Southwest Center for Independence - Durango, Cortez, CO

Location: Durango, Cortez, CO.

Southwest Center for Independence (SWCI) supports independent living by and for people with disabilities, and facilitates change within the community for the inclusion of all people.  We envision a world where all people with disabilities are valued friends and neighbors, receiving the supports they need to lead the lives they desire, defining their own quality of life and contributing back to the community.

SWCI was established as an independent living center in August 1990 by Richard Parsons, then the Community Vocational and Independent Living Director for the Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and a small group of La Plata County residents who have disabilities and who were interested in the independent living movement. Within the year, SWCI had hired an Executive Director and an Independent Living Specialist. The Center grew quickly, and was active in advocacy and ADA activities. 

The concept of Independent Living involves the formation of community-based groups of people with different types of disabilities who work together to identify and address barriers and gaps in service delivery.   Since its foundation in 1990, SWCI has provided free-of-charge assistance to and partnership with people with disabilities in rural southwest Colorado. Our service area is 6,533 square miles in Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma, and San Juan counties, where census figures estimate 12,057 people with disabilities live.  We are a grassroots non-profit organization with funding from the state, county, city, local service clubs, philanthropic donors, fundraisers and donations, and fee-for-service activities with agencies. 

We believe that people with disabilities know more about what we need than does the government, and that we can direct our supports and our lives more effectively and efficiently than professional service provider agencies.  We are dedicated to helping each other lead better lives and taking charge of our own lives with support from each other.  We are about building the disability community and developing opportunities to learn, get involved, make social change and have fun.  We believe in an inclusive community because improving things for one segment of the population enriches everyone’s lives.