Berkeley CIL supports and empowers people who aspire to achieve beyond the boundaries of the expectations

The Center for Independent Living (TheCIL) provides advocacy and services that increase awareness, collaboration, and opportunity among people with disabilities and the community. Our programs provide people with skills, knowledge, and resources that empower them to eliminate damaging and stereotypical notions of disability to strive toward realizing their full human potential. We emerged from the independent living movement of the 1960s as a powerful social catalyst on the University of California at Berkeley campus. There, Ed Roberts, Hale Zukas, and Jan McEwan Brown joined forces to lead a movement that made the university's full academic and social life accessible to all. On March 3, 1972, these students and community members joined The Center for Independent Living, Inc. From 1975 to 2011, our headquarters were located near the UC Berkeley campus on 2539 Telegraph Avenue. There, we provided services for people with disabilities that included wheelchair repair, assistance finding accessible and affordable housing, and vocational training. TheCIL also hosted the first national conference on independent living in 1975. Our peer-based services were so successful that today we serve as a model for roughly 400 independent living centers nationwide, as well as similar programs in 20 countries.

Celebrate the season with us at the CIL Holiday Market!Join the Center for Independent Living for a cozy, joyful evening...
12/09/2025

Celebrate the season with us at the CIL Holiday Market!

Join the Center for Independent Living for a cozy, joyful evening of holiday shopping, community connection, and seasonal cheer at the Ed Roberts Campus.

Shop from local and disabled-owned small businesses, discover unique and handmade gifts, and enjoy free hot drinks while you browse and celebrate with friends, family, and neighbors.

This is more than a market — it’s a community gathering rooted in access, creativity, and joy.

🗓 Thursday, December 18

⏰ 5–8 PM

📍 Ed Roberts Campus. 3075 Adeline St, Berkeley, CA

🎟 Free and open to the public

👉 Register to attend: https://bit.ly/48Ei6jq

We can’t wait to welcome you and celebrate the season together! 💛

Honoring a Legacy at Berkeley Central LibraryDr. Victor Pineda, Executive Director of the Center for Independent Living ...
12/08/2025

Honoring a Legacy at Berkeley Central Library

Dr. Victor Pineda, Executive Director of the Center for Independent Living (CIL), joined author Scot Danforth, Mark Roberts, and community members for the reading of An Independent Man — the first biography of Ed Roberts, founder of the modern Disability Rights Movement.

From the iron lung to the halls of UC Berkeley, Ed Roberts revolutionized what independence, access, and equality mean for disabled people. His vision helped shape the Center for Independent Living, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a global movement for disability justice.

We are proud to carry his legacy forward — in action, advocacy, and community.

Congratulations to Scot Danforth on this powerful and essential contribution to disability history and justice.

12/03/2025

Episode 1 of The Independent Podcast is live!

Our premiere episode features Congresswoman Lateefah Simon in a powerful conversation on leadership, justice, and disability-informed policy.

Powered by the Center for Independent Living (CIL), The Independent amplifies disabled voices, lived experience, and the movements shaping our future.

This is where access meets action.

Listen now:

YouTube: https://bit.ly/4pgPXGd

Spotify: https://bit.ly/4rCfqLY

Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/4phAOVj

Today, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we honor the power, leadership, and autonomy of persons wi...
12/03/2025

Today, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we honor the power, leadership, and autonomy of persons with disabilities around the world.

As Ed Roberts reminded us, the true barriers are not our bodies — they are expectations.
At CIL, we continue fighting for dignity, access, and independence for all.

For over 50 years, CIL has fought for dignity, access, and choice.This Giving Tuesday, stand with us and help power disa...
12/02/2025

For over 50 years, CIL has fought for dignity, access, and choice.

This Giving Tuesday, stand with us and help power disability justice. 💜

🔗 Donate now — link in bio
https://thecil.org/donate/

11/26/2025

With Giving Tuesday coming up, we’d like to remind you that your generosity helps power our mission and our community.

