Operations in a low-key building located on South Grand Avenue West help people live their lives without limits. The Springfield Center for Independent Living serves people with disabilities, their families and communities in Sangamon, Christian, Logan, Menard and Montgomery counties by breaking down barriers and prejudices and replacing them with positive attitudes.
The organization’s philosophy is that all people, regardless of disability, have the right and responsibility to control and direct their own lives and to fully participate as equal members of society.
According to SCIL executive director Pete Roberts, “The overarching goal is systemic empowerment. It isn’t just about providing help – charity. It is about creating a society where the environment and the law are structured so that a person’s disability no longer limits their potential to participate and thrive.”
The SCIL was founded in 1984, and Roberts has worked there since a few years after its inception. Roberts recalled that he wanted to move back to Springfield to be near family members and to secure a job in social services after working at a sheltered workshop in southern Illinois. He applied for an independent living specialist position at SCIL, and after another candidate turned the job down because of the low wages, Roberts accepted the position and started on Oct. 1, 1987.
“I will be forever grateful for discovering SCIL and the opportunity to understand the independent living philosophy,” Roberts said. “Centers for independent living are unique because they are run by and for people with disabilities.”
At least 51% of staff and board of directors must be individuals with disabilities, so the “lived experience becomes a professional asset rather than a limitation,” he said. Currently, 80% of SCIL staff have a significant disability and 90% of the board of directors have a significant disability.
In his time at SCIL, Roberts found one of his greatest challenges was “shifting my philosophy from ‘patient or client’ to ‘consumer.’ Working at a sheltered workshop, individuals are often viewed as ‘clients’ or ‘patients’ who need to be fixed or supervised. All centers for independent living, including SCIL, use the term ‘consumer’ to emphasize that the individual is the expert on their own needs and is in charge of the services they use.”
Anyone who has a disability is eligible for SCIL services, and all services are free. Many programs are offered at SCIL, including assisting individuals on how to navigate federal and state programs to help receive the benefits they need to survive. SCIL also offers information and referrals, independent living skills training, peer support and individual and systems advocacy.
In addition, SCIL provides transition services to assist with moves from nursing facilities into their own homes. Roberts said SCIL can purchase furniture, pay the first month’s rent and deposit, cover the first month’s groceries and ensure that medication and medical equipment are available when the person moves in.
Beyond working with consumers, SCIL Living trains individuals to become personal assistants and maintains a database of PAs. As consumers need to hire or replace a PA, Roberts added, SCIL offers them a list of PAs who have been trained to understand that they work for the consumer, not SCIL or any other entity.
A contract with the Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living and the city of Springfield allows SCIL to provide home modifications in its five-county service area. Services such as installing wheelchair ramps allow individuals with disabilities to remain independent in their own homes.
“Unfortunately,” said Roberts, “we have 205 families on our waiting list.”
One such consumer was Pamela Sanchez, who Roberts said had been on the waiting list for several years. She had been experiencing mobility issues and finding her home’s exterior steps to be challenging. Now she can put items such as groceries in her two-wheel cart and pull them up the ramp with ease. Funding for the project was provided by a city of Springfield grant.
Funding is a constant need. “Springfield Center for Independent Living does not have adequate resources to provide every service to all five counties in a meaningful way,” Roberts said. “Donations are always helpful and would be used for the programs mentioned. We also need volunteers for a variety of tasks, from helping at the reception desk to clerical work and marketing. Staff at SCIL are all underpaid but stay because of the value of the work they perform each day. Most of us have a significant disability and have personally faced discrimination in our own lives.”
Despite funding challenges, Roberts finds satisfaction in “the recurring experience of moving people with disabilities out of nursing homes and into their own homes. This allows people to regain control over their daily routines, such as when to wake up, eat, work or socialize, which is often lost in institutional settings. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a person move into their own home after being in a nursing home.”
For more information or to support, visit https://www.scil.org/services/
Janet Seitz is a local communications professional, writer and artist. To share your story, contact her at janetseitz1@gmail.com.
This article appears in March SBJ 2026.