The photographs in this collection feature Pennsylvanians with disabilities who use HCBS — Home and Community-Based Services — to live the life they choose. HCBS provides supports and services that empower a person to live in the community of their choice rather than a nursing home, state intellectual disability center, or other congregate care setting.

Cindy - Ford City, Pennsylvania

Cindy is a fierce advocate for disability rights from Ford City in Western Pennsylvania's Armstrong County. Dedicated to her church and family, Cindy's a dynamo in her accessible van.

Cindy holding her dog on her lap outside her house, in front of a US flag

Cindy lives in her own home with her beloved canine companions Maxwell and Nigel. She spends quality time hanging out on the nearby family farm.

Cindy receiving communion in church

Direct support professionals help her live her life by:

  • Operating the van,
  • getting to church, and
  • helping with her daily needs.

Cindy, smiling, outdoors near a cow shed

This project is supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council; in part by grant #1901PASCDD-02, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.

For more information, please contact

iod@temple.edu
215-204-1356