Our Services Based in Athens, GA

Based in Athens, GA, we at Multiplechoices™ Center for Independent Living (MCCIL) proudly serve the following 10 northeast Georgia counties: Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Madison, Morgan, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton. Our home office is in Athens (Clarke County), Georgia.

As does each Center for Independent Living (CIL) nationwide (www.ilru.org), we offer the following five core services to people living with a disability (or disabilities).

Peer Support

Peer Support

Assistive Technology Staff Jerrie Toney

Through Peer Support, Multiplechoices provides an invaluable  opportunity for people living with disabilities to address, express,  and/or explore their individual independent living needs, goals,  hopes, and dreams. We can assist in designing a doable  framework to fulfil such quests. 

Many of the Center for Independent Living (CIL) peer support  counselors themselves experience living with one or more  disabilities, which can complement the peer support dynamics.  Note that we do not offer licensed financial, medical, legal, or  other such professional advice. 

But we do help to unravel and address the countless complexities  of living with disabilities, such as isolation, anxiety, and  depression, as well as housing, employment, and mobility issues,  etc. 

Information and Referral

Looking for information about your rights or opportunities? Need  a referral regarding housing, education, transportation, community, or other resources? Multiplechoices™ provides  Information and Referrals to individuals living with disabilities,  and to all of those who inquire. Please ask.

Independent Living Skills Training

Individuals do not choose to live with a disability. And each  disability presents singular challenges for each impacted individual. But individuals do have the choice to persevere, to  overcome limitations, and to lead fulfilling lives. Multiplechoices™ provides Independent Living Skills Training to assist your life-long  growth as an individual.

Some examples of Independent Living Skills Training include:

  • Braille instruction
  • Identifying and overcoming everyday obstacles with  confidence
  • Computer literacy that can enhance one’s personal life, one’s  educational and/or employment opportunities, one’s  navigation in medical and other essential realms of life
  • Assistive technologies specifically designed to enhance  navigation in this world – in the home, in school, at work, at  the grocery, etc., utilizing an array of devices and  technologies from the simple, such as a raised dot marker  on a keyboard for a visually impaired person, to the more  complex, such as iPads and smartphones and voice  recognition software

Essentially, the sky is the limit regarding assistive technologies.

Oh. And interestingly, assistive technologies, such as curb cuts for wheelchair users and talking books for the blind and  print disabled, often become amenities and tools utilized in  the mainstream by folks who are not living with a disability. 

Systems and Individual Advocacy

Systems Advocacy

Rules and regulations of programs, laws, and policies sometimes  do impose barriers to independent living. Multiplechoices advocates for systems changes to reduce and ideally to eliminate  independent living barriers. Through participation in systems  advocacy, folks learn best practices in how to articulate and  describe concerns/barriers in need of change, and how to  navigate legislative and organizational processes to promote  change. 

Individual Advocacy

Individual advocacy is self-advocacy. In essence, self-advocacy is  the ability to express one’s needs such that one is heard and  one’s needs are met. Self-advocacy can be learned at any age  and in myriad realms such as at work, at home, at school, and/or  regarding housing, transportation, etc. Self-advocacy boosts  confidence, and can contribute to systems changes in public  policy. 

Through advocacy, we imagine and work toward a world in which  individuals living with a disability have equal access to all aspects  of society necessary to live a free and happy life.

Community and Youth Transition

Transitioning from a nursing home back into the community can  be a daunting endeavor wrought with more questions than  answers. We can assist you along that path so that you feel  confident and comfortable with the change; so that you receive the help that you need to initiate and maintain the independence  that you desire. 

Completing high school, pursuing post-secondary education,  becoming an independent adult, entering the workforce, are pivotal times in a person’s life. We can assist with those passages by providing resources and skills training that prepare you for  successful navigation of such transitions. Skills training encompasses that which you need, from résumé development  and mock employment interviews, to financial literacy. 

In addition to our five core services: 

As funding permits, we can also facilitate transportation, home modification, micro-enterprise development. 

Transportation

Transportation is one of the paramount needs of individuals living with disabilities. If you need transportation assistance to/from our facility or help coordinating appropriate transportation to/from other destinations, we will do all that we can to assist. 

Home Modification

If you need accessibility improvements in your home, call us about how we might assist. We can be instrumental in the installation of wheelchair ramps, handrails, grab bars, and other  modifications that make living independently more  accommodating. 

Micro-enterprise

Living with a disability need not thwart your creative spirit nor impede your entrepreneurial vision. If you have an idea for a micro-enterprise, see if we can help you to maneuver in those directions to fulfil your dream. 

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Connect with Multiplechoices Center for Independent Living (MCCIL) to explore disability resources relative to your independent living hopes, dreams, goals.

We serve the following ten counties in northeast Georgia: Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Madison, Monroe, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton. Our home office is in Athens (Clarke County), Georgia.