Photo collage created from stock photographs by Kampus Production via Pexels. The individuals pictured are not LIFTT consumers.
As we look back on the first three quarters of the 2025-2026 program year (from October 1 to June 30), one thing is abundantly clear: LIFTT continues to grow, strengthen, and transform lives across south-central and eastern Montana.
Every number in our reports represents something much more important than statistics. It represents a person who found hope, a family that received support, a barrier that was removed, or an opportunity that helped someone live more independently.
During the quarter ending June 30, LIFTT served 265 consumers, including 73 individuals who chose to develop Independent Living Plans to achieve their personal goals. These numbers reflect our continued commitment to empowering people with disabilities to make their own choices and direct their own futures.
Our team also continued providing hundreds of independent living services throughout our service area. Information and referral, independent living skills training, peer support, advocacy, preventive services, mobility training, and housing assistance remained among the services consumers most frequently requested. Every one of these services represents a conversation, a solution, and a step toward greater independence.
Our work extends well beyond individual services.
Throughout the spring and early summer, LIFTT staff participated in outreach events, legislative and policy committees, the Olmstead planning process, workforce development initiatives, and community partnerships designed to improve opportunities for Montanans with disabilities. We continued educating our communities, advocating for systems change, and ensuring that the voices of people with disabilities are heard wherever important decisions are made.
At the same time, exciting new opportunities continue to move forward. Preparations for the RideWell accessible transportation program are advancing, outreach activities continue to expand across our eighteen-county service area, and our staff remains committed to developing new partnerships that will strengthen independent living throughout Montana.
None of these accomplishments happen by accident.
They are possible because of an extraordinary team of employees, volunteers, Board members, caregivers, community partners, and supporters who believe that every person deserves the opportunity to live independently, participate fully in community life, and pursue their dreams.
As we conclude the 2025- 2026 program year, we do so with optimism and determination. We know challenges will continue to arise, but we also know that LIFTT has never been defined by obstacles. We are defined by our willingness to work together, innovate, advocate, and never lose sight of the people we serve.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we are not simply providing services. We are building stronger communities, expanding opportunities, and proving every day that independence is possible.
The best is yet to come.
About Living Independently for Today & Tomorrow (LIFTT): 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 disabilites and aging indivduals with programs, services, resources and advocacy 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 south-central Montana: Big Horn, Carbon, Carter, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, Golden Valley, McCone, Musselshell, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Rosebud, Stillwater, Treasure, Wibaux, and Yellowstone. For more information, please visit liftt.org
Our Vision: Empowering aging individuals and people with disabilities to LIFTT themselves above the barriers of life.
Our Mission: Living Independently for Today and Tomorrow’s (LIFTT’s) mission as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Center for Independent Living serving Southeastern Montana is to empower aging individuals and people with disabilities to live independently through education, support, and opportunities.