Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL)

Community Resources for Independent Living is a peer-based disability organization that advocates and provides resources for people with disabilities to improve lives and make communities fully accessible.

CRIL offers independent living services at no charge to persons with disabilities living in southern and eastern Alameda County. In order to become a CRIL consumer, an individual must have a disability and be paired with an Independent Living (IL) Coordinator.

CRIL is also a resource for disability awareness education and training, advocacy and technical advice.

We have two additional offices:

Community Resources for Independent Living
Tri-Valley Branch Office, City of Livermore Multi-Services Center
3311 Pacific Ave
Livermore, CA 94550
Ph: (925) 371-1531
Fax (925) 373-5034

Tri-Cities Branch Office
39155 Liberty St., Suite A100,
Fremont , CA 94538
PH: (510) 794-5735

Our Services:

Assistive Technology
Assistive Technology (AT) is any device, gadget, hardware or software used by a person with a disability to do things for themselves that might otherwise be difficult or impossible to do because of their disability. CRIL’s AT Coordinator will work with you to identify the most current technological devices, equipment, and resources that accommodate a wide spectrum of disabilities in attaining fuller independence at work, home, and in the community. CRIL is also one of 13 California Device Lending Demonstration Center sites. Various AT devices are available to “try out” at no cost for a period of 2 to 8 weeks.

Employment Benefits Assistance
CRIL works collaboratively with the California Department of Rehabilitation and other agencies to provide employment and vocational benefits counseling for persons with disabilities, to help maximize independence while managing, training for, or resuming a work career. This includes providing work incentives counseling and benefits-employment planning assistance.

Independent Living Workshops
Independent Living Coordinators work with people to identify the skills they need to develop and provide training to maximize quality of community life and inclusion. Skills such as managing money, navigating transportation systems, and effective communication are taught individually and in weekly classes. CRIL also conducts periodic Disaster Preparedness Workshops and Healthy Living Workshops throughout the county and by appointment.

Personal Assistance & Homecare Referral
Personal Assistants provide help with such daily activities as personal care (bathing, dressing, grooming), dispensing oral medications, and transferring from bed to chair or vehicle. They also assist with domestic care such as laundry, cooking, feeding, companionship, transportation to doctor appointments, and shopping. CRIL can assist consumers with finding and hiring a private-pay personal assistant or homecare worker, and offers training & resources in managing an assistant/homecare worker. CRIL also offers quarterly classes for people interested in becoming a homecare worker or personal assistant privately or through IHSS.

Travel Training
CRIL’s Travel & mobility Training Program incorporates para-and public transit travel training into its well-established Independent Living Skills.

Benefits Advocacy
CRIL staff educate about financial resources to which persons may be entitled, including Social Security Disability, SSI, Medicare, Medi-Cal, IHSS and other benefits. CRIL strives to assist people to confidently advocate for their needs when interacting with financial benefit programs.

Healthy Living Workshops
People with disabilities are largely unserved or underserved in programs of health promotion and physical activity. This situation is particularly problematic as they are often more vulnerable to the development of secondary conditions such as obesity, pain, social isolation, and depression due to insufficient participation in key healthy living behaviors. For this reason, CRIL provides Healthy Living Workshops.

Information and Referral
CRIL is not only a centralized resource for disability-related questions, it is a link to many resources in Alameda County and the bay area that support your independent living goals. For more information on any disability and senior services, contact CRIL at 510-881-5743 or [email protected]

Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS)
A Public Safety Power Shutoff, also called a PSPS, occurs in response to severe weather. The power companies turn off power to help prevent wildfire and keep communities safe.

If you live in a high fire-threat area, are a person with a disability or older adult, and require electricity to power your assistive technology or durable medical equipment on a regular basis in order to maintain your independence, you can apply for assistance.

Voice Option Program
CRIL is partnering with DOR (Department of Rehabilitation) to provide Voice Options Program services to those who have a difficult time verbally communicating. The goal of this program is to ensure full telephone communications access for all Californians with disabilities. CRIL staff will be able to identify and assist consumer to pick the best fully customizable speech-generating app based on consumers’ needs. Through this program, any eligible Californian referred to a Voice Options provider will have the opportunity to test five different speech-generating applications for up to 14 days. The five applications that will be provided are:

GoTalk NOW Plus

LAMP Words for Life

Predictable

Proloquo4Text

TouchChat HD with WordPower

Once the trial period has ended, the user will exchange the borrowed iPad for a new one with their preferred speech-generating application already loaded and ready to go.

Disaster Preparation
CRIL sponsors Emergency & Disaster Preparedness (Prepare to Prosper) Workshops throughout the year in Southern and Eastern Alameda County. These workshops assist persons with disabilities and seniors plan to deal with local disasters and personal emergency situations. Our approach is one which deals with empowering individuals to prosper in any emergency.

Housing Assistance
Finding accessible and affordable housing is a challenge that CRIL can help you with. We can help you to look for housing, identify resources that support independent living, negotiate with landlords, improve your credit and understand tenant rights. We keep a current list of available rentals, and reach out to landlords to encourage renting to individuals with disabilities.

CRIL does not own housing or run its own residential facility.