11/10/2025
Nothing about us without us!
Why It Matters Monday: Independent Living
Independent living was not handed to us. It was fought for and through that fight Ed Roberts laid the groundwork.
It was the early 1960s and 70s, and Ed has contracted polio at age fourteen, lived in an iron lung, and was told the world had no place for him. He refused to accept that disability should mean living behind closed doors. At Berkeley he helped create a new vision. A vision where disabled people would control their own lives rather than being told what was possible for them.
His words still ring out today. He said that society is what creates the barriers. Inaccessible buildings, low expectations, stereotypes. And it is up to us as disabled persons to name them, challenge them, and remove them so we can live lives with full and equal access to the world around us.
Independent living means having the same rights as everyone else. The right to choose where we live, who supports us, and how we spend our days.
It means having the supports that make independence real. Personal care attendants, home health aides, accessible transportation, and medical equipment that actually works for the body that uses it. It means being seen as a whole person. Someone capable. Someone with purpose.
Today, Independent Living Centers carry that legacy forward. They are led by disabled people. They are rooted in community, peer support, and collective strength. They help people stay in their homes instead of being forced into facilities. They help people return to the lives they were told they would never have.
Through Home and Community Based Services waivers, thousands of disabled people have moved out of nursing homes and group homes and into their own apartments. We have watched people get their own keys again. We have watched them rebuild. We have watched people go back to work, marry partners they love, mentor others, and step into leadership. This is what happens when society invests in people.
Supporting independent living means building a stronger and more connected community. It means giving room for growth, love, contribution, and belonging.
Right now, that legacy is at risk. Medicaid funding and Home and Community Based Services are being targeted. Decisions are being made by people who see disabled lives as too expensive or too inconvenient. They are wrong. These services are not optional. They are lifelines. Without them people lose their homes. They lose their attendants and supports. They lose their independence.
Investing in disabled people is not charity. It is justice. It is dignity. It is how we build a world where people are not just surviving but living with meaning and choice.
Independent living is not just a policy. It is a promise. And we cannot allow that promise to be broken.
