Departments

Our family of agencies began with the Independent Living Center 28 years ago. During the past few years, the Independent Living Center has continued serving participants in need of services to help maintain their independence. Since, services have expanded and evolved in order to meet our goal of full partnership for people with disabilities in our community. The Independent Living Center has a proud record of service to our consumers, our community and to our staff. It is our continuous goal through our work to Empower, Educate, and Inform to create Equality for all.

The Independent Living Center (ILC) provides various services such as Peer Counseling, Advocacy, Benefits and Advisement, Information & Referral, and Independent Living Skills. We accomplish our mission by concentrating on empowering the consumer in three areas of concentration: IL Services, Developmental Disability Programming, and Transitional Services.

Native American Independent Living Services (NAILS) is a federally recognized program which has successfully assisted hundreds of Native Americans with disabilities in the Western New York region. The staff has a proud reputation for culturally sensitive, professional and ethical conduct, enabling NAILS to develop working relationships with health agencies and leaders within the WNY Iroquois Native Territories.

This relationship of Nation's leadership systems, the uniqueness of the staff, the NAILS Council, including members of the Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Mohawk, Seneca and Tuscarora Nations, makes NAILS part of local Native American communities. In part, success of NAILS can be attributed to the fact that services and programs are conducted from mobile offices to provide maximum coverage to American Indians with disabilities who live on the region's three reservations, in area cities and rural communities.

A portable communication system including a toll free telephone number, access to the internet and cell phone linkage between staff, provides consumers and staff immediate access to each other, while ensuring complete confidentiality.

Mental Health Peer Connection

Mental Health Peer Connection (MHPC) a peer run agency that empowers, educates, and strives for equality for persons with mental illness to live to their full potential. This is done through meeting an individual with mental illness in their environment and assist them in obtaining their goals.

Recovery: The Recovery Program consists of three components in addressing the needs of people with mental illness. The components are the Institutional Based, the Community Based, and the Vocational Based. Each is designed to assist people with mental illness in their recovery process from mental illness.

• Institutional Based Service:

  Purpose: To meet mental health recipients in psychiatric institutions in Erie County: the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo General Hospital, and Brylin Hospital, and to assist them in their goals of reentering the community.

• Community Based Services:

  Purpose: To assist people in Erie County with mental illness to overcome obstacles in community living that could restrict independence. Populations targeted are "hard to serve" mentally ill individuals.

• Vocational Based Services:

  Purpose: To recruit people with serious mental illness and those with mental illness who are homeless, living in Erie County, to set goals of employment and to assist these individuals with rapid employment.

Independent Living of Niagara County (ILNC) We now offer our programs in several areas of concern: individual services, programs for consumers with developmental disabilities, mental health services, support services and community services.

As a person withy a disability, Control is a key factor for getting what you want out of life. Having the ability to respond to opportunities while exercising the flexibility to change according to any given situation is imperative to succeeding in your goals.

Working with Personal Care Aides, this flexibility is diminished by the need to work with schedulers and nurses creating a schedule that is very difficult to change and may actually limit independence and freedom of choice.

That's where Taking Control comes in. This program will allow you to become the supervisor of your own personal assistant services. You can hire who you like (subject to some restrictions), train them in the areas important to you, and supervise their work on a daily basis. Tasks are not as limited as they are in a traditional-care aide plan. If a personal assistant does not work well for you, you can replace them.

Western New York Independent Living, Inc. has a transportation department with a variety of options to get our consumers where they desire to be.

The Client Assistance Program (CAP) provides support and advocacy for individuals with disabilities who are seeking vocational rehabilitation services from VESID (Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities) or CBVH (Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped).

CAP offers information and assistance with gaining access to appropriate rehabilitation services in New York State. Advocates from the Client Assistance Program provide aid and strategies for negotiating with VESID, CBVH, ILC's, and related service systems. CAP is committed to promoting consumer access to quality services and supports.

The Western New York Client Assistance Program (WNY CAP) is a free service and serves consumers residing in: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming counties. As part of a statewide network of advocates, the CAP program is administered by the New York State Commission on Quality of Care (NYSCQC), and operates independent of VESID or CBVH.