About Ability360

For more than four decades, Ability360 has offered and promoted programs that empower people with disabilities to take personal responsibility so they may achieve or continue independent lifestyles within the community. That is our mission and our ongoing commitment.

Who We Are

Ability360 is an Arizona-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is part of a network of over 400 federally recognized Centers for Independent Living (CILs) in the United States. Ability360 is not a live-in residential facility.

As a CIL, we work alongside people with disabilities, providing programs that help them live independently in the community while supporting them in reaching their goals. At least 51% of our staff and board members are people with disabilities, ensuring our work is guided by lived experience. We offer the five federally mandated core services that all CILs must provide: Information and Referral, Advocacy, Peer Support, Independent Living Skills Training, and Transition services, in addition to other services.

Our programs and services are designed to:

• Maximize independence
• Advocate personal responsibility as a means to independence
• Respond to direct consumer needs
• Encourage self-sufficiency
• Increase consumer control
• Achieve equal opportunity and full integration
• Remove barriers – architectural, communication, and attitudinal
• Provide leadership through peer role models

History

Ability360’s roots started in 1977 as Arizona Congress for Action, a grassroots effort to raise awareness about disability rights in central Arizona. In 1981, with federal funding and new independent living legislation, we started to provide services under the name Arizona Bridge to Independent Living (ABIL), and have evolved in the decades since, adding programs and services such as Home Care and Sports & Fitness, to better serve Arizonans with disabilities. In 2015, ABIL rebranded to Ability360 to reflect the vast number of programs we offer and the people with various types of disabilities that we serve in the community.

Ability360 has expanded with new facilities, new programs, and services to better serve the disability community in Arizona.

Milestones Through the Years

Voices from the Community

HCS/Family Caregiving

“Ability360 is like a friend. You can talk honestly with them and expect them to talk honestly with you, and you can’t ask for a better situation than that. The two of you, or in our case, the three of us, have a mutual bond.”

- Jim Canton, Family Caregiver

“I’ve been so pleased with everything Ability360 has done to support me, to support Kaitlyn. Anytime I need a question answered, or I need assistance with something, there’s always someone I can call.”

- Debbie Andre, Family Caregiver

Volunteer

“I truly love Ability360’s mission and what they do, so I always try to add value however I can, which is why I jump at every chance to volunteer with them.”

- Victor Perdue, Sports & Fitness Center Volunteer

Advocacy

“Advocacy is such an important word. Advocacy to me means empowerment. It means helping another individual and understanding that they're a unique individual. For me, what I understand is that I'm going on their journey.”

- Latrice Jackson, Advocate

Sports & Fitness

“I have always been involved with sports as a youth. Being active and being a special education teacher, and finding out about Ability360, it just kind of put the two and two things together.”

- Wendi Socha, member and volunteer

Donors

“Ability360 absolutely resonates with the community it builds and supports. Being able to learn about their efforts through adaptive sports, the annual breakfast, and a facility visit, my eyes were opened to their enlivened approach and the services they provide Arizonans. Just being asked to support Ability360 programs is a bonus."

- Teresa and Perry Pearson, Annual Donors and Supporters of Ability360.

“The Thurston Family Foundation is grateful to partner with Ability360 in support of their leadership capacity building efforts. It has been great to see the dynamic growth of this leadership team and the impact this investment has had on accelerating their mission within the deserving communities they serve. We look forward to continuing this exciting collaboration, partnering with more leaders at Ability360, in order to further the impact of the incredible work they do.”

- Thurston Family Foundation

“As a veteran, I appreciate seeing how adaptive sports help wounded warriors recover both physically and mentally. Sports provide the competition, camaraderie, and Esprit de Corps, that we enjoy in the Armed Forces; and you see how it helps veterans recover more quickly by being involved at Ability360. We are honored to have the opportunity to support, volunteer, and donate to Ability360.”

- Trista & Stuart Burns, Ability360 Sports & Fitness Center Donors & Volunteers