Center serves Lowcountry from new Barnwell office

By Channing Heiss

Contributor

Walton Options for Independent Living has established a new office in Barnwell after leaving its Walterboro location in September of 2024 but will continue to provide people in Lowcountry counties the same independent living services.

In 2022, they accepted an offer from the City of Barnwell and the Barnwell Chamber of Commerce to acquire office space for $100 per year. This was after having researched other locations including Bluffton to find a smaller, affordable and more convenient office.  In addition to Barnwell, Walton Options has an office in Augusta and one in North Augusta. The Lowcountry service area office was established in a 2009 expansion. Under the management of Lowcountry Director Nayvone Smith, they serve Beaufort, Jasper, Allendale, Bamberg, Colleton and Hampton counties. Walton Options for Independent Living, Inc. was established in Georgia in 1994 when a rehabilitation hospital evolved into a center for independent living. Centers for independent living or independent living centers are nonmedical, non-residential and community-based resource centers that were established as a result of the independent living movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the first center being established in California in 1972. Walton Options is one of over 400 centers currently supported at the federal level by the Administration for Community Living, with some direct funding and some that goes through the state as part of a State Plan for Independent Living submitted by centers. The center also receives funds from local supporters. They currently receive funds to pay 1.5 full time employees in the Lowcountry service area. They determine one full time salary with the rest to be divided among other staff.

The core services provided among the offices of Walton Options for Independent Living in South Carolina and Georgia, and which are standard for centers for independent living are information and referral, independent living skills training, advocacy, peer support and transition services. Walton Options is in a unique position because it is located in the Central Savannah River service area and is able to provide services in both Georgia and South Carolina.

Although the center’s physical presence has moved to the more convenient Barnwell office space where staff can meet with clients when necessary and where a rotating staff can work in a less isolated setting closer to community partners, much of the work enabling and strengthening the independence of the center’s clients goes on beyond the office. Like many companies, they learned during the Covid 19 pandemic how much could be done outside of an office. Staff are able to provide services by meeting via video conferencing and can also travel to consult with a client. These capabilities allow them to continue to assist everyone in the Lowcountry service area. The 501c3 nonprofit describes itself as “a center for independent living without walls.”

According to Clifford, there are currently about 1,500 clients in the entire Walton Options network actively working with the center on a personal independent living plan. She said the Lowcountry has between 70 and 90 clients.

Their goal is to promote equality, inclusion and independence through personal choice, personal responsibility, community access, education and employment. Clifford emphasizes the importance of understanding the principle behind what these centers do.

“Its consumer driven. It’s about self-determination. It’s about personal rights and personal decisions, being in charge of your own life and having the same opportunities as everyone else,” Clifford said.

For the reasons Clifford illustrates, these centers have requirements other organizations do not. To receive their federal grant and to qualify as centers for independent living, they must have people with disabilities in leadership and service roles as well as representing a majority in all decision-making bodies. This is based on the principle that the people with disabilities are the most experienced and best equipped when it comes to understanding and addressing independent living issues.

In addition to funding needs that all nonprofits have, Tiffany Clifford also focuses on the challenges of promoting the center and its message. She says what they need now are volunteers to spread their message.

“We need volunteer community engagers to spread the message of independent living, freedom, and the rights of people with disabilities.”

She considers the center primarily a civil rights and advocacy organization and is working to counter long held social perceptions and narratives.

“Terms like ‘special education’ have been part of the culture for such a long time, and they are often taken as us asking for more or extra. That’s not how we see it. We want the accommodation that will allow us to have the same opportunities as everyone else. We need to focus on changing the environment.”

She also says opportunities for serious discussions on independent living and other important issues involving people with disabilities are often missed or passed over in favor of a narrative based on “heartstrings and pity.” “We don’t want to be seen as needy,” said Clifford, who adds that she is fine with the word “disabled.” “I think people mean well, but they don’t always know what to say or do or how to act.”

To spread their message of independence and opportunity, Walton Options holds an annual event in July for Disability Pride Month and another Disability Awareness Month event in October.

For more information, visit their website at waltonoptions.org

Channing Heiss is a freelance writer and a member of the Beaufort County disAbilities Coalition.