Your support of the Center for Independent Living fuels disability rights advocacy, independent living services, community education, and direct support for people with disabilities to live with dignity and choice.

Give today. Power real impact:
👉 https://thecil.org/donate/

Crea tu Cuenta de Gmail — Taller2 de diciembre | 1:00–3:00 PMOficina de Fruitvale: 1470 Fruitvale Av. Oakland, CA 94601¿...
11/26/2025

Crea tu Cuenta de Gmail — Taller

2 de diciembre | 1:00–3:00 PM
Oficina de Fruitvale: 1470 Fruitvale Av. Oakland, CA 94601

¿Necesitas ayuda para crear tu cuenta de Gmail? Acompáñanos en este taller práctico donde te ayudaremos a crear tu cuenta y te guiaremos paso a paso en cómo usarla.

Ideal para principiantes. Gratis y abierto a la comunidad.

Escanea el código QR en la imagen y regístrate. No pierdas esta oportunidad.

Know Your Rights – Webinar Series. Part 3Join CIL and VAIL for a powerful session with national guest speakers sharing l...
11/26/2025

Know Your Rights – Webinar Series. Part 3

Join CIL and VAIL for a powerful session with national guest speakers sharing legal knowledge, critical insights, and lived experience.

December 10
12–1 PM PT | 2–3 PM CT
Hybrid: Virtual (TX & CA) + In person at Fruitvale Office, Oakland
Via Zoom

Register now: https://bit.ly/4rkldo4

Learn your rights. Know your power.


‐------------------------

Conoce Tus Derechos – Seminarios. Parte 3

Únete a CIL y VAIL en una sesión especial con ponentes nacionales que compartirán conocimientos legales, experiencias de vida y perspectivas clave.

10 de diciembre
12–1 PM Hora del Pacífico | 2–3 PM Hora Central
Modalidad híbrida: Virtual (TX y CA) + Presencial en la Oficina de Fruitvale, Oakland
Por Zoom

Regístrate aquí: https://bit.ly/4rkldo4

Conoce tus derechos. Conoce tu poder.

Ed Roberts (1939–1995) sparked a movement. He believed disability is a source of power — not limitation.His vision led t...
11/24/2025

Ed Roberts (1939–1995) sparked a movement. He believed disability is a source of power — not limitation.

His vision led to the creation of The Center for Independent Living, the nation’s first disability-led independent living center.

Today, we continue his fight for dignity, access, and justice.

11/24/2025

Coming soon!
The Independent Podcast.

A space for real stories, bold ideas, and the policy and innovation shaping disability justice — powered by the Center for Independent Living (CIL).

The disability community has lost a fearless leader, a visionary thinker, and a beloved friend.Alice Wong dedicated her ...
11/17/2025

The disability community has lost a fearless leader, a visionary thinker, and a beloved friend.

Alice Wong dedicated her life to imagining — and demanding — a world where persons with disabilities could live fully, freely, and without limits imposed by ableism.

Her brilliance, her unapologetic truth-telling, and her uncompromising commitment to justice reshaped our movement and awakened a generation.

She taught us that everything is possible when we remain united — when we stand together, hold each other up, and move forward as one community.

Rest in power,
We carry your courage, your clarity, and your vision forward in everything we do.

Care providers are the backbone of our communities.They show up every day with skill, patience, creativity, and compassi...
11/14/2025

Care providers are the backbone of our communities.

They show up every day with skill, patience, creativity, and compassion — often holding together the gaps that systems leave behind. Their work is not charity. It is essential. It is what allows disabled people to live with dignity, freedom, and self-determination.

To every careworker, personal assistant, attendant, family member, friend, and neighbor who shares the load: thank you. Your labor keeps our communities alive, connected, and resilient.

We invite you to read our full Mini Disability Justice Primer on Care — a tribute to care, interdependence, and the people who make it possible.

Find it at thecil.org/resources under Personal Attendant Services.

For more information, contact:
Fox Machado, Personal Attendant Services at
fmachado@thecil.org

Address

3075 Adeline Street Suite 100
Berkeley, CA
94703

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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