Our Mission

LEAP's mission is to advance a society of equal opportunity for all persons, regardless of disability.

We accomplish this mission by:

• Providing information, education, training, employment, and independent-living services to people with disabilities
• Helping people with disabilities identify and eliminate barriers to employment and independent living in the areas of income support, access to health care, transportation, housing, personal care, and assistive technology
• Promoting fully accessible and integrated communities so that all persons with disabilities can live, work, learn, shop, and socialize where they choose, without barriers, and
• Advocating on the local, state, and national levels for social change and public policies that promote improvements in quality of life for people with disabilities.

The Independent Living Philosophy

Disability is a natural part of life. Everyone knows someone who has been touched by disability. Approximately 1 in 4 people has a disability, and the majority of those disabilities are acquired through illness, accident, or disease.

The Independent Living Philosophy emphasizes the right of people with disabilities to make choices for themselves. It places the utmost value on personal choice, self-help, and self-advocacy. Equal access to all services, activities, and facilities are also important tenets in the independent living philosophy.

In every service it provides, LEAP gives people with disabilities control by providing opportunities and by supporting them in their choices. LEAP upholds the values of choice and self-direction, independence and empowerment, inclusion and integration, and dignity and respect—values drawn straight from the independent living philosophy.