Stavros Center for Independent Living, Inc. - Amherst, Greenfield, Springfield, MA

Location: Amherst, Greenfield, Springfield, MA.

Who We Are

It is our goal at Stavros to give people with disabilities the tools to take charge of their life choices, act on their own behalf, and overcome situations that reduce their potential for independence. We have 3 offices; our main office is in Amherst at 210 Old Farm Road (256-0473), our Springfield office is at 227 Berkshire Avenue (781-5555) and our Greenfield office is at 55 Federal Street (774-3001).

Stavros advocates/peer counselors will work with any person with any disability who is facing a challenge to their independence. The MOST important work we do here is to help people with disabilities to transition from nursing homes and other institutional settings back to the community, or to avoid entering the nursing home at all. Stavros has many programs and services that help thousands of people in western Massachusetts to avoid nursing home placement. We are currently putting together a "Home and Community Based Services" page where you will find resources that will help individuals with disabilities to stay in their own homes.

Stavros Center for Independent Living, Inc. is one of the oldest independent living centers in the country. 2006 is our 32nd anniversary. Since 1974, we have been actively advocating for the civil rights of people with disabilities--regionally, statewide, and nationally. Currently we provide independent living, PCA, and Deaf services in the Western Massachusetts area of Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden Counties.

As a grassroots disability advocacy organization, a self-empowerment model has directed the focus of our activities. By law at least 51% of the staff and the Board of Directors at CILs must be persons with disabilities; we know about disability here through personal experience.

In 1986, we established (and continue to maintain today) offices in Greenfield (the seat of the state's most rural county) and Springfield (the state's third largest city). That same year, we added a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Independent Living Services Program that continues to provide outreach and advocacy, as well as educational programs to the Deaf community predominantly in Hamden County.

Whether it is the Stavros Board of Directors, Consumer Advisory Boards, consumers, or disabled staff members, people with disabilities have shaped our individual services, as well as our systemic advocacy.

In November of 2005, we began moving into our new building in Amherst at 210 Old Farm Road, which now houses both our Fiscal Intermediary (FI) Department (formerly at 409 Main Street) and the Independent Living (IL) and Personal Assistance Services (PAS) departments from our old address at 691 South East Street, where the operation began in 1974.

Mission

Our mission at Stavros is to help persons with disabilities and Deaf people develop the tools and skills they need to take charge of their own lives. We accomplish this through programs and services designed to meet the needs of persons of any age or disability as they work to achieve the life goals that are important to them.

Real independence also means a community free of barriers, and we work as advocates throughout the Pioneer Valley, across the state, and nationally to bring an end to discrimination--whether it's rooted in a set of stairs, prejudice about employment, limited access to health care, or anywhere else.