The Independent Living, movement developed alongside the student movement at University of California Berkeley in the late 1960’s. Independent Living was established in Canada in the early 1970’s with the introduction of the Independent Living philosophy by Gerben Dejong and developed through collaboration between the Canadian Customer Movement and the Coalition of the Provincial Organization of the Handicapped (now known as the Council of Canadians with Disabilities). In 1985, Independent Living was formalized as the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centers (now known as Independent Living Canada). To date there are 29 centers across the country.
IL Sudbury was incorporated in 2002 and initially run by just two full time employees and a handful of tireless volunteers. Eight years later, we are still going strong. Independent Living Sudbury Manitoulin has become a valued community asset for Greater Sudbury, building on our organization’s three decades of experience.
ILSM runs effectively because of the dedication of our over 300 members and the active role they take in determining our services and programs. Since our founding we have been able to increase our funding to approximately $500,000. We now have a full time staff and an elected board of directors of ten committed community leaders.
Our priority is our membership. We regularly meet with our members to help determine policy and programming for the center and we keep in close contact with other centers across Canada, always seeking innovative new ideas to apply in Greater Sudbury.
As we expand, a major focus for ILSM will be in accessing increased funding. Past community funding initiatives such as raffles and bingo provided us with modest operating revenue, but as the center grows and as our programs and services expand, our need for sustained funding is increasing. In the coming months we will be seeking further grant funding from both the public and private sector.
