Join Access Living, Disability Rights California, and The Arc Minnesota for on March 11: Being an Immigrant and Disabled in the U.S.: Defending Civil Rights Under Escalating Federal Enforcement.
This webinar will focus on coordinating support between disability and immigration advocates to provide more wholistic support to immigrants and their families.
Join Access Living, Disability Rights California, and The Arc Minnesota for on March 11: Being an Immigrant and Disabled in the U.S.: Defending Civil Rights Under Escalating Federal Enforcement.
This webinar will focus on coordinating support between disability and immigration advocates to provide more wholistic support to immigrants and their families.
Access Living joins the world today in honoring the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., the global human rights and social justice leader, as well as our friend and fellow proud Chicagoan. For decades, Reverend Jackson consistently showed up to support both Access Living and people with disabilities across the nation. A tremendous leader, well aware of our collective flawed humanity, he also consistently put his body on the line in solidarity with the most marginalized of our city and of the world. In his last years, Reverend Jackson was “one of us”: a person with a disability. In this photo, Reverend Jackson shakes the hand of disability giant Justin Dart, Jr., at one of the Congressional hearings to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act.
We send our condolences to Reverend Jackson’s family, friends and comrades from all walks of life. We will never forget, Reverend Jackson, that we are SOMEBODY!
Photo source: Library of Congress, photographed by R. Michael Jenkins.
Image description: At a Congressional hearing in Washington DC in 1989, the Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., a Black man in a suit, shakes the hand of Justin Dart, Jr., a white wheelchair user in a suit with a cowboy hat and glasses.
02/11/2026
We had a full house last night for our event with ! Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate disability pride and the release of Lachi’s new book!
02/09/2026
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with purpose! 💖 Love Without Limits 2026 invites you to uplift disability inclusion, make a love pledge, and connect in community at Access Living on February 19, 1–5 p.m.
Join Access Living CEO Karen Tamley, Lachi, and Women & Children First Bookstore for a conversation celebrating the release of Lachi's book "I IDENTIFY AS BLIND: A Brazen Celebration of Disability Culture, Identity, and Power." Word on the street is Lachi will open the event with a performance!
Learn more and register at the link below!
Join us for an evening celebrating Lachi’s new book, “I IDENTIFY AS BLIND: A Brazen Celebration of Disability Culture, Identity, and Power“. Lachi will be in conversation with Access Living’s […]
01/23/2026
Across the country, immigrants with disabilities are at high risk of harm from ICE/CBP Patrol enforcement activities. In the last year alone: Aliya Rahman was on the way to a traumatic brain injury appointment when she was stopped and dragged out of her car by ICE. Geraldo Lunas Campos, who had anxiety and bipolar disorder, was strangled to death by ICE in El Paso. Carlos Chango, who is blind, was detained for days in solitary with no cane. Multiple Deaf people have been detained. These are only some of the disability stories from streets and neighborhoods where ICE/CBP's presence is creating unsafe and sometimes deadly conditions for everyone. Access Living calls on all our friends and allies to lift up the disability stories within the immigration law enforcement surge. We reaffirm our support for the constitutional, disability and human rights of immigrants with disabilities of all statuses. What is happening right now is unacceptable.
Image description: A colorful group of people with different disabilities raise their fists in support of immigrants. They stand against an orange background on top of a purple swoosh. Below is the purple Access Living logo, which is a drop of water creating a ripple effect. Above them is the text: "We reaffirm our support for the constitutional, disability and human rights of immigrants with disabilities of all statuses. What is happening right now is unacceptable."
12/24/2025
45 years of breaking barriers. And we're not stopping now.
More people with disabilities need our support than ever before- for advocacy, direct assistance and peer connection.
BIG NEWS: Every gift is matched 5X through December 31.
Make 5X the impact. https://www.accessliving.org/donate
12/23/2025
Happy Holidays from all of us at Access Living! As a reminder, we are closed from December 23 to January 2. We look forward to the work ahead in 2026!
12/18/2025
Three Access Living team members were named to the Disability Lead 2026 Fellows Class!
“The Chicago cohort represents a powerful group of 20 leaders, including professionals ranging from artists to attorneys, consultants to therapists, and writers to founders of organizations. We look forward to supporting this new cohort on their leadership journey!”
Congratulations, Barbara, Susan, and Iliana!
12/12/2025
Access Living friends and allies: We have learned that unfortunately, the Governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, has signed SB 1950, the assisted su***de bill. We are extremely disappointed and troubled by this outcome.
During the last 48 hours, we and our partners worked hard to ask Governor JB Pritzker to oppose SB 1950, the Illinois assisted su***de bill. Here’s a recap of those efforts.
First, Access Living and disability partners met with Governor’s office staff yesterday. We were joined by two important guests, Melissa Ortiz and Dan Sescleifer, the father of Jane Allen. Melissa, Dan, and Jane all faced terrible disability-related situations that happened in areas where assisted su***de is legal, and where the law is similar to SB 1950. Their stories demonstrated that despite safeguards, bad situations will happen. Access Living also shared our many concerns regarding establishing an assisted su***de system in Illinois.
Second, disability organizations and individual advocates continued to contact the Governor’s office to ask for a veto of SB 1950. We thank all of you for taking action on this very controversial issue.
Third, we held a vigil with our partners yesterday outside the Governor’s Chicago offices. Access Living is part of the Stop Assisted Su***de Illinois coalition. Our coalition members vary widely in constituency and philosophy, but we share the same understanding that allowing an assisted su***de system in Illinois will create potentially grave consequences. We were fortunate to garner media attention from CBS and NPR Illinois.
Again, we are deeply disappointed by this outcome. For now, we are taking a moment to regroup and will update you, our community, on our next steps.
