About C A L I F
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Communities Actively Living Independent & Free's (CALIF) story is a piece of the overall and continuing story of the Disability Rights Movement in Los Angeles. The founders of CALIF not only come from a very diverse group of people with disabilities and ethnic backgrounds but also from different Disability Rights Activist groups like ADAPT, Californians for Disability Rights, California Network of Mental Health Clients, Special Services for Groups and AARP. Lillibeth Navarro, ADAPT activist is of Asian descent coming from the Philippines; the late Armentres Ramsay and her husband James, are African Americans from Arkansas; Audrey Harthorn is of German origin from Van Nuys. DonFphrnqTaub Persina is from New York with roots in France and Italy; Chuck Shin is a Korean immigrant who moved to Los Angeles from Minnesota; Jerry Davila-Castro is from Spain. Among the co-founders are Doreen Moore, who is a senior from New Zealand; Sylvia Drzewiecki, Sylvia Davis, and Luthecia Martin from Los Angeles; and Naomi Kageyama from Japan. There were other collaborators, too numerous to mention but through whose unwaivering support and faith, CALIF has come to fore. Among the enduring fund supporters of our efforts were the Department of Rehabilitation, the Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and the Liberty Hill Foundation.
The founders were all part of CALIF’s mother organization--the In-Home Support Services Recipients And Providers Sharing (IRAPS) project of Special Services for Groups (SSG). Lillibeth Navarro was working as IRAPS Project Director in 1999 and also as an Empowerment Team Leader for the California Foundation of Independent Living Centers (CFILC) when the idea fired her up to start an Independent Living Center.
It happened on a day at Southern California Rehabilitation Services (SCRS) in Downey on visit from Department of Rehabilitation’s Jackie Tatum. She bewailed at the lack of Independent Living Services in the Central Los Angeles area. As an impulse, Lillibeth said to her, “We’ll start an ILC (independent living center)!” The idea sounded outrageous at the time but the challenge was presented. Lillibeth vouched the idea to Armentres, who initially thought the proposal was too much.
The idea seemed outlandish but the small IRAPS group was just bursting with energy, commitment to the cause, innovation and creative ideas. The founders helped Service Employee International Union (SEIU) push for the creation of the Personal Assistance Services Council (PASC) and had been successful at its establishment. The founders took upon themselves to be watchdogs over anything that had to do with disability civil rights, and the issues they supported and pushed for—whether it was IHSS or transportation, often made enduring systems change impact.
CALIF’s first office was housed at the IRAPS office on Broadway and 9th Street, on the 3rd floor, a little room, barely 320 square feet that could accommodate only a little reception area and a main suite where workers were packed like sardines. For breathing space, Ernie Powell of American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) was kind enough to offer the AARP Conference Room on Wilshire Blvd. at the then AARP headquarters, to provide CALIF with conference room space. Victoria Lim, Zenaida Deocampo, Evan Levang, Rosie Williams, along with Nora and Nang David were generous with their time and gave volunteer support as Lillibeth Navarro began forming the founding Board of Directors for CALIF.
Start-up meetings commenced on a regular basis in September 2000.
Collaborations with Dan Clark (Dept. of Rehabilitation); Brenda Premo (founding director of Western University's Center for Disability Issues and the Health Professions); Richard Devylder (Dayle McIntosh Center); Cassandra Malry; Jeanette Hill-Yonis and her partners at Latham & Watkins assisted CALIF’s approval of its 501 C3 non-profit status.
CALIF officially became a corporation in September 2001. In February 2002, CALIF moved next door on 849 S. Broadway Ave., at the Mezzanine level where CALIF stayed for two years before the building was sold by Medi Bolour. CALIF promptly moved to the MALDEF building at its current location at 634 S. Spring Street on June 30th, 2004, its current location.
Lillibeth Navarro and the original founding Board of CALIF had a vision of full inclusion, equality and civil rights for all people with disabilities, especially in the underserved ethnic communities of Los Angeles. How does one get there?
Each individual with a disability who started CALIF was moved by a common but compelling experience. Defining moments varied from a successful job interview, obtaining affordable and accessible homes to the devastation of discrimination on disabled people. At CALIF, the founders and staff want to bring hope to different communities – to give them the chance to write with their own lives, their own version of the Disability Story.
The Founders of CALIF have this united message: “Let us create communities of people with disabilities who are leaders with a lot of caring and integrity, who are servants and hard workers; who are excellent team members who appreciate the Disability story; who know their civil rights and who are creative and resourceful about everything; who know their communities like the palm of their hand and who would not take “no” for an answer. If you answer YES to this challenge, then you are part of the CALIF story and you will continue this tradition for the generations still to come. Thank you!”
Lillibeth Navarro
Founder and Executive Director
Communities Actively Living Independent & Free