What is the Disability Resource Center?

What is the Disability Resource Center?

DRCFC

Better than anyone else, people with disabilities know what they need to achieve their goals. At DRCFC, all services are:

Consumer Controlled: Directed, managed, and staffed to a substantial degree by qualified persons with disabilities;

Community Based: Located within the community in which the consumers reside, not in large institutions; and

Community Responsive: Designed to address the disability related needs of a specific community by identifying service gaps and barriers that limit the independence of people in that community.

DRCFC provides the means to put the values of Independent Living into action: providing individuals with empowerment and working for change in the attitudinal and physical barriers that face people with disabilities in the community.

Central to the Independent Living philosophy is the affirmation that regardless of disability, people have the capacity to:

**Make their own decisions;**

**Direct their own lives;**

**Live where they choose;**

Gain access to all the opportunities available
in their communities.

Independent Living is a philosophy that challenges the social attitudes and physical barriers that stigmatize and exclude people with disabilities from the community.
With Individuals	With the Community
*Information and Referral* DRCFC can assist individuals in identifying and accessing services and supports, benefits, assistive technology, housing, personal assistance services, and other resources.	Technical Assistance and Training DRCFC assists government and the private sector with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), accessibility, and adaptive technology technical assistance.
Independent Living Skills Training DRCFC provides training in activities of daily living and the skills necessary for integration and full participation in the community for people with disabilities.	Disability Awareness DRCFC provides specialized disability awareness and sensitivity programs to the public, schools, civic groups, and businesses.
Peer Support DRCFC’s peer counselors provide support to people with disabilities by drawing on their own life experience with disability.	Systems Advocacy DRCFC and its members work to effect change in society through advocacy for laws and change that removes barriers to people with disabilities.
Advocacy DRCFC will assist you in making your voice heard, advocating with you for the supports and services you need to maximize your own independence. Additionally, the Center works on systems issues, e.g., transportation and State housing legislation,	Resourcing Assistance DRCFC can assist in identifying other disability-related resources for government, businesses, employers, and the general public.

In the early 1970’s a group of students at the University of California felt that the system was not meeting the needs of people with disabilities. They did not want to be merely rehabilitated and then segregated. They demanded adequate and accessible housing, transportation, and attendant care to enable them to live in the community of their choice. These same issues remain today. Disability activists continue to work toward social change. They work to establish laws and define policies that prevent discrimination and encourage integration. For people with disabilities, separate is not equal.

To learn more about The Disability Resource Center of Fairfield County ( DRCFC), you may also download our Programs and Services brochure in PDF format. The brochure can be downloaded below in its original format, including all text, graphics, and photos, or in a text only format.

Original Format Brochure

Text Only Brochure