Illinois becomes 12th state to enact legislation to provide terminally ill patients with autonomy, dignity and peace at the end of their lives
12/03/2025
Today, December 3rd, is International Day of Persons with Disabilities!
Created by the United Nations in 1992, International Day of Persons with Disabilities aims to promote the rights and wellbeing of disabled people across the globe. This year's theme is, "Fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress."
Today, Human Rights Watch also announced that Hilda Macheso, a Malawian disability rights advocate, was selected as the 2025-26 recipient of the Human Rights Watch Marca Bristo Fellowship for Courageous Leadership in Disability Rights. The fellowship was established in 2020 to honor Marca Bristo, our founder and inaugural chair of the Human Rights Watch disability rights advisory committee.
Hilda Macheso, a Malawian disability rights advocate, is the 2025 recipient of the Human Rights Watch Marca Bristo Fellowship for Courageous Leadership in Disability Rights, Human Rights Watch announced today on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
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The disability movement is really the story of many movements for the rights and freedom of people with disabilities. The work of Access Living was born from the work of the independent living movement, which co-exists with movements such as the self-advocacy movement, the Autistic movement, and others.
In 1972, the independent living movement, with roots in the civil rights and social change movements, began taking shape with the creation of the country's first center for independent living, the Berkeley Center for Independent Living. As other centers for independent living sprang up across the country, a new philosophy emerged -- an "independent living philosophy" that asserts that people with disabilities are their own best advocates and able to make the necessary decisions in order to live, work and socialize in the community. This was a significant shift away from the prevailing "medical model" which viewed people with disabilities as individuals who needed to be cared for. The community of people with disabilities entered the dawn of a new era.
In 1980, Access Living brought the independent living movement to Illinois when it was founded as part of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's quest to address the growing need for affordable, accessible housing for its patients ready to leave the RIC. Access Living remained a department within the RIC until 1984, when it became an independent non-profit group.
In the early 1980's society largely ignored people with disabilities. They were invisible: disrespected and viewed as little more than recipients of charity. Few options, if any, existed for to people with disabilities to engage in the community. Disabled people were segregated in housing, in schools, in cultural and sports arenas, in restaurants, shopping and entertainment. There was limited access to quality medical care, no accessible public transportation, no curb cuts, and communications access was rarely available. Employment opportunities were less than minimal. With early support from the RIC, Access Living’s committed staff took on the challenge of removing the obstacles that stood in the way of full equality for people with disabilities.
Chicago’s First Center for Independent Living
By the mid-1980's Access Living was a thriving non-profit organization, growing from a small storefront on North LaSalle Street to a much larger loft space, headquartered on Van Buren Street. But Access Living did not let its relative youth prevent it from tackling many of Chicago’s most pressing problems: the lack of housing, personal assistance and transportation options for people with disabilities. Successfully linking powerful advocacy efforts around these and other crucial issues to specific client needs enabled Access Living to turn clients into activists, and activists into leaders.
Support and Services
Access Living’s peer-based programs, including independent living skills training and peer counseling and support, provided thousands of people with the essential skills and motivation to take back control of their lives. For nearly three decades, Access Living has impacted the lives of thousands of individuals with disabilities through direct services, advocacy and education. Access Living’s mission, based on the philosophy of the Independent Living Movement, is to empower people with disabilities so they may lead dignified, independent lives and to foster an inclusive society for all people – with and without disabilities.
Advocacy
A vocal advocate on the forefront of local and national change, Access Living has played a key role in many of the improvements that took shape in Chicago and across the country. At home, Access Living has been a part of several campaigns to make mainline public transportation more accessible. Today, 100% of all CTA buses are lift-equipped.
Also, Access Living successfully advocated for and won the allocation of $30 million of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) budget Capital Improvement Plan for making CPS more accessible. In 2006, Access Living’s Youth Leaders led a effort to restore millions of dollars cut from the Public Schools Special Education Budget.
Nationally, Access Living initiated a disability housing coalition that was responsible for creating the Office on Disability Policy at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and had a leadership role in drafting and passing of the historic Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), passed in 1990. Access Living also developed an innovative Fair Housing Testing Program, designed to identify discrimination against people with disabilities in the sale and rental of housing. Access Living’s Testing Program and Youth Program have served as models for the development of similar programs throughout the country. These examples are just some of the ways Access Living has made an unparalleled contribution to the progress of the disability community.
Living the Vision
In 2003 Access Living launched Living the Vision: The Campaign to Build a Permanent Home for Access Living. The goal of securing a permanent office space was to secure Access Living’s financial stability, while allowing the organization to continue to expand and pioneer new programs and standards of service for people with disabilities, both nationally and internationally.
On March 5, 2007, the dream became a reality when Access Living opened its doors at 115 West Chicago Avenue.
The new, state-of-the-art facility stands as a national model of Universal Design -- which reconceives fundamental architectural ideas and provides spaces that accommodate the broadest possible range of users. The building also will meet the needs of future users while having a limited impact on the environment, making it one of the first buildings to successfully combine Universal and Green Design.
Access Living's space is more than a new building. It is a testament to accessibility, sustainability and potential. A model of innovation, the elegant glass edifice facing Chicago Avenue welcomes everyone to pursue empowerment and independence.
While confronting the issues posed by inaccessible housing, transportation and public services may be a crucial step in achieving independence, a major component of breaking down physical barriers is changing the attitudinal barriers that built them in the first place. With an engaging array of cultural events, workshops, trainings and support groups, Access Living now focuses on instilling pride in the way people with disabilities view themselves and fosters dignity in the way others view the disability community. Access Living is also in an ongoing process of developing its ability to engage in intersectional work with a range of community partners.
