History - The Stavros Timeline
1974
Stavros founded as an Independent Living Center by a group of individuals with spinal cord injuries who moved from parents’ homes, nursing homes, and state hospitals to an old farmhouse at 691 South East Street, Amherst.
Assisted in the development of accessible apartments (John F. Nutting in Amherst).
1977
Received a grant from Tufts/New England Medical Center to develop peer counseling programs and initiate advisory boards to the six area and regional offices of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (Western Region).
Received first of three annual $10,000 grants through MRC Expansion and Innovation grants. The purpose was to develop a model of IL services in the region, provide Peer Advocacy Services, and to develop community resources, including housing and architectural accessibility.
1978
Town of Amherst makes special allocation in Community Development Block Grant to make town center accessible.
The original group leaves the house on South East Street to pursue their own lives and to allow the use of the house as the base for Stavros services.
1979
Stavros among first five Massachusetts Independent Living Centers to receive Title VII funds. Basic services are expanded to include Information and Referral, Skills Training, Education, and Advocacy, as well as Peer Advocacy.
1982
Stavros receives funds from Hampshire County United Way for off-hour transportation service for persons with disabilities.
1983
Stavros receives Independent Living Program funds appropriated by Massachusetts legislature.
1984
Stavros begins administration of Personal Care Attendant services in the four western counties of Massachusetts.
1986
Stavros opens office in Springfield with assistance of MRC. Stavros receives funds from Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to establish an Independent Living program for deaf people.
Stavros purchases accessible vans with the help of U.S. Department of Transportation funding.
1990
Stavros advocacy and support lead to accessibility at Franklin County Court House.
Stavros gains Community Development Block Grant funds from Amherst to build addition to its original building on South East Street.
Stavros receives planning grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to improve services to persons with disabilities.
Stavros begins its Peer Assistive Technology Program, providing information about independence-promoting technology to thousands of people.
1991
Stavros receives three-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
1992
Access Plus, a business to provide designs and related services to businesses, organizations, and communities, begins.
1993
Mayor Robert Markel of Springfield swears in the first Mayor’s Council on Disability as a direct result of Stavros advocacy.
Stavros begins the first Volunteer Surrogate Program in the United States, helping dozens of persons with disabilities to manage their own personal care programs.
1996
Stavros advocacy leads to the Massachusetts Lemon Law for Wheelchairs, providing basic consumer protection to wheelchair users.
1997
As a result of Stavros advocacy, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts reaches a settlement with MCI Relay Services. The settlement provides for the establishment of a model telecommunications relay service for Deaf people.
Stavros begins distributing free telecommunications equipment to persons with disabilities and deaf people, first in partnership with Bell Atlantic, then with Verizon.
1999
Stavros begins its Fiscal Intermediary Program, providing payroll services to thousands of persons employing personal care attendants, including consumers from the Northeast Independent Living Program (Lawrence).
Stavros begins the Access Awards, honoring individuals, businesses, and communities for their efforts to improve access.
2001
As a plaintiff in Rolland v. Cellucci, Stavros helps thousands of clients of the Department of Mental Retardation to leave nursing homes and live in the community.
As a plaintiff in Hermanson v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Stavros helps ensure that persons 65 and over will have essentially the same access to personal care attendant services as younger people.
2002
Stavros designs comprehensive management information system software for independent living centers. IDMS, as the system is known, is adopted by all other Massachusetts independent living centers.
2003
Stavros advocacy leads to the provision of personal care attendant services for persons with terminal illnesses.
Stavros receives Community Development Block Grant funds to provide outreach and other independent living services in Greenfield.
Stavros begins the Home Sweet Home program, coordinating resources, time, and talent to provide ramps for homebound persons with disabilities.
2004
Stavros complaint against the City of Springfield leads to a U.S. Department of Justice settlement requiring the city to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
2005
Stavros begins work as the Fiscal Intermediary for the Real Choice Project, supporting new ways for persons with disabilities to control their lives.
2006
Stavros consolidates Fiscal Intermediary (409 Main Street) and Program (691 South East Street) offices into new site at 210 Old Farm Road, Amherst.
Stavros Fiscal Intermediary welcomes consumers from AdLib (Pittsfield), Center for Living and Working (Worcester), and Independence Associates (Brockton).
Stavros begins the Transition to Adulthood program, for youths with disabilities ages 14-22.
2007
Stavros advocacy leads to search for new provider of paratransit services for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority.
Stavros advocacy helps establish the Personal Care Attendant Quality Home Care Workforce Council, a statewide, consumer-directed body that will negotiate agreements with the union representing PCAs in Massachusetts, and take other actions to improve the quality of the PCA workforce.
2008
Stavros is a plaintiff in the Hutchinson complaint, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts agrees in federal court to provide community services for persons with head injuries in nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities.
2009
Stavros advocacy leads to breakthrough changes in state regulations governing Personal Care Attendant and Hospice services--persons receiving Hospice services could now receive PCA services, while PCA consumers receiving Hospice care could increase their PCA hours.
Stavros advocacy helps bring change to Massachusetts laws governing guardianship, giving greater protections to persons with disabilities and elders to maintain control of their own lives.
Stavros begins to provide fiscal intermediary services to the state’s Veterans Independence Plus (VIP) programs at Aging Service Access Points across the state.
