Toward Maximum Independence

TMI, INC. is a California non-profit public-benefit corporation which has supported people with disabilities since 1981. The agency began as an Independent Living Service, teaching people sophisticated skills such as banking, budgeting, and meal planning and preparation. Growing needs have led the agency to expand its array of supports. Three major areas comprise TMI's program services and supports. These include Community Living, Community Employment, and Family Support.

All of TMI's supports are provided in the context of our vision, mission, core values and principle beliefs. Our vision of the ideal world is one in which "achieving valued roles, making critical life-defining decisions, gaining the respect of others, and contributing to the life of the community are opportunities enjoyed by all citizens." This is what we strive toward through our work.

OUR MISSION - It is the mission of TMI to support the value, right and responsibilities of all people with the support of their advocates, to make informed choices regarding how they live, work and express their membership in community. We accomplish this by providing personalized supports to people in their own homes, workplaces, schools, families and neighborhoods.

THE CORE VALUES - which drive our work are RESPECT, CHOICE, COMPETENCE and FULL INCLUSION. We define Respect as having a valued place and role among a network of family, friends, colleagues and neighbors. Our goal is that people that we support are able to contribute in ways that will assist them to gain the respect of others. As agents on behalf of people our role is to promote their strengths and capacities. Choice means that people who rely on our supports have the autonomy to make decisions in both small every day matters and in large life-defining issues. We recognize that people's histories are void of the opportunity to gain gradual and incremental experience with making choices and that means that our role is to assist them to make informed choices and to balance increased opportunity and reasonable risk. By valuing Competence we say that everyone should have the opportunity to perform functional and meaningful activities or work with whatever level of support might be needed to promote success. Our hope for all people we support is that they will experience Full Inclusion which is the sharing of ordinary places with a growing network of personal relationships. We believe that people should not only be present in community, but that they should be real participants who make a valuable contribution.

POSITIONING STATEMENT - TMI is an exemplary non-profit agency with a long standing and solid reputation for “Best Practices” in providing personalized assistance and support to children and adults with disabilities enabling them to live, work and participate in their communities by offering Real Choices, Real Possibilities.