Your March 2025 LIFTT Connection Newsletter!

upLIFTT Thrift Store to open at former Billings office site

As part of efforts to diversify funding sources, LIFTT will open a thrift store called "upLIFTT Thrift" at the former site of the agency's Billings office, 1201 Grand Avenue.

Donate, Shop & Make a Difference!

Section 504 is under threat, Act Now!

Montana's Attorney General Austin Knudsen has joined 16 other state AGs in a lawsuit, Texas v. Bercerra, challenging the constitutionality of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Section 504 predates the ADA and is the basis of civil rights protections and reasonable accommodations for participation by people with disabilities in education, health care, and any other program or service that receives federal funding. The loss of Section 504 would set disability rights back at least five decades.

Tell AG Knudsen to withdraw Montana from Texas v. Berccera Today!

LIFTT is planting an Accessible Community Garden

LIFTT is planting an accessible community garden in the yard of our Billings office and we want you to be a part of it.

Plans for the garden include wheelchair level flower/plant boxes and other features designed to make it a welcoming place for all

Help Our Accessible Inclusive Community Garden Grow!

LIFTT is holding a Coat Drive!

Even as winter turns to spring here in the northern plains and rockies (we hope!) the need for coats, hats, gloves and other items to keep warm and dry remains for many in the communities we serve

Find out how you can help by dropping off new or clean used cold & wet weather gear at the LIFTT offices in Billings and Glendive

Optimize your Brain Health!

Are you interested in learning lifestyle habits that help prevent Dementia? Join our FREE 8-week class entitled "Optimize your Brain Health!" Class sessions are offered on Mondays at 10 a.m. starting March 17, and on Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. beginning March 19.

Spring into a healthy brain!

Transformation in the Face of Adversity:

With New Challenges Comes New Strength and Vision

Executive Director Carlos Ramalho says that for LIFTT the recent freeze of funding and continuing uncertainty about the future of federal support makes it imperative for LIFTT to transform to continue serve our consumers and the public in this changing age.

Read Carlos's thoughts

Western Heritage Center Exhibits highlight Local Disability History and Art

Two exhibits, one on the history of people with disabilities in Montana and another featuring works of art produced by disabled artists, will open for public viewing at the Western Heritage Center in downtown Billings beginning on Wednesday, March 26.

The exhibits are the result of over two years of work of research using in-depth primary historical research and fourteen recent oral history interviews to uncover the unique and surprising stories of people living with disabilities in Montana.

Learn how you can see these exhibits and about LIFTT's contribution!

MWD can help you work!

Medicaid for Workers with Disabilities (MWD) helps people keep Montana Medicaid benefits while working through paying a cost share fee on a sliding scale based on income.

That means people with disabilities can work, earn money, and live independently without losing needed services and supports available only through Medicaid.

Learn more about MWD and see if it is right for you or somebody you know!

PWDs should earn real money for real work!

It is past time to end the use of subminimum wages for people with disabilities and make real wages for real work the default expectation.

Since 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act has contained provisions that allow businesses to pay PWDs pennies on the dollar under the guise of training.

This is not only wrong on an abstract moral level, it actively contributes to keeping people in poverty and reliant on taxpayer-supported services such as SNAP (Food Stamps) just because they are disabled.

It's Time to End Subminimum Wages!

Billings MS Support Group Now Meets at LIFTT

As part of its commitment to empowering people with disabilities, Living Independently for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT) is proud announce that the Billings Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Support Group now meets in the community room at LIFTT's office (1241 Crawford Drive) on the third Friday of each month at 10 a.m.

For more information about the group contact Lorna Wade at (406) 670-4275 or wade382@msn.com

Strength, Support & Community are key to Living with MS

Support LIFTT's Mission and Vision

2025 is going to be an exciting year at LIFTT but to make it all happen we need your support. No gift is to small! so pleae follow the link below and thank you in advance.

Donate to LIFTT Today

LIFTT is partly funded through contracts and grants from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, USAging, and the Administration for Community Living, United States Department of Health and Human Services. The statements herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of DPHHS, USAging, ACL, or HHS.

LIFTT is a Montana 501(c)3 corporation organized as a Center for Independent Living (CIL). With team members based in Billings and Glendive, LIFTT provides people with disabilities with programs and services that help empower them to break down the physical, bureaucratic, and cultural barriers that prevent them from being fully independent participants in their lives and communities throughout 18 counties in southeastern and southcentral Montana: Big Horn, Carbon, Carter, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, Golden Valley, McCone, Musselshell, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Rosebud, Stillwater, Wibaux, and Yellowstone.

Living Independently for Today & Tomorrow (LIFTT)

1241 Crawford Drive Billings, MT 59102 · (406) 259-5181

119 South Kendrick Avenue · P.O. Box 1387 Glendive, MT 59330 · (406) 948-8500

Support Independent Living in Montana by Donating to LIFTT Today!