An advocacy group for people with disabilities continues to support Ashland even after its office was closed last October. Alyssa Palmer has the story.

North Country Independent Living Center in Ashland has gone virtual. The non-profit business closed its office last October. North Country Director John Nousaine says the decision has been a good one.

“What we’ve realized before is they spent most of their time in the community anyway and very little time in the office. Because of the transportation barriers most people with disabilities have, we found ourselves in the community more than sitting behind a desk in an office. So it’s really just an extension to the way we have gradually gone more and more to that model over the years. So we felt the need to have a physical presence of an office was just not really good business.”

North Country Independent Living serves eight northern counties in Wisconsin, with an office in Superior. They serve people in the community with disabilities through advocacy, peer support, and transportation services. The mission promotes people with disabilities to be active in daily living and given the same opportunities and choices as others.

Nousaine says two staff members live near Ashland and continue to cover the area very closely. With no complaints, he says the necessary transition is going very well.

“Like a lot of non-profits we are struggling with increase cost and decreased revenues and trying to figure out the best ways to make things work. And this is more of an extension of that.”

North Country Independent Living will be celebrating their 25th anniversary. On May 8, Ashland will celebrate with coffee and cake in the public library.

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