This year the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, CA is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of its founding and, with it, the beginning of the independent living (IL) movement as we know it today. The Center for Independent Living was founded in 1972 as a community hub run by and for disabled people to promote IL and provide advocacy opportunities and community support for people with disabilities. In the decades since, more than 400 centers for independent living have opened across the US, and the movement has spread to more than 20 countries.

NIDILRR-funded research and development in independent living has followed the growth of the IL movement. The phrase “independent living” first appears in the Program Database with the 1980 Research and Training Center for Independent Living at the University of Kansas (when NIDILRR was known as the National Institute on Handicapped Research or NIHR). The IL projects of the 1980s included establishing networks for training and data sharing, supporting growth of rural services, skill building for peer providers, and much more.

Continuing through the 80s, 90s, and 00s, IL projects expanded into developing personal technologies to support IL, addressing issues of disparities impacting minority groups, addressing civil rights and implementing the new Americans with Disabilities Act, increasing employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, empowering self-advocates, and understanding the impact of IL programs and services on the community.

Fast forward to 2015, when the institute became part of the Administration for Community Living and formally added Independent Living to its name to become the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. More than 330 projects funded under NIDILRR have explored IL in a wide array of contexts and across the age spectrum, from youth and young adults moving into the workforce to adults aging with disabilities and the resources that can help them remain independent in their communities.

The work of the IL movement is very far from over: there are still barriers to full participation, from physical barriers that prevent someone from entering a building to financial barriers that limit participation in the community. The newest NIDILRR- funded IL projects are exploring remote service delivery, the role of IL in school-to-work transition, technology to support IL, building the peer support workforce, and advocating for civil rights, among others. We are excited for what the future holds and to see how these projects further the goals of the IL movement and the full participation of people with disabilities in the community.