Our Programs

LILA is a cross-disability, consumer driven organization. Our goal is to help people with disabilities achieve as much choice, access, inclusion and independence as possible. We invite you to learn more about the many programs LILA offers and to consider becoming a voting member of LILA. Working together, we can break down societal barriers so that all people with disabilities are free to fulfill their potential.

Blue Path

LILA, through its ADA program, launched the Blue Path program in Lane County. (A list of Oregon BluePath businesses is available at LILA’s BluePath page.) The program is a partnership between places of public accommodation and the disability community. Area businesses are encouraged to participate by conducting an accessibility evaluation of their operation. If approved for Blue Path membership, the establishment is recognized as basically accessible and welcoming to patrons with disabilities.

Blue Path members are listed on a website which was started by the Northwest ADA Center Regional DBTAC at the University of Washington and is now administered jointly by Disability Action Center Northwest in Idaho and LILA in Oregon. The website can serve as a marketing tool for potential customers with disabilities. Persons with disabilities can then offer comments about the accessibility and disability friendliness experienced at member businesses.

LILA also offers training opportunities and consultation for Blue Path member businesses.

Twenty-one Lane County businesses became Blue Path members at our Blue Path inauguration on October 1, 2009. Governor Kulongoski issued a proclamation declaring that day “Blue Path to Accessible Business Day” in Oregon. Secretary of State Kate Brown and Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy attended a media event to launch the program and to “roll out” a blue carpet to acknowledge the Blue Path program and its Lane County members. LILA is the Blue Path coordinator for Oregon.

Contact: Eugene Organ – [email protected]
or Dawn Helwig – [email protected]

Consumer Outreach Program

Reaching out to unserved and underserved communities in Lane County, namely Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Minority, Rural, Homeless and Youth. Bringing LILA’s services to those who live outside the Eugene/Springfield area.

Disability Navigator Program

Disability Navigators:

  1. Assist consumers to use the resources at The Workforce Network.
  2. Provide information and referral to programs, services, and resources.
  3. Help consumers understand Social Security and other benefits, and the effect of employment on benefits.

People who experience multiple barriers to employment can benefit from Career and Resource Mapping (CRM). Call LILA at 541-607-7020 for more information.

Contact: Johann Mueller – [email protected]

Housing Search & Applications

We can help you find and obtain housing. Your first step is to come for our Housing Information Session on Wednesdays at 12:30-1:00 pm.

We can help you fill out rental applications, search for available housing, refer you to funding sources for deposits, and learn how to overcome barriers such as evictions and criminal history. We can provide information on energy assistance programs and accessibility modification programs. We can help you understand your rights as a renter and the Fair Housing Act.

Independent Living Skills Training

LILA offers free classes for anyone with a disability. These include:

  • SSI/SSDI Informational Session
  • Housing Informational Session
  • Work Readiness Workshop
  • Working Well with a Disability

The following topics may be offered as one-on-one training or occasionally as classes.

  • Job Club
  • Money Skills / Budgeting Class – Learn How to Manage Your Money

We may have other classes or workshops at times, such as Memory, Mindfulness, Q&A About Smartphones, Service Animal Basics, Time Management, Voting Rights, and many others. These will be listed on our Facebook page.

More information is available here.
Contact: Reception – [email protected]

Information and Referral (I & R)

Information and referrals on housing, rent issues, transportation issues, financial assistance, local resources, job search, adaptive equipment, accessibility modifications, understanding and completing paperwork, and programs and services for people with disabilities.

Contact:
Cora Jones (supervisor) – [email protected]
Jeanne Barter – [email protected]
Cathy Olson – [email protected]
Bo Reitz – [email protected]

LILA Accessible Mental Health Program (LAMHP)

Offers one-on-one counseling and classes, such as Eliminating Self-Defeating Behavior, Work Readiness & Disability Management, and Assertiveness Training.

LILA Peer Support Club

LILA | Peer Support Club photoLocated at 990 Oak Street (corner of 10th & Oak). Provides mental health survivors with a safe place to gather to socialize, get support, or participate in a variety of programs and classes. Non-members can visit on Fridays. For more information, check our Peer Support Club page.

LILA Support Groups

The Finding Your Voice Support Group (previously known as the Wednesday Support Group) is every Wednesday at LILA from 1:00 – 2:00 pm in the True North Conference Room.

The Hearing Voices & Extreme States Discussion and Support Group meets the first and third Thursdays of every month from 1:00 to 2:30 pm in the True North Conference Room.

We  have had other support groups that are NOT currently offered. If you are interested in one of them being offered again, please let us know.

Contact: Reception – [email protected]

OPAL Network

LILA is a co-sponsor of the Opal Network, a community based consumer-driven group created to encourage the empowerment of the voice of mental health consumer/survivors. Representatives of mental health providers and advocates as well as mental health consumer/survivors meet to work through the issues important to empowering the consumer voice. The Opal network events occur on every fifth Tuesday, which is approximately quarterly at the Eugene Library.

Oregon ADA Center

LILA, through our program Oregon ADA Center provides factual, confidential information to the public about the Americans with Disabilities Act, its provisions, and accessibility.

Contact:
Dawn Helwig – [email protected]
Erycka Organ, ATN – [email protected]
Eugene Organ, ATN – [email protected]

SSDI/SSI Applications

Our Independent Living Specialists will help you organize your records and apply for SSDI/SSI. They can also assist with appeals. We have staff trained in the SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) application process for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness who also have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. Your first step is to come for our SSDI/SSI Information Session on Wednesdays at 1:00-1:30 pm.

True North

A mental health recovery program to help anyone with a mental disability. The peer recovery support specialists can help with support, information and referral, service coordination, and peer counseling services. They can also help with preparing Psychiatric Advance Directives. Classes and groups are offered, based on demand.

Contact:
Cathy Olson, PSS – [email protected]

Work Incentives Network (WIN)

Helps consumers with disabilities who are currently on Social Security understand what impact returning to work may have on their benefits. The first step is to contact the Work Incentives Network Help Desk at 800-661-2571 or [email protected].