The Wabash Independent Living and Learning Center, Inc. was established as a non-profit organization on May 24, 2000 for the following purposes:

• To promote a philosophy of independent living for individuals with disabilities, including a philosophy of consumer control, peer support, self-help, self-determination, equal access, and individual and systemic advocacy.
• To maximize the leadership, empowerment, independence, and productivity of individuals with disabilities.
• To promote the integration and full inclusion of individuals with disabilities into the mainstream of our communities.
• To promote and/or provide appropriate individualized independent living services.
• To promote and/or provide family support services.
• To work collaboratively with other community agencies, organizations, programs, and persons whose missions are closely aligned with and supportive to that of The Wabash Independent Living and Learning Center, Inc.
• The Wabash Independent Living and Learning Center, Inc. is a Center for Independent Living (CIL) serving people with disabilities in a primary target area that encompasses 6 counties in West Central Indiana. These counties include: Clay, Parke, Putnam, Vermillion, Owen, and Vigo.
• The Wabash Independent Living and Learning Center, Inc. offers all five core services that characterize a Center for Independent Living: Information & Referral, Advocacy, Peer Support, and Independent Living Skills Training services. These services are provided through a wide variety of community-based programs including:

1. Advocacy
   Advocacy is conducted by all staff members and is what truly separates Centers for Independent Living from other programs for people with disabilities. Individual advocacy services assist people with disabilities to obtain the services that they need and teaches personal advocacy skills. The WILL Center also works at local, state, and national levels to ensure that needed supports are available and that discriminatory practices and barriers to independent living are removed.
2. Information & Referral
   Information & Referral services are provided by all staff members. We want to ensure that information relating to rights, options, issues, and resources is available to any individual, organization, or business who wants to know.
3. Independent Living Skills Training
   This itinerant program provides daily living skills instruction to consumers, including home and personal management, as well as communication skills training.
4. Peer Support
   This program is designed to promote personal independence for people by providing one-on-one peer support or referral to a support group. A peer who is successfully dealing with a disability is able to provide practical, real life solutions to everyday problems encountered as a result of a disability.
5. Transition
   Because the independent living philosophy endorses consumer choice, independent living centers work to transition individuals from institutional care to community-based living. These transitions involve a wide range of issues and challenges such as employment/benefit income, assessable housing, transportation and the establishment of meaningful community activity of the consumer’s choosing. Transition as a core service is also intended to assist school-age individuals to adapt to adult life after secondary school age is passed. These transitions involve many of the same challenges, but also include advancement to university or vocational education.