Independent Living Specialist

ABOUT ABLE SC
Looking for more than just a job? Come be part of a movement! Able South Carolina (Able SC) is a disability-led organization dedicated to advancing disability rights, independence, and full community inclusion across South Carolina. We believe people with disabilities can and must lead, create change, and build a more inclusive world. Our team brings passion, creativity, collaboration, and a little fun to the important work we do every day!

At Able SC, you'll join a team that values your ideas, encourages professional growth, and believes that meaningful work should come with a supportive and engaging workplace. We take care of our team, too! Able SC offers a competitive salary and a generous benefits package, including health, dental, vision, and life insurance, an Employee Assistance Program, and retirement plan contributions.

And because life outside of work matters, we offer paid vacation, sick leave, and 21 paid holidays annually! Bring your talents, ideas, and passion to a team making a difference across South Carolina.

TO APPLY: Please email a cover letter and resume to jobs@able-sc.org

YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE AN IMPACT!
Are you passionate about disability rights, excited about building disability pride, and ready to help people with disabilities recognize their own power?
At Able SC, we're looking for an Independent Living Specialist who believes that people with disabilities, including those with the most significant disabilities, deserve to make their own choices, pursue their goals, and lead the lives they want. This isn't your typical human services position! You'll work alongside peers to build confidence, challenge barriers, strengthen self-advocacy, and create opportunities for greater independence and community inclusion.

Here's Where You'll Make an Impact!

1. Empower & Build Confidence: Help individual peers discover their strengths, develop disability pride, understand their rights, and take the lead in decisions that affect their lives.
2. Connect & Build Community: Create welcoming, peer-based experiences where people feel valued, understood, and connected as they explore resources and opportunities.
3. Advocate & Break Barriers: Work alongside peers to challenge discrimination, overcome accessibility barriers, and advance disability rights and equal opportunities.
4. Support Choice & Community Living: Help individuals develop Independent Living skills, pursue meaningful goals, and access the supports they need to live in the communities they choose.
   

Working under the Director of Independent Living Programs, you'll be part of a disability-led team committed to peer support, self-determination, and meaningful community inclusion. We're not here to make decisions for people with disabilities. We're here to make sure they have the knowledge, tools, opportunities, and support to lead the lives they choose!

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TEAM!

You're someone who sees possibilities instead of limitations and gets excited about helping people with disabilities recognize their strengths, build confidence, and discover new opportunities.

You're a natural relationship builder who loves creating welcoming spaces where people feel valued and connected. You understand that Able SC isn't a traditional service agency. We're a disability-led community where peers support peers, challenge barriers, and celebrate each other's successes.

You love that no two days are alike! One day, you might advocate alongside a peer, teach Independent Living skills, or help someone understand their rights. The next, you could lead a peer support group, explore community living opportunities, or celebrate someone's achievement of a meaningful goal.

You're creative, organized, compassionate without being paternalistic, and excited to challenge low expectations. You listen, collaborate, follow through, and know when to step back so others can lead. Most importantly, you believe people with disabilities are the experts in their own lives, and you're excited to be part of a team that puts that belief into action

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

With or without reasonable accommodations

1. Champion Disability Pride and the Independent Living Movement. Bring Able SC's mission, disability rights values, and Independent Living Philosophy to life by helping peers recognize their worth, embrace disability as part of human diversity, and understand their right to choice, opportunity, and a fulfilling life.
2. Build Confidence, Self-Determination, and Personal Leadership. Work alongside individuals with significant disabilities and complex support needs to recognize their strengths, explore possibilities, establish their own goals, and take the lead in decisions that affect their lives. Ensure services reflect each person's priorities, preferences, communication methods, and vision for their future.
3. Create a Welcoming, Disability-Proud Peer Community. Cultivate an environment where individuals with disabilities feel welcomed, valued, understood, and connected. Build relationships rooted in mutual respect, belonging, and the power of peer support.
4. Make Disability Rights Personal, Practical, and Powerful. Help peers understand their rights under the ADA, Section 504, the Fair Housing Act, and other disability rights protections. Support them in recognizing discrimination, requesting accommodations, and confidently exercising their rights.
5. Be a Peer Mentor, Not a Decision-Maker. Build authentic, trusting relationships through shared experiences, mutual learning, encouragement, and respect. Offer guidance and support without taking over, making assumptions, or substituting staff judgment for an individual's own choices.
6. Help Individuals Discover What Independence Means to Them. Partner with peers to develop meaningful, consumer-directed Independent Living Plans (ILPs) that reflect their goals, interests, aspirations, and priorities. Provide ongoing support, celebrate progress, and recognize that independence looks different for everyone.
7. Support Individuals Through Disability-Related Life Changes. Welcome and support people who have recently acquired disabilities, experienced changes in their disabilities, or are navigating major life transitions. Connect them with peers, resources, and opportunities that strengthen confidence, disability pride, and self-determination.
   
