Center for Independent Living

CHOICES Center for Independent Living is located in Roswell, New Mexico and has been working with individuals with disabilities in Chaves, Lea, and Eddy counties since 1998. Services began much earlier, 1993, but as a satellite center for the Independent Living Resource Center of Albuquerque, NM.

An Independent Living Center is a consumer-directed agency that works with individuals of all cultures with any disability. This is evident by the staff and board that operate our center. The staff is 88% individuals with disabilities and the Board of Director's has 87%. Community members from our service catchment area are always encouraged to volunteer their time and expertise to the community by serving on our Board of Directors. 

Independent Living is a philosophy that created a movement that began in the late 1960s. Four individuals in wheelchairs began this movement by demanding they be permitted to control their own lives independently. Though it was, and still is, a very difficult road for the disabled community to educate their communities, it is very active throughout the world. The United States has over 700 Independent Living Centers and our great state of New Mexico has 5 at the present time with one satellite in Otero County very near to becoming a stand-alone center.

Barriers, physical and attitudinal, are difficult to overcome by even the most persistent Advocates. Please visit our center or one in your own community and offer support and/or suggestions to better the lives of all members of society