Center for People With Disabilities

10/08/2026

Meet Brian Channey. Brian is a woodworker, a builder, and a lifelong do-it-yourselfer who takes on his own plumbing, electrical, and landscaping projects. He is also DeafBlind.

In our new video, Brian shows us his woodworking and talks about his life, his work, and how he communicates. He uses a Pocketalker, a personal listening device, along with tactile American Sign Language support from Vicki Scarboro, his Support Service Provider. A Support Service Provider, or SSP, is different from an interpreter. An SSP helps a person who is DeafBlind access information, communication, and their surroundings, so they can make their own choices and live independently. Together, Brian and Vicki use an approach called Total Communication.

Thank you, Brian, for welcoming us into your home and sharing your story with our community.

Brian is a woodworker, and he has also done his own plumbing and ro...

10/06/2026

Good news for anyone who lives, works, or spends time in Boulder: the City of Boulder now has an accessible online form for requesting Accessible Pedestrian Signals, also known as APS.

An APS is a crosswalk signal that tells pedestrians when it is time to cross with an audible tone or spoken message and a vibrating arrow on the push button, so people who are blind or have low vision can cross independently.

Less than three months ago, the form for requesting one of these signals was itself an inaccessible PDF. Now anyone can submit a request online, on their own, in a few minutes. That is real progress in a short amount of time, and it came from people in our community naming the barrier and asking for change.

If you know an intersection in Boulder that needs an APS, please submit a request. Every request shows the City exactly where the need is. The link to the form is in the first comment.

09/30/2026

We're hiring! CPWD has six open positions in Colorado and Nebraska. Every role is full time at 32 hours a week, and most of them follow a four-day workweek. Each position comes with medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k), and paid holidays, vacation, and sick time.

In Colorado:

Independent Living Advisor, Boulder office, $31 to $37 an hour. You would work one-on-one with people with disabilities to set their own independent living goals, and you would help them reach those goals through skills training, advocacy, benefits applications, and peer support.

Independent Living Advisor, North Metro office in Thornton, $31 to $37 an hour. This is the same role, serving our community from our Thornton office.

Transition Coordinator, Boulder office, $33 to $43 an hour. You would help people move out of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities and into homes of their own. That includes finding housing, arranging transportation, and connecting with the clubs, volunteer work, and faith communities that make a place feel like home.

Veterans Independence Program Quality Assurance and Training Coordinator, Longmont office with a hybrid option, $33 to $42 an hour. You would support the staff who serve Veterans through our Veterans Independence Program, leading trainings, reviewing program quality, and helping the program run consistently across every partner agency.

In Nebraska:

Veterans Independence Program Advisor, two openings. One is based in Lincoln and travels to western Iowa, and the other is based in Grand Island and Kearney. Both positions are remote with regular travel. You would help Veterans direct their own care, including building their support plans, managing their budgets, and hiring the personal care workers they choose.

As a Center for Independent Living, we value the perspectives of people with disabilities, and we encourage people with disabilities to apply. To apply, send your résumé and a cover letter written for the position to [email protected].

Do you know someone who would be a great fit? Please share this post with them. Link in the comments

09/25/2026

Thank you to everyone who has already written in CPWD for Best of Boulder 2026. If you have not yet, the ballot is open through October 1, and it takes about a minute.

Every write-in is a sign to our neighbors that Boulder County stands behind independent living for people with disabilities.

Vote here: https://vote.boulderweekly.com/custom_link/6a7c7c9206da260768912551 -1

Tap Continue, type "Center for People With Disabilities" in the write-in box under Non-Profit, and tap Vote.

09/22/2026

September 23 is the International Day of Sign Languages. American Sign Language is not English translated onto the hands, it's a complete language with its own grammar and syntax, and for a large part of the Deaf community, it's the language they think and dream in.

ASL took root in Hartford in 1817. The Deaf community organized to protect it through the 1880 Milan Congress, which pushed speech-based instruction over sign language in schools, and through Deaf President Now in 1988, when Gallaudet students shut down campus for eight days and won a Deaf president in return. Today, 45 states recognize ASL as fulfilling foreign language requirements in schools, and more than 755,569 Coloradans are deaf or hard of hearing.

Read the full history, and what accessible communication requires today:

September 23 is the International Day of Sign Languages. American Sign Language is not English on the hands. It is a complete language with its own grammar and syntax, one that Deaf Americans have organized to build and protect for over two centuries, from Hartford in 1817 through Deaf President Now

09/18/2026

What does a Center for Independent Living actually do? At CPWD, it looks like this: teaching the skills to run your own household, coaching a job search, introducing someone new to disability to a peer who has been there, and standing with a community member when a system says no.

We have done this work in Boulder County since 1977. Best of Boulder 2026 voting is open through October 1, and we are asking you to write us in for Non-Profit.

Vote here: https://vote.boulderweekly.com/custom_link/6a7c7c9206da260768912551 -1

Tap Continue, type "Center for People With Disabilities" in the write-in box under Non-Profit, and tap Vote.

09/15/2026

Work is one of the clearest expressions of independent living, and it's also where a lot of us hit real barriers: an inaccessible application system, an employer who assumes rather than asks, or the fear that earning money will cost us our benefits.

Colorado funds free programs built to solve exactly this: career coaching, benefits counseling, vocational training, help with accommodations, and legal support when something goes wrong. The hard part is that these programs live across different agencies, each with its own rules.

Our latest blog post lays it all out: what each program does, who qualifies, and the order that works best. Link in bio, or read it directly here: https://www.cpwd.org/blog/working-in-colorado-career-coaching-ticket-to-work-and-the-steps-to-take

Not sure where to start? Call CPWD's Employment Program at 303-442-8662. You don't need the answer before you dial.

09/15/2026

Work shapes income, schedule, community, and the freedom to plan our own lives. It's also where many of us run into real barriers: an application system that doesn't work with a screen reader, an employer who assumes instead of asking, or the worry that a paycheck will affect our other benefits.

Colorado funds a range of free programs that address these barriers directly, including career coaching, benefits counseling, vocational training, workplace accommodations, and legal help. The catch is that no single agency offers all of them, and it isn't always clear who to call first.

Our new article breaks down what each program covers, who qualifies, and the order that gets the best results, so you can move forward with confidence:

https://www.cpwd.org/blog/working-in-colorado-career-coaching-ticket-to-work-and-the-steps-to-take

You don't need to know which program fits before you call. Reach CPWD's Employment Program at 303-442-8662 or [email protected], and we'll help you find your starting point.

Work is one of the clearest expressions of independent living. It shapes income, schedule, community, and the freedom to plan our own lives, and it's also where many of us run into real barriers: an application system that doesn't work with a screen reader, an employer who assumes rather than asks,

09/11/2026

Curb cuts, captions, accessible buses, the right to live in our own homes. None of it arrived on its own. People with disabilities organized for every piece of it, and that organizing continues at CPWD every week: in city planning meetings, in public comment periods, and at the State Capitol.

Best of Boulder 2026 voting closes October 1. Writing in CPWD for Non-Profit is a vote for a Boulder County that everyone can get around in.

Vote here: https://vote.boulderweekly.com/custom_link/6a7c7c9206da260768912551 -1

Tap Continue, type "Center for People With Disabilities" in the write-in box under Non-Profit, and tap Vote.