Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI) is a cross-impairment national Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO). The ILMI vision is an Ireland where disabled people have freedom, choice and control over all aspects of their lives and can fully participate in an inclusive society as equals.

The Virtual Online Inclusive Communities for Empowerment (VOICE) Community Development Project aims to work with disabled people in counties Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford, with the focus on bringing disabled people together in collective spaces.

The project is based on digital networking, peer mentoring support and activism with disabled people in the south of Ireland (CHO areas 4 and 5). As a genuine Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO) we recognise, first and foremost, that disabled people must have the equality of opportunity to become active members in their communities. Spaces need to be created and resourced 
to build a collective 
shared analysis and for 
representatives to be 
supported to bring 
collective voices to 
inform mainstream 
service provision and 
policy development.

Using a community development approach, the project will continue to:

• Work with each participant to develop Personal Action Plans, identifying and developing goals through effectively accessing local mainstream services that reduce isolation while improving health and wellbeing.
• Inform, mentor and support disabled people to build authentic local representative structures.
• Build the capacity of local mainstream services to promote real inclusion of disabled people.
• Provide technical guidance to mainstream local community, sporting, educational and cultural organisations in relation to Disability Equality Training, access, engagement and inclusion in order to promote involvement of disabled people in their communities.