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Mission

stapel boeken

 "The Expertise Centre Independent Living is to become the expert Centre par excellence concerning direct payments. The goal is the empowerment of disabled people so that we may lead an independent life."

Common vision


The power of direct payments is that disabled people are granted a budget so that they are able to organize their support independently of others.

This should become a tool for all disabled persons, so not only for people with a physical handicap.

We recognize the importance of peer counselling. This is expertise gathered by people who experience on a daily basis what it means to live with a handicap.We promote colleague-to-colleague advice. This is an exchange of information and advice between people that find or have found themselves in a similar kind of situation.

We fight against the discrmination of disabled people.

We promote working with direct payments :

  1. The financing of the support benefits to the disabled person and not the person providing the support.
  2. Users are free to determine the amount of control over the support that corresponds to their needs, abilities, actual living conditions, preferences and planning. 
  3.  This freedom of choice includes also the right to determine the content of the support all by themselves, which implies that the user decides who works as an assistant, for what tasks, at which time and which places, and how the providing of assistance shall be happening.

History

At the end of 2007, Adolf Ratzka (Independent Living Institute, Sweden) and Jan-Jan Sabbe (budget holders association BOL-BUDIV, Belgium) come to the conclusion that there exist interesting practices of personal assistance in different countries. The problem however is that we do not learn from our mutual experiences. And that is how the idea originates to found an expertise centre independent living.

Jan-Jan Sabbe thinks big and dreams of an Independent Living Center where people can share experiences and find information, expertise, individual services, lobbying services. And his dream comes true. At his own risk he engages an employee who looks into the possibilities for grants. Somewhat later on he calls in the budget holders association BOL-BUDIV which presents a project for an expertise centre and starts lobbying.

When Jan-Jan unexpectedly passes away, BOL-BUDIV decides to let its employee finish the work. In July 2008 the Flemish government and the European Fund for Regional Development each give a grant of 209.580€ to this new initiative. The planning is further elaborated, an additional employee is recruited and later on that year the Expertise Centre Independent Living gradually evolves into a partnership.