Summit’s Community Services

Creating Social Change through Public Education

The goal Summit’s public education efforts is to educate and support persons with disabilities to work together to dismantle barriers preventing them from living independently. A secondary purpose is to inform the public about issues, concerns, and barriers faced by people with disabilities.

An important part of our social change efforts include public education. Summit can offer trainings and other informational materials on a variety of disability related topic, including

  • Disability awareness training
  • School presentations
  • Fair booth and other event displays
  • Acceptance, inclusion, opportunity, diversity
  • IL philosophy, culture and pride workshops
  • Disability and independent living advocacy
  • Community awareness regarding disability issues
  • and more…

If you would like to have Summit visit your class, school, group, department, local organization or business for an inservice training, please contact a Summit office near you.

 Ensuring Accessibility

Another aspect of Summit’s social change efforts include conducting accessibility reviews and working with local business’, governments, and other entities to ensure they understand and are in compliance with accessibility design standards as well as to work as a partner with project planners to ensure access is an integral part of any design from the start rather than an after thought.

If you or someone you know has or knows of a business that is inaccessible, are looking for someone to help you plan for integrating accessibility in your project, or would like an accessibility review of your existing facilities, please contact a Summit office near you.

Good Access is Good Business

An accessible building is good for business. A mother pushing a stroller, a deliveryman, or a person who uses a wheelchair – enjoys the convenience and safety of ramps and other accessible design features and so, just as important as ensuring local business’, governments, and other entities work to increase their levels of accessibility and are in compliance with accessible design standards, it is also important to recognize those who have gone the extra mile to ensure their services are fully accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. Summit recognizes those who take the extra step provide good access with the Good Access is Good Business award as a way of saying thank you and strengthen community ties.

 Laws, Policies, Protections, Requirements

Join with others to change policies to make government, transportation and housing systems more accessible to people with disabilities.

Systems change advocacy incorporates educational programs, town hall meetings, action alerts, rallies, legislative visits, public service announcements and other means to help further the cause of people with disabilities.

Summit works to ensure that the interests of people with disabilities stay in the forefront of policy making decisions and works closely with consumers and other advocacy groups to make sure that people with disabilities are involved in every step of the advocacy process including:

  • Participating in committees and task forces,
  • Lobbying and advocating before the Montana Legislature,
  • Testifying at hearings and public meetings,
  • Participating in letter writing and other advocacy campaigns,
  • Organizing grassroots efforts, and
  • Participating in public awareness activities such as rallies and demonstrations when necessary

Some of the areas in which Summit focuses our systems advocacy efforts include:

  • Legislation at the local, state and national levels
  • ADA: civil rights, employment protections, public accommodations, transportation options, telecommunication services, and governmental operations
  • Improving services and service delivery systems for services that Montanans with disabilities rely on

Social Change, Education, Access, and Advocacy

Summit regularly participates in social change, public education, and improved accessibility efforts throughout our local communities in order to ensure that people with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to be meaningful and active participants in their own communities. One of our core community services principles is Nothing About Us, Without Us.

Summit’s System Advocacy Program includes conducting community advocacy and public education activities aimed at:

    • Improving service systems,
    • Developing community resources,
    • Increasing public understanding of disability issues, and
    • Advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities.
Visitability: A Pathway Home

Visitability is a national movement to build homes with three primary accessible design features. They are:

    1. One zero step entrance on an accessible path of travel from the street, sidewalk or driveway
    2. Doorways that provide 32 inches clear space throughout the home’s main floor and hallways that provide 36 inches of clear width
    3. Basic access to a half or (preferably) full bath on the main floor

Visitable homes offer features that benefit our community, whether it be new parents, older adults who wish to remain in their home, people with mobility needs, emergency services, and many others. These three primary requirements are often paired with many other simple, low-cost features to maximize usability of a home.

It is our hope that new homes built in Montana incorporate features of Visitability so that our communities become stronger, more inviting and homeowner-friendly places!

For more information please visit our Visitable Montana pages.

Montana Centers for Independent Living Action Alert System

What is the Action Alert?

The Montana Centers for Independent Living Action Alert system is an email listserv and online portal designed to inform you about current local, state, and national issues that affect the lives of people with disabilities.

The Action Alert system is administered by Montana’s four centers for independent living who serve as a strong, collective voice on a wide range of national, state and local issues and work to assure physical, attitudinal, and programmatic access to housing, employment, transportation, communities, recreation, and health and social services.

Our action alert system works much like a listserv. Just sign up to become an advocate by clicking the button on the right and we will email you about important opportunities to advocate on behalf of individuals with disabilities locally, statewide, and nationally.

You may also visit the MTCIL Action Alert system portal to learn more about our advocacy efforts as well as to take action on various issues right now.

Now more than ever we all need to join forces and work together to improve and preserve the services that keep people healthy, active, productive and involved in their communities. Remember, democracy is a “participatory sport.” We all have tremendous power to bring about positive change, but only if we get involved, speak out and demand that our elected officials do the right thing.

Our Action Alert system offers many opportunities for you to get involved, follow our advocacy efforts, as well as to look up and contact your elected officials.

Montana Centers for Independent Living Action Alert system
Become an Advocate