8. Build Skills That Open Doors. Provide individualized Independent Living skills training that strengthens decision-making, self-advocacy, communication, problem-solving, daily living, community navigation, and other skills identified by peers as important to their independence.
   
9. Turn Barriers Into Opportunities for Advocacy and Change. Work alongside peers to identify and challenge physical, attitudinal, communication, programmatic, and systemic barriers. Support individual advocacy while recognizing opportunities for broader systems change.
10. Champion the Right to Live in the Community. Support individuals with significant disabilities in exercising their right to live, work, and participate in the communities of their choice. Assist individuals at risk of institutionalization or seeking to transition from institutions and other restrictive settings to explore community living options and access the supports they choose.
11. Connect People With Tools, Technology, and Possibilities. Help peers explore and access assistive technology, accessibility modifications, accommodations, personal assistance services, and other resources that increase choice, participation, and control over their daily lives.
12. Build Connections, Not Just Referrals. Help individuals navigate community resources, benefits, housing, transportation, employment, education, healthcare, and other opportunities. Provide meaningful guidance and follow-through while strengthening peers' knowledge and ability to access resources independently.
13. Bring Peer Support to Life. Develop and facilitate engaging peer support groups, disability pride activities, educational opportunities, and community gatherings that encourage shared learning, meaningful relationships, confidence, and belonging.
14. Help Peers Find and Use Their Voices. Create opportunities for individuals to express their opinions, share their experiences, participate in decisions, advocate for change, and develop leadership skills. Support individuals with diverse communication methods and decision-making support needs in exercising their choices and directing their lives.
    
15. Challenge Low Expectations and Promote Possibility. Recognize and actively challenge ableism, paternalism, segregation, and assumptions about what individuals with disabilities can achieve. Approach every person with high expectations, respect for their autonomy, and a commitment to supporting the life they choose.
    

QUALIFICATIONS
Bring Your Experience, Passion, and Perspective! We believe great talent comes from many different paths! Whether your experience comes from disability advocacy, human services, community work, or your own lived experience with disability, we want to hear from you!

Here's what we're looking for:

1. Bachelor's degree in Human Services or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education, professional experience, and lived disability experience.
2. At least two years of professional experience working with people with disabilities, or personal lived experience with disability.
3. Passion for disability rights, disability pride, self-determination, and the Independent Living Philosophy.
4. Knowledge of disability benefits, community resources, service systems, and accessibility—or enthusiasm to learn!
   
5. Experience in advocacy, peer mentoring, community engagement, or supporting people in reaching their goals.
6. Strong communication, relationship-building, and creative problem-solving skills.
7. Ability to stay organized, manage documentation, meet deadlines, and maintain confidentiality.
8. Initiative, flexibility, and the ability to work independently while being a great teammate.
9. Proficiency with Microsoft Office and basic technology; assistive technology knowledge is a plus!
10. Ability to travel throughout the service area, with or without reasonable accommodations.

You don't have to know everything on day one! We're looking for someone who's curious, motivated, excited to learn, and believes in the power of people with disabilities.

If you're ready to challenge barriers, build disability pride, and help peers take the lead in their own lives, we want you on our team!

Able South Carolina is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.
People with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.