Stavros offices go fragrance-free!
Stavros advocacy helps lead to a new provider for paratransit services in Hampden and Hampshire counties after the provider selected by the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority leaves hundreds of consumers stranded or without any rides.
2010
Stavros gets a Facebook page.
Stavros advocacy leads to the development of the statewide PCA Improvement Work Group, leading to many consumer-friendly changes in the Massachusetts PCA program.
2012
Stavros completes development of new database for independent living and personal care attendant program for the 11 Massachusetts Independent Living Centers.
2013
- Stavros buys a new building for our Springfield office at 227 Berkshire Avenue.
Stavros begins to help even more people leave nursing homes through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Money Follows the Person program.
Stavros begins to provide Long Term Services and Supports Coordination for adults with disabilities (ages 21 – 64) through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts One Care Program.
2014
Stavros opens new Springfield office at 227 Berkshire Avenue.
2015
Stavros celebrates 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities
Act with the Celebrate the Promise Festival on the Amherst Town Common.
Stavros advocacy on behalf of communication access for Deaf prisoners helps Prisoners Legal Services of Massachusetts file complaint against the Massachusetts Department of Corrections.
2016
Stavros advocacy helps reshape overtime pay for Personal Care Attendants, allowing more consumers to get the care they need.
2018
Stavros begins providing Long Term Services and Supports Care Management services under the Massachusetts Accountable Care Organization initiative (through the Care Alliance of Western Massachusetts).
2019
Stavros begins providing Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) in high schools in the Pioneer Valley and North Quabbin.
2020
Covid-19 pandemic becomes widespread in March, closing down state and federal offices, schools, and care facilities across the country, but Stavros never closes its doors.
Stavros boosted awareness of the 2020 U.S. Census, and helped people with disabilities complete it.
2022
Under the leadership of Angelina Ramirez, Stavros is named one of the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts (at #21) by the Women’s Edge and The Boston Globe.
Amherst Chamber of Commerce honors Angelina Ramirez with its A+ Lifetime Achievement Award.
2023
Stavros builds an advocacy coalition in response to nursing home closures in western Mass. Advocates, area Long-Term Care Ombuds offices, elected officials, nursing home residents/their loved ones, and staff members join weekly calls led by Stavros advocates. Stavros files a complaint with the MA Attorney General’s office and Department of Public Health to ensure that residents’ rights and choices are being honored. As a result of our advocacy alongside Senator John Velis’ office, the Massachusetts Board of Nursing Home Administrators is required by FY24 Budget language to investigate the actions of nursing home administrators during these closures.
In response to the housing crisis, Stavros works with Boston Center for Independent Living and Disability Policy Consortium to file legislation that would make the Massachusetts Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) easier to use and administer. Components of this bill are incorporated into the FY24 State Budget.
2024
Stavros advocates alongside Dignity Alliance partners present Congressman Richard Neal with the Dignity Alliance Federal Legislator of the Year Award for his exceptional work on expanding long-term services and supports and healthcare for people with disabilities and older adults.
Stavros collaborates with other Independent Living Centers and 1199SEIU to advocate against Governor Maura Healey’s proposed budget cuts to the Personal Care Attendant Program. As a result of our advocacy, the PCA program is successfully protected in the FY25 Budget.
Stavros advocates attend the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) Conference (continuing a decades-long tradition for Stavros advocates). At this July’s conference, they meet with Congressmen Richard Neal’s and Jim McGovern’s staff to discuss issues the disability community is facing, including in areas of housing and institutionalization.
In conjunction with other organizations, our advocacy (including Joe Tringali’s massive push on this issue) resulted in Governor Healey signing into law an Act to Improve Quality and Oversight of Long-Term Care — Chapter 197 of the Acts of 2024. The 66-page Act includes many important provisions affecting long term care and related topics including significant changes to MassHealth policies regarding estate recovery.
A victory for both the elderly and people with disabilities, the Act includes provisions that limit MassHealth estate recovery to only federal mandated recovery for nursing home care and certain other long-term care costs. It also removes estate recovery for people with disabilities receiving assistance under MassHealth’s CommonHealth program. For years, advocates have been pushing to reform MassHealth’s overly aggressive estate recovery practices. After the death of a loved one who had received health coverage from MassHealth, families are often shocked to learn that MassHealth can recover payment from the probate estate of the deceased MassHealth member. Until passage of this Act, MassHealth pursued reimbursement for the cost of all services after a MassHealth member turned age 55. This was above and beyond the federally required minimum for estate recovery. The Act limits the scope of MassHealth recovery to only what is required under federal law and brings MassHealth recovery into line with the majority of other states.
Thanks to the hard work and persistent advocacy of Stavros CIL, the Governor officially proclaimed September 9th through 13th as Disability Voting Rights Week. This recognition is a major milestone in our efforts to ensure equal access to the ballot for individuals with disabilities.
In addition to the Governor’s proclamation, both the House and Senate of the Commonwealth passed resolutions echoing the same commitment to disability voting rights. Several local communities including Easthampton, Northampton, Holyoke and Amherst issued similar proclamations in support of this important cause.
This achievement is a direct result of months of advocacy, highlighting the importance of civic engagement for people with disabilities. Stavros has been at the forefront of this movement, and this recognition shows how powerful our collective voice can be when fighting for the rights of our community.