Eastern Oregon Center for Independent Living

In 1997 W. Kirt Toombs met with his advisor, Mary Lou Breslin, at the University of San Francisco to present his planned master’s dissertation. Toombs presented his plan for developing a center for independent living to promote the independent living philosophy in rural Eastern Oregon. After a long discussion of the pros and cons of this endeavor, he finally obtained Breslin’s approval. She gave him the name of EOCIL’s first advisor, Lynnae Ruttledge, in Oregon.
Over the next two years Toombs worked diligently with community members to form a board of directors, develop the company’s policies and procedures, and develop and enhance community partnerships. At the same time EOCIL cultivated relationships with Oregon’s State Independent Living Council and the existing centers for independent living in Oregon.
EOCIL obtained its first grant from the Blanche Fischer Foundation for equipment in 1999 and began providing direct services in January 2000. The Toombs family provided initial operational funding by taking a mortgage on their family home in Idaho and cashing out a retirement account. EOCIL received its first grant from the Oregon Statewide Independent Living Council in 2000.