Transcript: David Nelson Interview
"We didn't want a nursing home saying, we are a Center for Independent Living, we're eligible for that money." David Nelson talks about the establishment of Centers for Independent Living (CILs) in Indiana. He describes a successful effort in Indiana to ensure federal funds went to the state's…
Title
Transcript: David Nelson Interview
Subject
Community Living
Disability Rights Movement
Physical Disability
Visual Disability
Description
"We didn't want a nursing home saying, we are a Center for Independent Living, we're eligible for that money." David Nelson talks about the establishment of Centers for Independent Living (CILs) in Indiana. He describes a successful effort in Indiana to ensure federal funds went to the state's genuine CILs, federally defined as "consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability, nonresidential, private nonprofit agencies for the provision of an array of Independent Living services to individuals with significant disabilities." "We got a state statute that took care of that problem. That was a big deal. There are states that I know of that have had their money go to places they should not," David observes. Some years later, he says, Indiana's General Assembly created a budget line item for CILs.
Interviewed in 2013, David had been executive director of the League for the Blind and Disabled in Fort Wayne (now known as The League) for 23 years. The League serves 11 of Indiana's northeast counties. He talks about the League's history in the context of the national Independent Living movement. CILs originated with Title VII of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Indiana was a late-comer, "almost a stepchild" of the movement, David recalls. He credits Nancy Griffin, John Cardwell, and Al Tolbert as instrumental in the development of the state's CILs. The League had begun as a single-disability entity known as the Allen County League for the Blind. While cleaning and moving boxes upon his arrival there in 1990, David found original news articles confirming stories he'd heard about its early history. Aging newspaper clippings described Helen Keller's visit to Fort Wayne in 1949, an event that resulted in the founding of the organization. In 1981, the League received federal funding to become the first CIL in Indiana.
David served on the statewide Indiana Council on Independent Living and was its chairperson for three years. He also discusses Indiana's vocational rehabilitation agency in the late 1970s, when he was hired there as a counselor. "Vocational Rehabilitation was the Cadillac of state employment at that time." It was well funded and was probably making a more positive impact than it is today, says David. With support of individuals' educational expenses, their business start-ups, and medical procedures needed to improve functional capacities, "we invested in people with disabilities pretty heavily."
Interviewed in 2013, David had been executive director of the League for the Blind and Disabled in Fort Wayne (now known as The League) for 23 years. The League serves 11 of Indiana's northeast counties. He talks about the League's history in the context of the national Independent Living movement. CILs originated with Title VII of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Indiana was a late-comer, "almost a stepchild" of the movement, David recalls. He credits Nancy Griffin, John Cardwell, and Al Tolbert as instrumental in the development of the state's CILs. The League had begun as a single-disability entity known as the Allen County League for the Blind. While cleaning and moving boxes upon his arrival there in 1990, David found original news articles confirming stories he'd heard about its early history. Aging newspaper clippings described Helen Keller's visit to Fort Wayne in 1949, an event that resulted in the founding of the organization. In 1981, the League received federal funding to become the first CIL in Indiana.
David served on the statewide Indiana Council on Independent Living and was its chairperson for three years. He also discusses Indiana's vocational rehabilitation agency in the late 1970s, when he was hired there as a counselor. "Vocational Rehabilitation was the Cadillac of state employment at that time." It was well funded and was probably making a more positive impact than it is today, says David. With support of individuals' educational expenses, their business start-ups, and medical procedures needed to improve functional capacities, "we invested in people with disabilities pretty heavily."
Creator
Indiana Disability History Project
Publisher
Center for Health Equity at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community and Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities
Date
2013-12-03
Contributor
David Nelson - interviewee
Jane Harlan-Simmons - interviewer
Peggy Holtz - interviewer
Rights
Copyright © 2018 The Trustees of Indiana University
Relation
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Document
Identifier
099-do
Access Rights
Open to all users
Bibliographic Citation
David Nelson, December 3, 2013, interview 099-mi, transcript, Indiana Disability History Project, Center on Aging and Community, Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, Bloomington, IN, https://indianadisabilityhistory.org
Spatial Coverage
Indiana, Allen County, Fort Wayne
Temporal Coverage
1973 - 2013
Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter